Alec Baldwin on fatal shot on film set: "At first I thought she passed out"

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Alec Baldwin in an interview with George Stephanopoulos: "How did a real cartridge get into the revolver?"

Photo: Jeffrey Neira / ABC News / dpa

There he sits, tense.

Alec Baldwin keeps stopping to speak, looking absently into the distance.

He has to cry several times.

"I haven't slept properly in weeks," he says.

"I'm exhausted." He just wanted to live his life in peace.

But that is no longer possible for him.

Not after all that has happened.

"Its hard."

Alec Baldwin, the actor, the American star who has starred in so many films in his life, is making his toughest appearance.

On the US broadcaster ABC, at prime time, he spoke to an audience of millions for the first time about the tragic events on the set of the film "Rust".

During the shooting, the camerawoman Halyna Hutchins was fatally hit by a bullet and director Joel Souza was injured.

Baldwin held the gun that killed the camerawoman.

Now, almost six weeks later, the Hollywood star looks like a man who no longer understands the world.

Again and again Baldwin looks at the interviewer George Stephanopoulos with an uncertain, sad look.

Then he says, “I ask myself: How did a real cartridge get into the revolver?

Who brought you to the set? "

The Baldwin interview is a major event in the United States.

As usual, the broadcaster ABC fueled the public's curiosity about the entire program days before the broadcast with short excerpts.

Interviewer Stephanopoulos is a star himself, he is usually used when presidents are to be interviewed.

The death of the camerawoman and Baldwin's role in the tragedy electrify the American public almost more than any other news event.

On social media, the actor is denounced as a cold-blooded murderer, ex-President Donald Trump accused Baldwin of having a blast, of being crazy.

Even fellow actors turn away from him, blaming Baldwin more or less directly for Halyna Hutchins' death.

It is obvious that Baldwin wants to describe his point of view in this interview, he is trying to regain control over what happened during the filming of the western "Rust".

His message, including to the investigators investigating the case: He is innocent.

What Really Happened in Santa Fe?

Baldwin vividly reports what, from his point of view, happened on October 21 near Santa Fe in the state of New Mexico.

During the scene in a small wooden church that was supposed to be filmed that day, cameraman Hutchins instructed him to point his gun in their direction, says Baldwin.

It was her concern to get the best angle for a shot.

Suddenly the gun went off and Hutchins slumped.

"I thought she was passed out at first," says Baldwin.

He didn't understand what happened.

The whole time he and the camerawoman assumed that the revolver used for the sample did not contain any cartridges.

The gun had previously been handed over to him by an assistant director.

He had expressly pointed out that it was a "cold gun", i.e. a weapon without ammunition.

Baldwin said he didn't even touch the trigger.

He just pulled the tap back a little and let it go again.

The gun went off.

For Baldwin the whole thing is a terrible "accident," a tragedy that he "would like to undo," as he puts it.

One of the worst things for him is the thought that a family has now been destroyed.

Halyna Hutchins' nine-year-old son lost his mother, Baldwin said in a shaky voice.

“I have six children myself.

We can't get his mother back, I'm so sorry. "

Baldwin seems most convincing at this moment, honestly shaken, yes, innocent.

The big question for him now is whether the judiciary in New Mexico will follow his presentation.

The official investigation by the local sheriff and prosecutor into the case has not yet been completed.

It is up to you to decide whether Baldwin or any other member of the film crew will be charged with the camerawoman's death.

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Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins: A family destroyed

Photo: Fred Hayes / SAGindie / Getty Images

The investigators are investigating, among other things, the question of whether work on the set of "Rust" could have been sloppy for reasons of cost.

Several former employees accuse Baldwin and the production company of not taking safety regulations seriously.

Even before Halyna Hutchins' tragic death, incidents with loaded guns are said to have occurred on location.

Baldwin asserts that he didn't notice anything.

He also saw no need to check the weapon again before using it.

“I've held so many guns in my hands while filming.

Nothing ever happened.

I could always count on the guns workers doing their job properly. "

And anyway: When shooting Hollywood films, a total of a billion shots were certainly fired.

There have been only four or five deaths in the many decades, according to Baldwin.

"It was safe for me." Little did he know that the guns were loaded.

In fact, it remains a mystery how the real ammunition got into the revolver that day.

There are rumors of sabotage, but the prosecutor in charge has already called this view of some former employees on the set a "conspiracy theory".

"Someone is responsible"

There are other leads: shortly before the Baldwin interview, local authorities searched the offices of an arms dealer in New Mexico who is said to have supplied the crew on the set with real revolvers and ammunition for the shoot.

The man swears that he only provided blank cartridges.

He said he checked them all one by one before they were delivered.

It is also unclear how the shot was released from the revolver.

The assistant director who handed Baldwin the gun confirmed through his attorney Baldwin's version that the actor had actually never pulled the trigger.

Weapons experts across the country are now giving their interpretations.

One possible explanation: With certain revolvers from the Western era, shots are said to have accidentally been fired without the trigger being pulled.

A light touch on the tap can be enough.

Gunslingers of that time are therefore said to have always turned the drums of their weapons onto an empty chamber before they put them in their holsters.

Is all of this enough as an excuse for Baldwin?

When interviewer Stephanopoulos asks him at the end of the interview if he felt guilty, Baldwin said very clearly: No.

“I think someone is responsible.

I do not know who.

But that's not me.

If it were me, I might have killed myself. "