On Thursday, Alec Baldwin delivered his first public interview since cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was fatally shot on the set of the Western film Rust. He told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos, “Someone is responsible for what happened.” “I can’t identify who it is, but I’m very sure it’s not me.”
Baldwin alleges that Dave Halls, the film’s first assistant director, handed him an ancient Colt.45 revolver and told him, “This is a cold gun,” an industry phrase for a firearm that does not contain live ammunition. “Now, what transpired there, and why he made that remark, and what the circumstances were,” the actor stated (Halls’ lawyer “did not confirm” if her client handed Baldwin the gun).
With a gun in hand, Baldwin and Hutchins began blotting out the scene, according to Baldwin. “Everything is at her direction… This was a dress rehearsal,” she said. ‘Hold the rifle lower,’ [Hutchins] says to me. Turn to the right. Okay, that’s it. Okay, go ahead and do it. Now show it a little lower.’ And she’s urging me to position the gun… She’s directing me on how to handle the gun for this angle. I’m holding the rifle where she told me to, which happened to be directly below her armpit.”
Baldwin insists that he “didn’t pull the trigger,” rather that he “let go of the hammer of the gun, the gun goes off… I would never point a gun at someone and pull a trigger at them.” When he saw Hutchins fall to the ground, his immediate thought was, “Did she faint?” It took 45 minutes for it to register on him that the gun had a live round in it.
Later in the conversation, Baldwin was asked about statements made by George Clooney, who told Marc Maron that not checking a prop gun for live ammunition would be “crazy.” “There were a number of people who felt compelled to make a comment about the issue, which didn’t assist the situation at all.” Good for you if your protocol requires you to inspect the pistol every time. “Good for you,” he replied, adding, “My protocol was to put my faith in the person who had the position.” And it has worked up until now.”
