Alec Baldwin says he didn’t pull trigger in first interview since fatal Rust shooting of Halyna Hutchins

Alec Baldwin has opened up in his first interview since the fatal shooting ofHalyna Hutchins on the set of Rust.

In an interview set to air in the US tonight, the 63-year-old broke down as he spoke to Good Morning America host George Stephanopoulos about the shooting.

Cinematographer Hutchins, 42, and director Joel Souza, 48, were shot on October 21 after a prop gun misfired on the New Mexico set. Hutchins later died from her injuries.

In a preview clip shared to Twitter, Baldwin said Hutchins was “someone who was loved by everyone who worked with her, liked by everyone she worked with and admired.”

He added: “Even now, I find it hard to believe that, it just doesn’t seem real to me.”

Stephanopoulos asked if it was in the script for the trigger of the prop gun to be pulled, to which Baldwin replied: “Well the trigger wasn’t pulled, I did not pull the trigger… No, no, no, no, no, I would never point a gun at anyone and pull a trigger at them, never.”

Stephanopoulos then asked how a real bullet got on the set, to which the actor replied: “I have no idea, someone put a live bullet in a gun, a bullet that wasn’t even supposed to be on the property.”

Baldwin was handed the gun by the assistant director, who was given the gun by armourer Hannah Gutierrez Reed. Gutierrez Reed’s lawyer Jason Bowles last month suggested that someone may have tried to “sabotage” the film when asked how live rounds came to be in the gun.

How live rounds got into the “cold gun” is now the central question in the investigation.

Asked by Stephanopoulos if this is the worst thing that’s ever happened to him, Baldwin immediately answered: “Yes”.

He added: “Because I think back and I think what could I have done?”

After the tragedy Baldwin released a statement which said his “heart is broken” for Hutchins’s friends and family, and added: “There are no words to convey my shock and sadness regarding the tragic accident that took the life of Halyna Hutchins, a wife, mother and deeply admired colleague of ours.”

He also previously described the incident as a “one in a trillion episode”.

Baldwin’s family have supported him, with daughter Ireland sharing an emotional Instagram post in which she said: “I know my dad, you simply don’t. I love you, Dad.”

The shooting has attracted trolling from the right wing, with Conservative congresswoman Lauren Boebert shared a mean-spirited tweet poking fun at Baldwin the day after the shooting.

Donald Trump Jr also sold t-shirts emblazoned with “Guns Don’t Kill People, Alec Baldwin Kills People” on his website.

The interview will air on ABC at 1am GMT on Friday, and will later be available to stream on Hulu.