Alec Baldwin Does Not Want to See “Rust”'s Final Cut, Says Situation Has 'Traumatized' Wife Hilaria

The actor, whose manslaughter case was dismissed in July, was holding a prop gun on the set of the film in 2021 when it discharged, killing the cinematographer

• Alec Baldwin gave a rare interview about the tragic accidental shooting death on the set of Rust 

• The actor, whose manslaughter case was dismissed in July, said the situation has ‘traumatized’ wife Hilaria

• He said he has no desire to see the final cut of the film

Alec Baldwin is speaking out about the painful Rust tragedy.

The 66-year-old actor, who is the recipient of the Torino Film Festival’s lifetime achievement honor, spoke to Variety in an interview published Monday, Nov. 25, and called the ordeal around the film “the most difficult thing I’ve ever dealt with in my life.”

Baldwin was holding a prop gun on the New Mexico set of the Western in 2021 when it accidentally discharged, killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and injuring director Joel Souza.

The Emmy winner, who insisted he did not pull the trigger or know why the gun contained live ammunition, was charged with manslaughter and stood trial in July, but the judge dismissed the case against him on the third day of proceedings after learning that the prosecution withheld evidence from the defense.

Related: How Rust Prosecutors’ Case Against Alec Baldwin Fell Apart in Stunning Fashion: ‘What Have They Done?’ (Exclusive)

Baldwin and wife, Hilaria, 39, who showed up to court every day and sat behind her husband, both cried after the judge issued her decision.

“Beyond the victims themselves, the thing that most pains me is what it did to my wife. My wife has been very, very traumatized from this,” he told the outlet.

“There has been a lot of pain. When you are married to somebody and everything was going fairly well and we had seven kids … and the floor falls out.  It’s very frightening and very disturbing,” continued Baldwin, who shares daughters Carmen Gabriela, 10, María Lucía Victoria, 2, and Ilaria Catalina Irena, 15 months, as well as four sons Rafael Thomas, 8, Leonardo Ángel Charles, 7, Romeo Alejandro David, 5, and Eduardo "Edu" Pao Lucas, 3, with Hilaria. He is also dad to Ireland, 27, whom he shares with ex-wife Kim Basinger.

“And we are trying to get the wind in our sails, to get away from this stuff. Because the film doesn’t stand by itself. It’s always going to be overshadowed by this,” he added.

“That’s sad because when we started, I put my shoulder into this the way I did, helping them to write a script and to bring all these other things. I endured multiple rises and falls with this like a soufflé: up, down, up, down, trying to find a location, to find money and stuck with this for a couple of years,” he told the outlet.

Related: Rust Director Who Survived Bullet Wound Says Resuming Filming with 'Fake Guns' Was 'Unnerving' for Alec Baldwin

“Then we finally got it made. When we arrived on set, we were all elated. We were so happy! Like all independent films, there were a lot of time considerations, we were on a tough schedule. But we were all happy to be there, we were happy to make the film. And I am happy that the film got completed. It’s been such a tragedy, which of course we would do anything to undo,” Baldwin said.

As of now, Baldwin told Variety he has no intention of seeing the final cut — but he’s rooting for the film’s success.

“I was sent a rough cut early on, before everything got a little more sticky and difficult. So I haven’t seen the film. But, again, I hope the film is released, that it comes out. That it makes its money back for its investors. You never want these people who believed in your project to be left high and dry,” he said.

In 2022, Baldwin and the film’s producers reached a settlement in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Hutchins’s widower, Matthew Hutchins. Matthew was made an executive producer on the film, which completed filming in 2023.

Baldwin said he was “very sick” and “physically drained and ill” following Hutchins’s death and doctors recommended he not continue working on the movie, which resumed filming in Montana. But he went anyway.

“I said to Joel, ‘Are you going to do it? If you think it’s important to do this, I’ll do it. If it’s the only way we can settle the case with [Hutchins’] husband and the estate is to finish the film, let’s do it,’” said Baldwin.

Related: Director of Alec Baldwin’s Rust Understands If People ‘Don’t Want to Watch’ Film After On-Set Death: ‘No Hard Feelings’

“So we go to Montana. We finish … And I waived my fee. I gave them back the fee in the budget. I waived all my backend. I gave everything to her husband,” continued Baldwin. (PEOPLE reached out to a lawyer for Matthew Hutchins, but did not immediately hear back.)

“And I hope the movie is sold, and that he gets his money. We all made a deal with him and we all want to follow through. But this idea that people — who shall remain nameless — say, ‘You are profiting from this!’ That is absolutely wrong,” Baldwin claimed.

As the film premiered at the Polish Camerimage Festival on Nov. 20, Hutchins’s mother, Olga Solovey, released a statement through her attorney Gloria Allred, claiming the actor “seeks to unjustly profit from his killing of my daughter.”