Alec Baldwin opens up about Rust shooting in emotional interview: 'I didn't pull the trigger'

Alec Baldwin is speaking out in his first in-depth interview since the fatal shooting accident on the set of Rust, and insisting he didn't pull the trigger to fire the shot that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

"The trigger wasn't pulled. I didn't pull the trigger — I would never point a gun at someone and pull the trigger on them, never," the actor and producer tells ABC's George Stephanopoulos in a preview clip from an hourlong interview, airing Thursday. Baldwin also says he has no idea how the bullet ended up in the gun, as it "wasn't even supposed to be on the property."

Up until now, the only times Baldwin had publicly addressed the Oct. 21 incident were in a statement on Twitter expressing "shock and sadness" and a statement to paparazzi in which he said, "This is America. How many bullets have gone off in movies, nearly all of them without incident?"

Baldwin was rehearsing a scene on the Santa Fe, N.M., set of the Western film Rust when the prop gun he was wielding discharged a live round. The shot killed Hutchins and injured director Joel Souza, and sparked conversations about on-set firearm safety in film production. An investigation into the incident is ongoing.

On Wednesday, Stephanoplous addressed the pretaped chat on Good Morning America, calling it "intense" but noting that Baldwin "was very candid, he was very forthcoming, he answered every question… He went through, in detail, what happened on set that day."

In addition to discussing why he chose to speak out now, and his own perspective and thoughts about how the accident happened, an emotional Baldwin opens up about his personal relationship with Hutchins.

"She was someone who was loved by everyone who worked with her and admired," he says. "Even now, I find it hard to believe… It doesn't seem real to me."

Watch the preview above. The full interview airs Thursday at 8 p.m. ET on ABC and will stream the same evening on Hulu.

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• D.A. on possibility of charges against Alec Baldwin in Rust tragedy: 'All options are on the table'

• Alec Baldwin was rehearsing Rust scene when prop gun shooting occurred, authorities say

• Everything we know about Rust, the Alec Baldwin film that resulted in a fatal shooting