Alec Baldwin doesn’t believe sabotage led to Rust shooting death
- In emotional interview, Alec Baldwin denies responsibility for fatal shooting on set of the movie Rust
- Actor says he will never again do a movie that has guns in it: ‘I couldn’t give a sh** about my career any more’
Actor Alec Baldwin does not believe the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the movie Rust was caused by sabotage.
In an interview with ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos that aired Thursday, Baldwin said it was “overwhelmingly likely” that the October 21 incident at the Bonanza Creek Ranch in New Mexico was an accident.
Baldwin was holding a Colt .45 revolver during a marking rehearsal for the low-budget western, when the prop gun discharged a live bullet that killed Hutchins and wounded director Joel Souza.
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“That’s an enormous charge to make, that someone came and did something, for what purpose?” Baldwin said. “To attack who? To discredit who? To harm me? The production? What was their motive in doing that, if somebody did that?”
Baldwin also said he does not expect to be criminally charged in the matter. The Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office has been scrutinising the actions of Baldwin, who was also a producer on the western, as well as assistant director David Halls and Gutierrez Reed as part of its investigation into Hutchins’ death.
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Baldwin does expect Hutchins’ husband to file a civil suit over her death. “He’s entitled to something as far as I’m concerned,” said the star of NBC sitcom 30 Rock and Saturday Night Live.
Two crew members have already filed civil suits against the producers, including Baldwin, accusing them of negligence.
While he expressed grief over Hutchins’ death, Baldwin said he does not feel any responsibility for what happened.
“Someone put a live bullet in a gun, a bullet that wasn’t even supposed to be on the property,” Baldwin said. “Someone is responsible for what happened, and I can’t say who that is, but I know it’s not me.”
The prime-time hour also presented more details on Baldwin’s assertion that he did not pull the trigger of the gun.
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During rehearsal, Baldwin said Halls handed him a revolver. Baldwin recalled Halls telling him: “This is a cold gun” – industry jargon for a weapon that is either literally empty or loaded with nonfiring dummy rounds.
Halls told investigators that he did not check all the rounds in the gun before it was handed to Baldwin – a major breach of safety protocol, according to an affidavit filed with the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office.
The actor described how Hutchins began blocking out the scene.
“This was a marking rehearsal,” Baldwin said. “And (Hutchins) says to me, ‘Hold the gun lower. Go to your right. OK, right there. All right, do that. Now show it a little bit lower.’ And she’s getting me to position the gun. She’s guiding me through how she wants me to hold the gun for this angle. I’m holding the gun where she told me to hold it, which ended up being aimed right below her armpit.”
To get the shot, Baldwin said he needed to cock the gun but not fire it.
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“The trigger wasn’t pulled,” he said. “I didn’t pull the trigger. 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.”
Once Hutchins was hit by the bullet, she collapsed and Souza screamed out in pain. Baldwin thought she had fainted. He was not aware she had died from a bullet wound until he was interviewed by police nearly an hour later.
Baldwin said he had been called a “murderer” since the incident and that the tragedy had changed things for him.
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“I can’t imagine I’d ever do a movie that had a gun in it again,” said Baldwin.
Baldwin went on to say that he doesn’t know if he’ll act again.
“My family is all I have. Honest to god, I couldn’t give a sh** about my career any more,” he told Stephanopoulos.
Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse
