The actors Alec Baldwin and Robert Downey Jr will be speaking at the Cambridge Union Society in the next two weeks. 

Varsity can exclusively reveal these surprise appearances, as they were not featured on the Union’s Michaelmas termcard. 

Alec Baldwin will be speaking on the 10th of October at 5.30pm, followed by the previously announced speaker, the Irish comedian Ed Byrne, at 7.30pm. 

Baldwin, best known for his role as NBC executive Jack Donaghy in the sitcom 30 Rock from 2006 to 2013, has also starred in such classic films such as Beetlejuice (1988), The Aviator (2004) and The Departed (2006).

His performance in The Cooler gained him a nomination for Best Supporting Actor at the 2003 Academy Awards. He also won two Emmy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards and seven Screen Actors Guild Awards for his work in 30 Rock, the latter making him the male performer with the most SAG awards.

His late-night talk show, Up Late with Alec Baldwin, ran for one month before its cancellation in November 2013 after Baldwin used a homophobic slur against a New York Post photographer.

Robert Downey Jr's talk, however, will be one week later on Friday 17th October at 6 pm. 

His career-defining roles include Sherlock Holmes (2009), Tony Stark of Iron Man (2008), and of course a cameo in The Avengers (2012).

Ally McBeal fans will also be pleased, with Robert Downey Jr featuring as a regular character in the later seasons of this cult 90s show.

Only the first of these events, however, will be open to all members of the university as it falls within the Union’s ‘open period’, in which speakers and debates are not limited to members of the private society. Robert Downey Jr's event will only be available to members of The Union.

The actor Dominic West also joins these two headliners as a surprise addition to the termcard. West, best known for his performance as Detective Jimmy McNulty in the HBO series ‘The Wire’, will speak on the 20th November prior to the weekly Thursday debate.

West won a BAFTA award for Leading Actor in 2012 for his performance as the serial killer Fred West in the drama ‘Appropriate Adult’. He has also starred in films such as ‘Johnny English Reborn’ and ‘Chicago’.