In his first comments given on-camera after Alec Baldwin fired a prop gun on the sets of his upcoming film Rust which left cinematographer Halyna Hutchins dead and director Joel Souza injured, the actor said that he is “extremely interested” in the “ongoing effort” for limiting the usage of firearms on film sets, Variety reported.
Baldwin was speaking to paparazzi in what the report calls an “intense but polite conversation”, in Vermont.
On October 22, after Baldwin fired a prop gun on the sets of Rust, the feature film was halted and the sets went under lockdown as it led to a fatal injury. It was later known that Baldwin was rehearsing with the firearm when the incident occurred.
Hutchins was pronounced dead by the University of New Mexico Hospital on the same day. Subsequently, New Mexico district attorney said that the filing of criminal charges against Baldwin cannot be ruled out.
However, speaking to the paparazzi on Saturday, Baldwin called the late cinematographer as his friend, and recalled the time when he took Hutchins to dinner after the shooting of the film started. “We were a very, very well-oiled crew shooting a film together and then this horrible event happened,” Baldwin was quoted as saying.
The actor, while stating that he cannot comment on the ongoing investigation as per the orders of the police officials of Santa Fe, addressed the need for the film industry to think about the usage of firearms on film sets.
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“An ongoing effort to limit the use of firearms on film sets is something I’m extremely interested in, I’m not an expert in this field. So whatever other people decide is the best way to go, in terms of protecting people’s safety on film sets, I’m all in favor of and I will cooperate with that in any way that I can,” he added.
When the press asked the actor as to whether Rust’s production will resume in the future, he said, “I doubt it.”
Baldwin also acknowledged that he is “fully cooperating” with the ongoing probe and revealed that he is in contact with Hutchins’ husband and family.