William Baldwin is opening up about the issue of homelessness and his own faith life ahead of his latest film.
“The main thing we’re trying to do is raise awareness, raise compassion towards this issue,” the 62-year-old actor told Our Sunday Visitor about starring in “No Address,” a new drama featuring the stories of people who unexpectedly experience homelessness. He hopes that new awareness will mobilize audiences to new action, especially through their faith communities.
“If you are a Catholic and you are engaged in your church community, I’m sure that they’re already engaged on the local level through your parish,” said Baldwin, who was raised Catholic. “Through the churches that I go to in Santa Barbara, we’re doing all sorts of programs to serve underprivileged and underserved communities.”
Inspired by true events, “No Address” will be released in theaters nationwide Feb. 28. The movie makes the case that “homelessness could happen to anyone” and highlights the importance of hope and faith, the dignity of the human person, and the impact of church outreach for people experiencing homelessness.
Produced by Robert Craig Films and distributed by Fathom Entertainment, the film stars Baldwin — one of the four Baldwin brothers who are all actors — together with Lucas Jade Zumann, Beverly D’Angelo, Isabella Ferreira, Xander Berkeley, Ty Pennington, Kristanna Loken, Patricia Velasquez and Ashanti, who also serves as executive producer.
A personal issue
In the film, Baldwin plays Robert, a husband and father with a gambling addiction who faces financial ruin. The actor revealed to OSV that his own family has been personally affected by homelessness.
“I have family members that were homeless and living in a car with their parent when they were a young child, and then they were adopted by my family,” he said.
According to a new report released by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in December, the “number of people experiencing homelessness on a single night in 2024 was the highest ever recorded.” It found that 771,480 people — about 23 of every 10,000 — experienced homelessness in the United States, representing an overall increase of 18% from the year before. Within that increase, the number of children under 18 experiencing homelessness grew 33%, and the number of people in families with children grew 39%.
In response to the rising numbers, Robert Craig Films promises to give 50% of its net profits from the movie and related projects (an accompanying documentary narrated by Baldwin, book, interactive study guide and soundtrack) to nonprofits addressing homelessness.
A Catholic connection
Baldwin acknowledged that many churches are also working to combat homelessness. For his part, he revealed that he attends a couple of Christian churches, though he sometimes goes to a Catholic church.
“Usually I go to this church called Oceanhills, but there’s Mount Carmel,” he said, possibly referring to Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Montecito, Calif.
Baldwin shared that he received the Sacrament of Confirmation and once served as an altar boy — before getting “fired.”
“Not my fault,” he clarified, smiling. “I was only like 8 or 9, and I was late for a couple services and … finally [our priest] was like, ‘I’m done with you Baldwin boys, you’re out.’ We got the boot.”
Today, Baldwin said he regularly visits his childhood parish priest.
“The priest that I was an altar boy for married my sister when I was 12 (and) married (my wife) Chynna and I when I was 33,” he said, describing Msgr. James McNamara, who now works at the Pontifical North American College in Rome.
Baldwin said he spends time with Msgr. McNamara every time he travels to Rome, including a couple of weeks ago.
A mental health crisis
Baldwin called homelessness a “complex issue” that has been “compounded and exacerbated by the COVID pandemic and by the fentanyl crisis.”
“I want to reframe this — and I think we should reframe this — as a mental health crisis, not a homeless crisis,” he said.
“A lot of people on the streets that are doing drugs and have an addiction problem … they have an anxiety or depression or bipolar or PTSD or schizophrenia issue,” he said. “And they don’t have health care, they don’t have access to a doctor, they don’t have access to medication, so they’re self-medicating with alcohol and fentanyl on the streets.”
He encouraged people to meet those who are homeless and hear their stories firsthand, particularly if they can find a nonprofit to escort them into a shelter. He remembered visiting an encampment himself.
“There were 80 people there and they were all talking to me, and then they got high on fentanyl and then they were falling out of their wheelchairs five minutes later,” he said.
Turning inspiration into action
He spoke about meeting Blessing, a man in his early 20s who was homeless in Seattle. Baldwin recalled watching Blessing overdose on fentanyl, an opioid, and flatlining before receiving Narcan, a medication that can reverse the effects of opioid overdoses, and vomiting. After he was revived, Blessing refused further help.
“It’s terrifying to be that young and to be in that much pain,” Baldwin said. The reason that Blessing refused help is not because he didn’t want it, Baldwin said, but because of his addiction.
“We have to do something to be able to get these people the care that’s required, long-term wraparound, comprehensive care,” Baldwin said.
Of homelessness and the movie, he added, “when you go and see it, it’s concerning, it’s inspiring, it’s motivating, and you say, ‘I’m going to make a difference, I’m going to have an impact, I’m going to change the world’ — and you just have to figure out a way to keep that going. And one of the ways is through the fellowship of your church.”
