"Even now, I find it hard to believe. It doesn't seem real:" Alec Baldwin gives first interview since Halyna Hutchins shooting

Alec Baldwin has denied pulling the trigger on the gun that accidentally killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the movie Rust in October.

42-year-old Hutchins was tragically killed while director Joel Souza was injured when the gun Baldwin was holding went off during rehearsals for the western on a ranch outside of Santa Fe, New Mexico. The rare filming fatality sent shockwaves through Hollywood and has forced a reckoning on the use of weapons on set and cutting corners on production safety.

The actor, his wife and children pulled over to the side of the road and gave an unscheduled statement after being pursued by photographers and members of the press. He described the incident as a "one in a trillion shot".

Baldwin has since given his first interview since the tragedy with ABC's George Stephanopoulos. The Good Morning America journalist can be seen asking the actor to confirm whether it was in the script for the trigger to be pulled.

“Well, the trigger wasn’t pulled. I didn’t pull the trigger,” Baldwin says. Stephanopoulos confirms, “So you never pulled the trigger?” to which Baldwin answers, “No, no, no, no. I would never point a gun at anyone and pull a trigger at them. Never.”

Stephanopoulos later described the 80-minute sit-down with 63-year-old Baldwin as “raw” and “intense”.

The journalist said Baldwin was “devastated” yet “very candid” and “forthcoming”. The actor “answered every question” and discussed Hutchins, meeting with her family, and his account of what happened on set that day. “I have to tell you, I was surprised in many places over the course of that hour and twenty minutes we sat down yesterday,” Stephanopoulos said.

“I’ve done thousands of interviews in the last 20 years at ABC,” he said. “This was the most intense I’ve ever experienced.”

The Sante Fe county sheriff’s office is currently investigating the shooting, predominantly focused on how live rounds - which are banned on set - came to be in the gun held by Baldwin.

According to reports, Baldwin believed the gun was empty. He had been handed the weapon by assistant director Dave Halls, who allegedly called “cold gun” as he passed it over. Weapons on set, including the gun given to Halls, were handled by 24-year-old Hannah Gutierrez Reed. Rust marked the head armorer's second ever feature gig, where she handled weapons alongside holding the job of key props assistant.

Asked how he thinks a live bullet got in the gun, which was supposed to be loaded with blanks or dummy rounds, Baldwin remarked that he had “no idea”.

Baldwin also told Stephanopoulos unequivocally that the accidental shooting was the worst thing that’s ever happened to him: “Yep...yeah, because I think back and I think of ‘what could I have done?’”

Alec Baldwin Unscripted, will air in the US on ABC today, and will be available later on Hulu.

Watch a clip from the interview special below: