He later appeared in Full Metal Jacket (1987) as Animal Mother, and in the television series Firefly and its continuation film Serenity as Jayne Cobb.

[1] Appearing in a large number of films since 1980, Baldwin rose to prominence as the troubled outcast Ricky Linderman in My Bodyguard (1980) and moved on to bigger roles in D.C. Cab (1983), Full Metal Jacket (1987), Next of Kin (1989), Predator 2 (1990), Deadbolt (1992), Independence Day (1996), The Patriot (2000), and Serenity (2005)—in which he reprises his role as the mercenary Jayne Cobb from the television series Firefly.

His other work includes Radio Flyer (1992), From the Earth to the Moon (1998), The X-Files (Knowle Rohrer), The Cape, Men in Black: The Series, Stargate SG-1, Angel, The Inside, NCIS, and the 2005 remake of The Poseidon Adventure.

Baldwin won a SyFy Genre Award in 2006 for Best Supporting Actor/Television for his role as Jayne Cobb in the television series Firefly.

[6][7][better source needed] In late 2015, Baldwin endorsed Ted Cruz for the 2016 United States presidential election via Twitter.