Alec Baldwin Says He 'Didn't Pull The Trigger' In His First 'Rust' Shooting Interview

“I couldn't give a sh*t about my career anymore,” Baldwin said.

Interim Deputy Editor (News)

Alec Baldwin doesn’t know how a live round ended up in a prop gun on the set of Rust. But he says he "didn't pull the trigger."

“Someone is responsible for what happened, and I can’t say who that is, but I know it’s not me,” the actor told ABC News in his first sit-down interview since the deadly shooting on the set of a Western film in October.

Police are still investigating the incident after Baldwin’s prop gun went off during rehearsal, hitting two people with one real bullet. Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins died from the gunshot, while director Joel Souza suffered a shoulder wound.

Baldwin says he dreams about the shooting “constantly” although he doesn’t feel any personal guilt about it.

“I might have killed myself if I thought I was responsible, and I don't say that lightly,” he said.

Baldwin told ABC that he doesn’t know why the gun went off.

The actor was sitting in a church pew and practicing his gun draw at the time of the shooting. Hutchins and Souza were lining up the scene close by, and Baldwin was supposed to draw his gun across his body and point it at the camera, according to documented accounts of the case.

Baldwin says the scene called for him to cock the hammer of the gun — not to actually fire it.

“She's guiding me through how she wants me to hold the gun for this angle,” he said, referring to Hutchins.

“I cock the gun. I go, ‘Can you see that?’” Baldwin said. “And then I let go of the hammer of the gun, and the gun goes off.”

He added: “I didn’t pull the trigger.”

“Everyone is horrified, they’re shocked, it’s loud,” he said.

Baldwin says he immediately thought that Hutchins had fainted, and he didn’t even think that the prop gun might’ve been loaded with a live round until 45 minutes later.

He ultimately found out that Hutchins had died after going to the sheriff’s office.

“They said to me, ‘We regret to tell you that [Hutchins] didn't make it,’” Baldwin told ABC. “They told me right then and there.”

The actor added that he doesn't know when or if he'll ever act again, but "can’t imagine" doing another movie with a gun in it.

“I couldn't give a sh*t about my career anymore,” he said.

The in-depth interview touched on many details about the shooting, including lawsuits that were filed after the incident.

No one has been criminally charged in the shooting at this point.

  • Interim Deputy Editor, News

    Josh Elliott (he/him) was the Interim Deputy Editor (News) for Narcity, where he led the talented editorial team's local news content. Josh previously led Narcity’s international coverage and he spent several years as a writer for CTV and Global News in the past. He earned his English degree from York University and his MA in journalism from Western University. Superhero content is his kryptonite.

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