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Alec Baldwin is shedding new light on the “Rust” shooting tragedy in an exclusive interview with ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos.
In October, Baldwin, an actor and producer on the film, fired the gun that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and wounded writer-director Joel Souza on the set in New Mexico.
Now he is sharing his account of what happened that day, explaining the team was gathered for a marking rehearsal for an upcoming scene. He claims first assistant director Dave Halls handed him the prop weapon and told him “this is a cold gun.”
Alec told George, “Now, what happened there, and why he made that statement, and what the realities were, I have, again, I have no idea.” Halls’ attorney Lisa Torraco told ABC that checking the weapon was “not his responsibility,” and did not confirm if Halls was the one who handed Alec the gun.
Meanwhile, on the set that day, Baldwin said Hutchins was blocking the scene, saying, “Everything is at her direction.”
He went on, “This was a marking rehearsal. And [Hutchins] says to me, ‘Hold the gun lower. Go to your right. Okay, right there. All right, do that. Now show it a little bit lower.’ And she’s getting me to position the gun.”
Baldwin continued, “She’s guiding me through how she wants me to hold the gun for this angle. I’m holding the gun where she told me to hold it, which ended up being aimed right below her armpit.”
He said he had to cock the gun to get the shot, but explained, “The trigger wasn’t pulled. I didn’t pull the trigger. I cock the gun. I go, ‘Can you see that? Can you see that? Can you see that?’ And then I let go of the hammer of the gun, and the gun goes off. I let go of the hammer of the gun, the gun goes off.”
Stephanopoulos asked, “So, you never pulled the trigger?”
Baldwin answered, “No, no, no, no, no. I would never point a gun at anyone and pull a trigger at them.”
Halls’ attorney said that the assistant director agreed with the statement, saying, “the entire time Baldwin had his finger outside the trigger guard parallel to the barrel… that Alec did not pull that trigger.”
Baldwin recalled what happened next in the aftermath, saying, “First of all, everyone is horrified, they’re shocked, it’s loud.”
He said, “[Hutchins] goes down. I thought to myself, ‘Did she faint?’ The notion that there was a live round in that gun did not dawn on me till probably 45 minutes to an hour later.”
Baldwin thought maybe Halyna had been hit by a projectile, recalling, “No one could understand.” He said he stood over her for about minute “kind of in shock,” before he was asked to vacate the area.
It was after his interview with the sheriff’s department that he learned Hutchins had died. “They said to me, ‘We regret to tell you that [Hutchins] didn’t make it,’” Baldwin said. “They told me right then and there.”
As far as how the tragedy happened, Alec said, “Someone put a live bullet in a gun, a bullet that wasn’t even supposed to be on the property. Someone is responsible for what happened, and I can’t say who that is, but I know it’s not me.”
He insisted, “Believe me, I would do anything in my power, I would do anything in my power to undo what was done. I don’t know how that bullet arrived in that gun. I don’t know. But I’m all for doing anything that will take us to a place where this is won’t happen again.”
He also praised Halyna, saying, “I loved working with this woman. She was a joy. Everyone loved her as a person. And everyone admired her talent.”
The full interview aired tonight on ABC and will be available later on Hulu.