Actor opens up about ‘Rust’ filming for the first time – The Hollywood Reporter

In her first interview since the shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of her film in New Mexico Rust, an emotional Alec Baldwin gave a detailed timeline of exactly what happened that day and broke down in tears as he remembered Hutchins.

Baldwin told the interviewer, Hello America ‘s George Stephanopoulos, that he did not want to wait until the end of the prosecution or the investigations to tell his side of the story. “I think there is a criminal investigation, it could take a while. There are all kinds of civil litigation, and I felt there were a lot of misconceptions, ”Baldwin said. “The sheriff’s department hasn’t even released a report to the prosecutor yet. … I feel like I can’t wait for this process to end.

On October 21, Hutchins was shot and killed and Rust Director Joel Souza was injured when Baldwin, a producer and star of the western filming in Bonanza City, New Mexico, discharged a gun he believed safe but actually contained a live bullet, according to the Sheriff’s Office of the Santa Fe County. Baldwin pointed out that he had not pulled the trigger on the gun.

In the interview, Baldwin explained what happened in detail, telling Stephanopoulos they were doing a scoring rehearsal, with Hutchins instructing Baldwin so she could line up a shot when they started to film.

“She was standing next to the camera, looking at a monitor… guiding me on how to hold the gun from that angle,” Baldwin said. “The pistol was not meant to be fired in this angle. I am while carrying the gun where I was told to hold it, which was just below her armpit. An angle that might not be filmed at all.

Baldwin says that Hutchins told him to start cocking the hammer for a particular shot.

“I pulled the hammer as far as I could without cocking the pistol, ”Baldwin said. “I dropped the hammer anmd bang, the gun goes off.

“Everyone was shocked. … The gun was supposed to be ’empty. I was told that I was given a empty firearm. She come down, I thought to myself, has she passed out? he added. “The mthe idea that there was an actual bullet in that gun didn’t dawn on me until 45 minutes or an hour later.

Baldwin and the team were rushed out of the church where they were filming while medics tended to Hutchins. She was eventually airlifted to a hospital.

It wasn’t until he finished his interview with the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office that he learned that the gun was loaded with a live bullet and that Hutchins had died of his injuries. The photos of Baldwin that circulated that day were taken minutes after he was informed of his death.

The criminal investigation into the shooting is being conducted by the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office and New Mexico’s First Judicial District Attorney and could take months, authorities said.

Baldwin, gunsmith Hannah Gutierrez Reed and deputy director Dave Halls are among those under investigation; two lawsuits were filed following the shooting.

Baldwin discussed both Halls and Gutierrez Reed in the interview, saying about the gunsmith that he assumed “because she was there and she was hired, that she was ready for the job”.

As for Gutierrez Reed’s attorney’s claims that what happened could be an act of sabotage: “It’s a big blow, it’s a huge load to do, that someone has come and done something, for what purpose? To attack who? Discredit who? It is very likely that it was an accident“said Baldwin.

Baldwin also said, as was previously reported, that Halls said the gun was “cold” before handing it to the actor. “When he says, ‘It’s a cold gun,’ what he says to everyone on the set is everyone can relax, the gun is empty.”

He later added, however, that he was sympathetic to what Halls and Gutierrez Reed went through, saying: “I not want to see Hannah suffer, or Halls suffer.

Baldwin also discussed a meeting with Halyna’s husband, Matthew Hutchins, and their 9-year-old son.

“They were as nice as they can get,” Baldwin said. “He said, “Well, I guess you and I are going to go through this together. “

“This boy no longer has a mother. And there is nothing we can do to bring her back, ”Baldwin added with tears in his eyes. “And I said to him:” I Dto‘t know what to say, i don’t know know how to tell you how sorry i am and will do anything to cooperate.

Baldwin told Stephanopoulos he expects Hutchins to take legal action over his wife’s death. “How could it be otherwise? His wife was killed. … Something happened here that resulted in the death of his wife, ”Baldwin said.

On Tuesday, a search warrant affidavit filed for a props store shed light on how suspected live bullets could have ended up on set. The affidavit notes that Thell Reed, a longtime Hollywood gunsmith and father of Gutierrez Reed, had a box containing between 200 and 300 rounds of “live ammunition” from a previous draft which was kept by Seth Kenney of PDQ. Arm & Prop, LLC. Thell Reed suggested that the ammunition could match the ammunition recovered from the Bonanza Creek Ranch set. But Kenney told ABC on Thursday his company had not provided any live rounds to the Rust production.

“Someone is responsible for what happened, and I can’t tell who it is, but I know it’s not me,” Baldwin said. He was later asked if he expected to face charges: “I have been told by people in the know, even inside the state, that it is highly unlikely that I will be criminally charged. “

He also stressed on several occasions during the interview that he had not pulled the trigger.

When asked if his career was over after what happened on Rust, Baldwin quickly responded, “It might be.”

“My family is all I have, honestly to God I could care more about my career,” he said. But when asked if he felt guilty about what had happened, Baldwin replied “no”.

“I might have committed suicide if I had felt I was responsible,” he said.

Baldwin told Stephanopoulos that what happened on the set of Rust will change the way movies are made, suggesting that actors will need to be more attentive to the weapon accessories they use.

“I can not imagine we would make a movie again that contained a gun, ”Baldwin said. “I can not. “