ALEC BALDWIN SAYS THAT ONLY HE SHOOTED THE 'RUST' GUN, IT LIABILITIES THE TEAM
The actor has explained that he did not pull the trigger in his first interview after the accident, in which cinematographer Halyna Hutchins passed away.
Alec Baldwin spoke for the first time this week after the tragic accident on the set of 'Rust', in which cinematographer Halyna Hutchins passed away. Much (and very bad) has been said in recent weeks about this event, and now the actor has decided to grant the first interview of him on the ABC channel to clarify what happened.
In mid-October, it was reported that, while filming the film in New Mexico, Baldwin fired a gun, believing it carried blank rounds, but was actually loaded with live ammunition. As a result of the shooting, Hutchins, 42, died at the University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque. Director Joel Souza, 48, was also injured, but not seriously.
"He would never point a gun at anyone and pull the trigger, never," the actor declared more than a month later, in an exclusive interview that aired this Thursday. "Someone put live ammunition in that gun, a bullet that wasn't even supposed to be in the building," he adds. What did the actor really do? Why was he targeting Hutchins? This is what the actor claims to know at the time of the accident.
"She [Hutchins] was standing by the camera, looking at a monitor ... guiding me on how to hold the gun at this angle," Baldwin said. "The gun wasn't meant to be fired at that angle. She was holding the gun where they told me to hold it, which was just below her armpit." Baldwin says Hutchins told him to start cocking the hammer for a particular shot. Remember, cocking prepares the firing pin of the weapon to hit another piece, called "fulminant", which is the one that ignites the gases and produces the explosion of the bullet. According to Wikipedia, "it is one of the key elements in firearms and directly responsible for some of the most common accidents in its handling." Baldwin continues: "I pulled the hammer as far back as I could without cocking the gun. I let go of the hammer and, bang, the gun goes off."
"Everyone was shocked ... The gun was supposed to be empty. They told me they were giving me an empty gun. She falls, and I think to myself: 'Has she passed out?'" He added. "The idea that there was a real bullet in that gun didn't occur to me until 45 minutes or an hour later."
Baldwin spoke of both Dave Halls (assistant director) and Hannah Gutierrez Reed (gunsmith) in the interview, saying of her that he assumed, "because she was there and they hired her, that she was ready for the job." On Halls, the actor recalled saying that the gun was "cold" before handing it over to him. "When he says, 'This is a cold weapon,' what he's saying to everyone on set is that they can relax, that the gun is empty." Nothing could be further from the truth, concludes the interpreter, who nevertheless has stated that he does not want to see suffering, "neither Hannah, nor Dave."
Regarding the statements made by Gutiérrez Reed's lawyer, who argued that the accident could have been an act of sabotage, Baldwin does not give him any credibility: "It is a huge accusation, that someone entered and did something: For what purpose? ? To attack who? To discredit who? It is overwhelmingly likely that it was an accident, "said the actor.
🎬 Primera entrevista de Alec Baldwin tras el accidente que acabó con la vida de la directora de fotografía Halyna Hutchins en el set de rodaje de 'Rust'.
— Emilio Doménech (@Nanisimo) December 1, 2021
Dice que él nunca apretó el gatillo de la pistola que incluía munición real y mató a Hutchins.pic.twitter.com/pqS6jtDO2D
Since the accident, controversy has been building around Baldwin, who was also a producer on the film. Two weeks ago, the film's script supervisor, Mamie Mitchell, and chief lighting officer, Serge Svetnoy, filed lawsuits against him and other members of the production for putting the safety of employees at risk. According to the statements of some team members, the working conditions left much to be desired, to the point of causing the resignation of six employees on the same day of the accident, according to EFE.
