But the 63-year-old US actor says he did not pull the trigger on the set of the Rust film in October.
Image source, Getty Images
Alec Baldwin has admitted his acting career may be over after the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film Rust.
“It could be,” the 63-year-old actor said in an interview to George Stephanopoulos of ABC News, adding that he did not care.
Mr Baldwin also said he “didn’t pull the trigger” of the gun during the incident on 21 October in New Mexico.
“Someone put a live bullet in a gun” he said. “I know it’s not me”.
Mr Baldwin is best-known for his performances in films like Glengarry Glen Ross and The Hunt For Red October, as well as his impersonation of Donald Trump on US sketch show Saturday Night Live.
The ABC interview was broadcast in the US on Thursday evening.
“I don’t know what happened on that set. I don’t know how that bullet arrived in that gun. I don’t know,” Mr Baldwin said.
“But I’m all for doing anything that will take us to a place where this is less likely to happen again.”
The actor said that during the rehearsal on 21 October Hutchins was directing his every move.
“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, the actor said he needed to cock the gun – but not fire it.
“The trigger wasn’t pulled. 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,” Mr Baldwin said.
The interview marks the first time Mr Baldwin has spoken about the incident on camera, except for a brief interview he gave to TMZ in October, in a bid to stop the paparazzi from following him and his family.
Image source, Getty Images
Ms Hutchins, 42, was flown to hospital by helicopter after the shooting – but later died of her injuries. Director Joel Souza, 48, was also injured.
According to court records, Mr Baldwin was handed the weapon by the film’s assistant director, Dave Halls, who did not know it contained live ammunition and indicated it was unloaded by shouting “cold gun”.
Mr Halls had been given the gun by Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the 24-year-old armourer on the film.
Lawyers for Ms Gutierrez-Reed have said she did not know where “the live rounds came from”. That question is now at the centre of a police investigation in the US.
Investigators have already obtained a warrant to search the premises of an arms supplier in the US.
An affidavit with the warrant says police have been told ammunition for the film came from several sources, including PDQ Arm & Prop.
The affidavit says the ammunition supplier’s owner, Seth Kenney, has told the investigators the live round might have been from some “reloaded ammunition”.
He says the ammunition he supplied for the film consisted of dummy rounds and blanks, according to the affidavit.
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