Actor Alec Baldwin finally broke his silence over the unfortunate incident that unfolded on the sets of the movie Rust last Thursday, October 21. The 63-year-old actor, in an impromptu roadside exchange with reporters in Vermont on Saturday, October 30, noted he had dinner with his "friend" Halyna Hutchins on the first day of filming Rust. Alec Baldwin fired a prop gun during rehearsals on the sets that accidentally killed the 42-year-old cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins. Ever since then, the actor and the crew of Rust have been receiving flak for the death of Hutchins with everyone 'involved in the incident' playing the 'blame-game'.
Baldwin, along with his wife, Hilaria, pulled over to talk to photographers in Manchester, Vermont on Saturday and stated his intentions of voicing his support for new measures restricting the use of weapons on the set of television shows and films to increase worker safety. "There are incidental accidents on film sets from time to time, but nothing like this. This is a one in a trillion episode. This is a one in a trillion event," Baldwin said of the incident.
'Halyna Hutchins was my friend'
An agitated Baldwin asked the photographers, "What do you want to know?" before helping his wife, Hilaria pan the cellphone to record the impromptu conversation. "A woman died. She was my friend," Baldwin said during the course of the 4-minute long conversation. "The day I arrived in Santa Fe to start shooting, I took her to dinner with Joel, the director," the actor added. "We were a very, very well oiled crew shooting a film together and then this horrible event happened."
Baldwin then informed the photographers he had been "ordered" by the Santa Fe Sheriff's Office 'not to talk about the investigation," before adding that he is "eagerly awaiting for the sheriff's department" to let out the results of the investigation. The actor even claimed he "talks to the cops every day."
Alec Baldwin dissed a reporter who forgot the late cinematographer's name
During the conversation, when a reporter tried to ask Alec Baldwin if he has met with the family of the deceased cinematographer and fumbled with her name, the actor and his wife, Hilaria, both seemed pissed off. "Her name is Halyna," Hilaria snapped. "If you're spending this much time waiting for us, you should know her name," she added. Annoyed at the reporter, Baldwin expressed astonishment, asking, "You don't know her name? Come on. Halyna Hutchins."
Further, responding on whether he has met with Hutchins' husband, Alec Baldwin noted that "the guy is overwhelmed with grief." "We're very worried about his family and his kid. As I said, we're eagerly awaiting for the sheriff's department to tell us their investigation has yielded," the actor said.
Alec Baldwin doesn't believe the production of 'Rust' will start up again
A reporter asked the actor if he will ever consider working on a "film set that involves firearms of that nature" again, to which, Alec stated he "couldn't answer that question." The actor then added that he 'doesn't believe the production of Rust will begin again'. "I do know that an ongoing effort to limit the use of firearms on film sets is something I'm extremely interested in," the actor said.
Advocating the need to increase safety measures on the sets, Baldwin noted that "some new measures have to take place, proper guns, plastic guns, no real, live [rounds]." "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.
