Baldwin doesn't feel guilty about tragedy on set of Rust
"I feel like someone is responsible for what happened, and I can't say who he is, but I know it's not me," said the actor.
Actor Alec Baldwin said he did not feel guilty about the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, fatally wounded on the set of the western "Rust", in an interview released this Thursday (12/02/2021) by an American television.
"I feel that there is someone responsible for what happened, and I can not say who it is, but I know it is not me," said Baldwin in his first official interview since the tragedy during the filming of "Rust", granted to the channel ABC News.
"By God, if I felt I was responsible, I could have been killed," he said.
The 62-year-old actor described in detail what happened during the October 21 rehearsal, during which a bullet fatally wounded Hutchins and the film's director, Joel Souza, who was discharged the same day.
Baldwin claimed that he received the gun and heard it was "cold," movie jargon to clarify that a gun is unloaded.
"I never pulled the trigger"
"I hold the weapon where she [Hutchins] indicates to me (...) I tell her that I am going to drop the hammer from the weapon and I ask her if she wants to see it, and she says yes," he detailed.
After positioning the weapon as instructed by Hutchins, Baldwin specifies: "I let go of the hammer. Bang. The weapon goes off."
"The trigger wasn't pulled. I didn't pull the trigger, I never pulled the trigger. No, no, no, no, no. I would never point a gun at someone and pull the trigger," Baldwin insisted.
"Everyone is horrified. They are in shock. It is loud. They are not wearing headphones. The gun should be empty. They told me they were handing me an empty gun."
He thought Hutchins had passed out
Baldwin comments that his first thought was that Hutchins had passed out or had a heart attack. He only learned that she had died from a live gunshot wound hours after talking to police.
"Rust" was filmed at the Bonanza Creek Ranch, a famous set in New Mexico. The actor starred in and produced the low-budget western and is now the subject of two civil lawsuits filed by team members, as well as the film's gunsmith, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed.
Gutierrez-Reed has said he has no idea how the live bullets got on set, and her lawyer suggested it may be sabotage.
Baldwin dismissed the theory. "I don't know how anyone could have done that ... It's overwhelmingly likely that it was an accident," he added.
The three-time Emmy winner also reacted to comments from colleagues about gun shooting protocols. "There were a lot of people who felt it necessary to contribute comments that were not helpful."
No more guns in your movies
Through tears, Baldwin said that the tragedy, personally, was the worst thing that happened to him, and professionally, that he cannot imagine making another movie with weapons.
He commented that he had spoken with Matthew Hutchins, Halyna's widower, adding that he would not be surprised if he filed a lawsuit against the production, of which the actor is a part.
