Alec Baldwin spoke out about the “Rust” shooting incident in his first sit-down interview which aired Thursday night.
The fatal Oct. 21 incident left cinematographer Halyna Hutchins dead and director Joel Souza injured.
The actor described the moment the gun was discharged during the interview. “I let go of the hammer of the gun,” Baldwin told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos. “And the gun goes off.”
Baldwin and Hutchins had been setting up for a shot where the actor was supposed to draw the gun and point it at the camera. While standing next to the camera, the cinematographer was “guiding” Baldwin on where to point the gun, he said.
“I didn’t pull the trigger,” Baldwin reiterated. “The gun was supposed to be empty,” he said.
Alec Baldwin opened up about the moment the gun was fired during the fatal incident during the filming of ‘Rust’ on Oct. 21.
(Jim Spellman/Getty Images)
Baldwin said he didn’t know what had happened until he was in the police station, hours later. A police officer told Baldwin that a .45 caliber slug came out of Souza’s shoulder at the conclusion of his interview. The police also confirmed Hutchins’ death to Baldwin at the end of the interview.
The actor said he didn’t know how the live round made it into the gun.
“If your protocol is you’re checking the gun every time, well good for you,” Baldwin said after Stephanopoulos brought up how actor George Clooney said he checks the gun himself while on-set.
“I probably handled weapons as much as any other actors in films,” he added.
Baldwin said it’s the actor’s responsibility to do what the prop master told him to do. He later said the responsibility of an actor has changed since the day of the shooting, although Baldwin doesn’t plan to do another movie with guns.
“I can’t imagine doing a movie that has a gun in it ever again, I can’t,” he said.
Baldwin doesn’t hold himself responsible for the death of Hutchins, but does believe someone is responsible.
“Someone is responsible for what happened,” Baldwin said. “It’s not me.”
“Honest to God, if I felt that I was responsible, I might have killed myself,” he said. “If I thought I was responsible, and I don’t say that lightly.”
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Baldwin maintained that he did not pull the trigger of the gun. However, he revealed the gun fired after he pulled the hammer back and let it go.
(Fox News Digital)
Nobody knows how live ammunition made its way onto the set of “Rust” and the issue is currently being investigated by the Santa Fe Sheriff’s Department. Baldwin said he hopes “they follow it to the ends of the earth,” referencing the ongoing investigation.
Armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed’s lawyer suggested somebody on the set may have put live rounds into the box of dummies on purpose. However, Baldwin denied any sabotage on the set.
“It was overwhelmingly likely an accident,” he said.
Baldwin also noted two crew members had filed lawsuits, and he pointed out that both had been filed before Hutchins’ husband Matthew had filed his own.
“They couldn’t wait until Matthew filed his,” he said. “Something happened here that resulted in his wife’s death.”
The actor maintained during the interview that his role in the production of the film was casting and the script. The movie had been filming for a week before Baldwin showed up on set. The actor revealed during the interview that he had stopped making movies because he didn’t like being away from his family. He said working on this film made him “love making movies again.”
“I knew she had that spark,” Baldwin said about Hutchins during the interview. “She was very focused.”
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This interview was the first time Baldwin sat down face-to-face with someone to speak about the shooting.
(Barbara Nitke/Peacock/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)
Baldwin also talked about working with armorer Gutierrez-Reed. He claimed he never had any concerns about Gutierrez-Reed, stating “nothing raised flags.” Baldwin worked directly with Gutierrez-Reed “99% of the time” and went through a safety demonstration with the armorer on day 12 of filming, one day after he arrived.
“I assumed because she was there, and she was hired- she was up for the job,” he added.
Baldwin also claimed he didn’t hear anything about safety issues on set.
“In my opinion no, I did not observe any safety or security issues at all at the time I was there,” he said.
Fox News’ Tyler McCarthy contributed to this report.
