U.S. actor Alec Baldwin said the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on a movie set earlier this month was a "one-in-a-trillion episode," and he again expressed his remorse over the death, saying the Ukrainian-born Hutchins “was my family.”
Baldwin spoke to reporters in Manchester, Vermont, on October 30 in his first on-camera comments since Hutchins died after Baldwin fired the shot that killed her during a rehearsal of a scene for the western Rust.
"There are incidental accidents on film sets from time to time, but nothing like this. This is a one-in-a-trillion episode," Baldwin said in the impromptu interview broadcast by entertainment network TMZ.
Baldwin, who previously expressed his grief over the tragedy, said he could not comment on the ongoing investigation. He said he answered questions "as a courtesy" to reporters who had been following him and his family and asked them to stop trailing him.
Baldwin fired a live round from a Colt .45 during the rehearsal on October 21. The round passed through Hutchins' body and struck director Joel Souza in the shoulder. She died, while he was treated in hospital for the injury and released.
The film's assistant director, Dave Halls, had told Baldwin that the gun was "cold" -- meaning it did not have a live round in the chamber. Halls has told detectives that he did not fully check the gun before declaring it safe.
The film's armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, 24, who was responsible for keeping weapons safe on set, said in a statement on October 29 that she had "no idea" where the live round came from.
Authorities have not ruled out pressing criminal charges.
