Hamptons International Film Festival Chairman, Alec Baldwin attends the World Premiere of National Geographic Documentary Films' 'The First Wave' at Hamptons International Film Festival on October 07, 2021 in East Hampton, New York. (Photo for illustration by Mark Sagliocco / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)
Alec Baldwin has said he did not pull the trigger of the gun he was holding that killed a cinematographer on the movie set of “Rust.”
In his first major interview since the tragedy in October, the US actor also said he has “no idea” how a live round had gotten onto the set of the low-budget Western in New Mexico.
“The trigger wasn’t pulled — I didn’t pull the trigger,” he said in an excerpt of an interview with ABC News released on Wednesday.
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“No, no, no. I would never point a gun at anyone and pull the trigger at them. Never.”
In the interview, set to air in full on ABC on Thursday evening, Baldwin did not elaborate on how the weapon had gone off.
Baldwin, also a producer on “Rust,” was rehearsing a scene in which his character brandishes a Colt .45 when cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was shot and killed.
The weapon was meant to contain dummy — or fake — rounds, and Baldwin was asked in the interview how a real bullet had ended up within the firearm.
“I have no idea. Someone put a live bullet in a gun — a bullet that wasn’t even supposed to be on the property,” said Baldwin.
Prosecutors have refused to rule out criminal charges against anyone involved with “Rust,” including Baldwin and armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed.
Gutierrez-Reed has also said she has “no idea” why live rounds were present.
On Tuesday, investigators said Seth Kenney — an Arizona weapon rental supplier — may have supplied “reloaded ammunition” that matched the cartridge suspected to have contained the live round that killed Hutchins.
“Reloaded ammunition” refers to rounds that are assembled from component parts, not manufactured as complete live rounds.
“The Sheriff’s office has taken a huge step forward today to unearth the full truth of who put the live rounds on the ‘Rust’ set,” Gutierrez-Reed’s lawyers said in a statement Tuesday.
The full, one-hour ABC interview with Baldwin airs on Thursday at 8:00 pm Eastern (0100 GMT Friday).
“Even now, I find it hard to believe,” says a tearful Baldwin in the preview clip.
“It just doesn’t seem real to me.”
“I think back, and I think of ‘what could I have done?'” he says.
Gutierrez-Reed told police she “didn’t really check it too much” immediately before the tragedy.
According to an affidavit released Tuesday, Gutierrez-Reed told police she had loaded the Colt .45 with five dummy rounds before a lunch break.
After lunch, the weapon was retrieved from a safe, and Gutierrez-Reed added a final round before handing it to another crew member. Moments later, she heard a gun shot from inside the set.
Gutierrez-Reed said she “didn’t really check it too much” because the weapon had been locked up at lunch.
“We had the gun the whole time before that, and nothing happened, and I wasn’t in there, and they weren’t even supposed to be pulling the hammer back,” she added.
Reports have emerged of disquiet among staff over allegedly lax safety procedures, and Santa Fe Sheriff Adan Mendoza has spoken of “complacency” on the New Mexico set.
But Baldwin has called the tragedy a “one in a trillion episode” and insisted “Rust” had a “well-oiled crew.”