Alec Baldwin: 'I didn't pull the trigger' in 'Rust' shooting

‘I didn’t pull the trigger,’ Alec Baldwin says in new interview about ‘Rust’ shooting

Alec Baldwin, left, sits opposite George Stephanopoulos for an interview.

Dec. 1, 2021 Updated 11 AM PT

Alec Baldwin has given his first formal prime-time interview since the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the movie “Rust,” ABC News announced Wednesday.

The actor, who was holding the gun that killed Hutchins and injured director Joel Souza on Oct. 21, spoke with George Stephanopoulos for an hourlong special that will air Thursday at 8 p.m. Eastern and Pacific on ABC. The sit-down interview will begin streaming later that night on Hulu.

“The trigger wasn’t pulled. I didn’t pull the trigger. No, no, no, no, no,” Baldwin says in a new promo for the interview. “I would never point a gun at anyone and pull the trigger at them.”

Baldwin breaks down in tears, seemingly more than once, including when he talks about how beloved Hutchins was among those who knew her. “Even now I find it hard to believe. It just doesn’t seem real to me,” he says.

And when Stephanopoulos asks if this is the worst thing that’s every happened to him, he answers in the affirmative. “Because I think back and I think, ‘What could I have done?,’” says Baldwin, who was also among the film’s producers.

He also notes, “Someone put a live bullet in a gun. A bullet that wasn’t even supposed to be on the property.”

“I’ve done thousands of interviews in the last 20 years at ABC. This was the most intense I’ve ever experienced. So raw. As you can imagine, he’s devastated,” Stephanopoulos said Wednesday on “Good Morning America.”

“But he was also very candid, he was very forthcoming. He answered every question. He talked about Halyna Hutchins, talked about meeting with her family as well. Went through in detail what happened on the set that day, and I have to tell you I was surprised in many places over the course of that hour and 20 minutes.”

In late October, the 63-year-old actor spoke informally on a roadside to members of the media who had been following his vehicle. Wife Hilaria Baldwin was with him, and they said their young children were in the car and scared by the pursuit.

“I’m not allowed to make any comments because it’s an ongoing case,” he said at the time. “I’ve been ordered by the sheriff’s department in Santa Fe. I can’t answer any questions about the investigation. I can’t. It’s an active investigation in terms of a woman dying.”

Addressing but not answering a question about whether he would work on another film involving firearms, Baldwin said, “I do know that an ongoing effort to limit the use of firearms on film sets is something I’m extremely interested in.

“But remember, something I think is important: How many bullets have been fired on films and TV shows in the last 75 years? This is America. How many bullets have gone off on movies and on TV sets. I don’t know, billions? In the last 75 years? Nearly all of them without incident.”

He called the “Rust” shooting “a one-in-a-trillion episode,” and also noted that Hutchins was his friend.

Before that, in a series of now-deleted tweets, Baldwin wrote: “I’m fully cooperating with the police investigation to address how this tragedy occurred and I am in touch with her husband, offering my support to him and his family.

“My heart is broken for her husband, their son, and all who knew and loved Halyna.”