Publicly, Alec Baldwin broke his silence on the Rust shooting in December of last year.
Two months earlier, however, the actor sat down with police to discuss what had happened in the immediate aftermath.
He spoke at length to investigators about how things are usually done, openly wondering what must have gone wrong.
Then, while being filmed, Baldwin was informed that Halyna Hutchins had died. His stunned reaction is haunting.
The Santa Fe sheriff’s office has released a tremendous amount of previously unseen footage from the Rust shooting investigation.
As we all remember, a catastrophic series of safeguard failures caused a gun, which should not have had ammunition, to fire a deadly bullet on set.
There was a lot to process, and a lot of grieving people who deserve answers.
Director Joel Souza was injured in the shooting.
Halyna Hutchins died, a shocking tragedy that sent ripples through the entertainment community.
And Alec Baldwin, who was holding the gun, had a lot of questions to answer.
Alec sat down with investigators to speak at length.
(We don’t know why he did not appear to have an attorney present — that’s pretty much never a good idea, especially if you are innocent0
More than an hour of footage went by, much of which was spent with Alec speaking to answer questions.
Baldwin explained to investigators that people were not standing in specified safety zones because everyone believed that the gun was safe.
It was not supposed to be a “hot weapon,” but merely an ineffective prop.
At worst, it should have contained clay that would dissolve in the air if fired — but even then, safety measures would be taken.
When Baldwin was shown the projectile — which had passed through Hutchins and then injured Souza — he was stunned.
“That’s a bullet,” he told investigators in disbelief. “That’s a bullet.”
He continued: “As I suspected, somebody put a live round in the gun.”
More than once, Baldwin expressed: “I’m so sickened by this.”
He remarked: “That a bullet passed through this girl’s body. And she’s in critical condition in the hospital right now.”
“And I fired the gun,” Baldwin lamented. “And you don’t think I feel really s–t about that? I do.”
The conversation covers multiple topics — one of the key jobs of investigators is to get people talking as much as possible.
Baldwin also irons out the logistics of whether or not he is permitted to leave town to see his family.
Investigators told him that it should be fine unless he hears otherwise from them, and he assured them that he’d help however possible.
Baldwin explained how dummy rounds should work — as they do on countless real sets.
He also went into detail on how the scene should be filmed.
Given his lengthy career, Baldwin also spoke about his past experience with guns on sets — all of which were very different.
Only at the end of the interview, after many topics were covered and laughs were shared, did Baldwin get the news from one of the investigators.
This is when he learned that Hutchins had passed away due to her injuries.
Clasping his hand over his mouth in shock, Baldwin sat in stunned silence before asking if he can call his wife. It’s a truly painful moment.
