Alec Baldwin has given his first TV interview since he accidentally shot and killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins when a prop gun he was holding went off during filming for the western Rust in New Mexico.
The discharge also injured director Joel Souza who was taken to hospital for his injuries.
In a sit-down interview with ABC presenter George Stephanopoulos, the 63-year-old actor shared his version of events from the incident, which took six weeks ago back on October 21.
Here are some of the main takeaways from the interview.
Baldwin said he did not pull the trigger
Adamantly denying pulling the trigger, Baldwin went through what happened on that fateful day and explained that he and Hutchins met to rehearse a scene in which his character draws his weapon on two enemies.
EXCLUSIVE: "The trigger wasn't pulled. I didn't pull the trigger," Alec Baldwin tells @GStephanopoulos in first interview since fatal shooting on set of "Rust."
— ABC News (@ABC) December 1, 2021
Watch TOMORROW at 8pm ET on @ABC and stream later on @Hulu. https://t.co/u7L88vylra pic.twitter.com/bJsssJoAJq
He said the film’s first assistant director, Dave Halls, handed him a revolver during this rehearsal and told him “this is a cold gun” – an industry term for a weapon that is either empty or loaded with dummy rounds.
Hutchins then began to tell Baldwin where and how to hold the weapon, “which ended up being aimed right below her armpit”, he said.
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To achieve a certain camera shot, Baldwin said he needed to cock the gun but not fire it.
He said: “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.”
When asked by Stephanopoulos if he ever pulled the trigger, Baldwin vehemently denied this.
“No, no, no, no, no,” Baldwin replied. “I would never point a gun at anyone and pull a trigger at them.”
Stephanopoulos also noted how there are some who would say you’re never supposed to point a gun at anyone on set no matter what.
“Unless the person is the cinematographer who’s directing me at where to point the gun for her camera angle,” Baldwin replied.
He said he doesn’t feel personally responsible for what happened
Baldwin told Stephanopoulos he did not feel any personal responsibility for Hutchins’ death and alleges someone else is responsible.
“No. no. I might have killed myself if I thought I was responsible, and I don’t say that lightly,” Baldwin said.
“I don’t know what happened on that set. Someone put a live bullet in a gun, a bullet that wasn’t even supposed to be on the property.
Asked by @GStephanopoulos how a real bullet got on the "Rust" set, Alec Baldwin says: “I have no idea. Someone put a live bullet in a gun. A bullet that wasn’t even supposed to be on the property.”
— ABC News (@ABC) December 1, 2021
Watch TOMORROW 8pm ET on ABC and stream later on @hulu. https://t.co/fJQly1za1T pic.twitter.com/OnpDuYERiC
“Someone is responsible for what happened, and I can’t say who that is, but I know it’s not me.”
Baldwin broke down in tears when paying tribute to Hutchins
When the discussion moved on to how Hutchins became a part of Rust, Baldwin paid tribute to the cinematographer.
“She was someone who was loved by everyone who worked with her, liked by everyone she worked with and admired...” he said before breaking down in tears and taking a moment to compose himself.
“...by everybody who worked with her.”
The actor said he “couldn’t give a f**k” about his career anymore
After the presenter asked if his career was “over” as a result of the tragic accident, Baldwin candidly responded: “Honest to God, I couldn’t give a f**k about my career anymore.”
“It could be [over]. It could be if I decide that I… Could I work? I’m going to go make another movie in January,’ he explained. “I said to them, ‘Do you want to get out of it? Do you want to get rid of me because of what happened?’ They said no.
“But I said to myself, do I want to work much more after this? Is it worth it?”
Baldwin said he’s been dreaming about the incident since it happened
Since the shooting, Baldwin revealed that he’s been having dreams about it “constantly” which have left him feeling “exhausted.”
“I wake up constantly where guns are going off,” he said. “These images have come into my mind, kept me awake at night. I haven’t slept for weeks. I’ve really been struggling physically,” he added.
“I’m exhausted from this, because I’ve got to try to be there for my kids. My family is all I have.”
He hit back at criticism from George Clooney
Last month, George Clooney slammed the producers of Rust over the accident, describing the incident as “insane” and “infuriating.”
“Why for the life of me this low-budget film, with producers who haven’t produced anything, wouldn’t have hired, for the armourer, someone with experience,” Clooney said in an interview on the podcast WTF with Marc Maron.
Baldwin responded to Clooney and other people’s criticism saying it “didn’t help the situation at all.”
“Well, there were a lot of people who felt it necessary to contribute some comment to the situation, which really didn’t help the situation at all,” Baldwin said. “If your protocol is you’re checking the gun every time, well, good for you. Good for you.”
Baldwin responded to Trump, who claimed he carried out the shooting deliberately
It’s fair to say former president Donald Trump isn’t a fan of Baldwin, who has parodied him in a number of sketches on Saturday Night Live over the years.
So when the shooting happened, Trump openly blamed Baldwin for the incident.
“In my opinion, he had something to do with it,” Trump said of Baldwin during a radio interview with Chris Stigall, and even suggested an unproven claim that “Maybe he [Baldwin] loaded it” himself.
“He said that I did it deliberately,” Baldwin said in shock. “Just when you think things can’t get any more surreal, here’s the president of the United States making a comment on this tragic situation.”
Baldwin says he’s “highly unlikely” to be faced with criminal charges
The actor said that he had been “told by people who are in the know” that it was “highly unlikely” that he would face criminal charges.
Asked by @GStephanopoulos if he worries about being criminally charged, Alec Baldwin says: "I don't. I've been told by people who are in the know...that it's highly unlikely that I would be charged with anything criminally."
— ABC News (@ABC) December 3, 2021
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Watch Alec Baldwin: Unscripted on the ABC News YouTube channel now.
