Actor, activist and now possible candidate? Alec Baldwin joins "Parker Spitzer" tonight for an exclusive interview at 8 ET only on CNN.

(CNN) -- Actor Alec Baldwin says he is "very, very interested" in running for political office but to leave acting would be "extremely painful."

The "30 Rock" star made the comments in an interview to air Wednesday on CNN's "Parker Spitzer."

Knowing Baldwin's long-running interest in politics, Eliot Spitzer asked him if he was ready to "get into this game."

"The answer is: Yes, it's something that I am very, very interested in," Baldwin said. "People would say to me all the time, 'Why would you want to do that?' And sometimes I don't want to do it because to leave what I am doing now would be extremely painful."

Baldwin, 52, told Spitzer he loves where he is in his acting career right now.

"However, I do believe that people want to believe that someone, who deeply cares about the middle class ... would like to see public office."

This isn't the first time Baldwin has flirted with the notion of becoming a politician.

He told Playboy magazine over the summer that he was interested.

"The desire is there; that's one component. The other component is opportunity," said Baldwin, who descibes himself as a "carry-me-out-in-a-box New Yorker" and someone unlikely to move to another state for a political opportunity.

"I have sometimes thought I could move to New Jersey or Connecticut and run. I'd love to run against Joe Lieberman. I have no use for him. But it's all fantasy"

Baldwin also told CBS news magazine "60 Minutes" in 2009 that running for political office is "something I might do one day."