Alec Baldwin Says That He Did Not Pull The Trigger In The Gunshot That Killed 'Rust' Cinematographer

In his very first interview after the fatal incident on the sets of the film Rust, Alec Baldwin has finally spoken about what happened on that fateful day. In October, Baldwin fired a prop gun on the film set that killed the cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins, and wounded the director Joel Souza. The incident was said to be an accident, and no one, including the 63-year-old actor, was charged at the time.

Speaking to ABC News's George Stephanopoulos, Baldwin claimed to have no idea that the gun was loaded and has even gone on to say that he did not pull the trigger at all. "I would never point a gun at anyone and pull the trigger at them, never," he stated. "Someone put a live bullet in a gun, a bullet that wasn't even supposed to be on the property." He added, "Well, the trigger wasn't pulled. I didn't pull the trigger," when the interviewer pointed out that the script did not require him to pull the trigger.

It was reported that the actor had the antique gun in his hand and was told that it was a prop "cold gun" and safe to use. The gun was one of three that was being handled by the film's armorer, Hannah Gutierrez. It was then picked up by assistant director Dave Halls, unaware that it was loaded and was given to Baldwin. Halls' attorney has also maintained that Baldwin didn't pull the trigger, stating that "His finger was never in the trigger guard," as per NPR.

"I think back, and I think of what could I have done?" Baldwin said. "She was someone who was loved by everyone who worked with [her] and liked by everyone who worked with [her], and admired... I mean, even now, I find it hard to believe that [she's gone]. It doesn't seem real to me." The 42-year-old Hutchins worked as a cinematographer for 21st Century Fox DP Lab in 2018 and then had a stint as an investigative journalist with British documentary productions in Europe before moving on to working in films. She was considered a "rising star" by the American Cinematographer magazine in 2019.

The incident is still being investigated. Gutierrez's lawyers had earlier claimed that this could have possibly been sabotage citing the earlier dissatisfaction of the film's crew, many of whom even walked out. "I believe that somebody who would do that would want to sabotage the set, want to prove a point, want to say that they're disgruntled, they're unhappy. And we know that people had walked off the set the day before," Jason Bowles had stated and had gone on to say that every person on set was a potential suspect. 

The disgruntled employees in question had walked out of the set, citing a wide range of complaints, including the safety of the crew after a similar misfiring incident had taken place earlier. They had also raised concerns about the lack of payment for three weeks, not providing them boarding, lack of Covid safety, and poor gun safety. A member of the crew who had quit had noted, "Poor on-set safety period!"