Alec Baldwin talks about Halyna Hutchins’ death: ‘She was my friend’

Alec Baldwin, 63, broke the silence this Saturday (30) and spoke for the first time to journalists about the death of Halyna Hutchins, 42, a director of photography he accidentally shot and killed on the set of his movie “Rust” in Santa Fe , New Mexico, United States, on October 21st.

“She was my friend, she was my friend,” said Baldwin. “When I got to Sante Fé to start filming, I took her to dinner,” Baldwin told reporters as he stood on the side of a rural road with his wife Hilaria Baldwin, who was filming everything with a cell phone.

“We were a very, very well-trained crew, filming together when this horrible event happened.”

The actor said that from time to time accidents occur on film sets, but nothing like what happened on the set of “Rust”. “This is one episode in a trillion, one event in a trillion,” he said.

The actor highlighted the effort to limit the use of firearms on film sets. “I know the ongoing effort to limit the use of firearms on a set is something I’m extremely interested in,” he said.

Baldwin also said that he is in constant contact with Halyna’s widower, Mathew Hutchins. The couple had a 9-year-old son. “We are very concerned” about her family, Baldwin said, adding that he was “ordered” by the Santa Fe sheriff’s office not to talk about the case.

In a police statement, the actor claimed that he was pointing his revolver at a camera during a rehearsal on the film set for the movie “Rust” when the gun went off and hit Halyna in the chest.

He provided additional details of the accidental shooting that killed the director of photography and wounded director Joel Souza. Baldwin had received the scenographic weapon and had been told it was empty, Santa Fe officials said in court documents.

“Joel claimed they put Alec in a pew at a stage church, and he was practicing a cross serve. Joel said he was looking over his shoulder at [Hutchins] when he heard what sounded like a pop and then a loud bang,” the statement said.

“Joel later vaguely remembered [Hutchins] complaining of pain in the stomach and squeezing the trunk. Joel also said that [Hutchins] started to stumble backwards and was helped to lie down”.

Hutchins said she couldn’t feel her legs, Reid Russell, a cameraman who was near her at the time of the shooting, told authorities.

Upset, Baldwin was photographed on Oct. 23 outside a Santa Fe hotel hugging and talking to Mathew Hutchins, Halyna Hutchins’ husband, and their 9-year-old son.

UNDERSTAND THE CASE

A shot fired on the film set of the movie “Rust,” starring Alec Baldwin, left director of photography Halyna Hutchins, 42, dead and director Joel Souza, 48, injured at Bonanza Creek Ranch in Santa Fe, New Mexico , in the United States, on October 21st.

The actor himself fired the scenographic weapon, which should have been with blank, not real ammunition. “We are now trying to determine how and what type of projectile was used in the firearm,” said Juan Rios, a spokesman for the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office.

Baldwin was interrogated and was crying, according to the Santa Fe New Mexican, but no one was arrested for the accident. According to a report, the gun was handed over to the actor by assistant director Dave Halls, who didn’t know she had live ammunition and confirmed this on set by yelling “cold gun”.

But, according to the Hollywood union, the gun contained live ammunition. “A real ammunition was accidentally fired on set by the lead actor, hitting Local 600 director of photography Halyna Hutchins and director Joel Souza,” said a local branch of the IATSE (International Theater Stage Employees Alliance) union. acronym in English).

Hours before the shooting, a group of cameramen left the set of “Rust” on a beach near the city of Santa Fe in protest at working conditions. Low budget, long travel and working hours were some of the complaints, according to the Los Angeles Times.

On his social networks, Alec Baldwin spoke about the shock and sadness caused by the accident, and said that he was in contact with his colleague’s family. “I am cooperating with the police investigation to find out how this tragedy happened,” he wrote.