I finally got around to watching the video of Alec Baldwin being interviewed by George Stephanopoulos about the tragedy on the set of the movie Rust. There is, of course, a mystery as to how that awful thing happened but I'm not going to speculate from afar. There's an ongoing investigation and if the folks conducting it can't figure it out with access to all the evidence and witnesses, I'm sure not about to crack the case sitting here.
There are two other mysteries here, one being why Baldwin consented to the interview and if he did so against the advice of his attorneys. He must have known that if he broke down crying — as he did — people would just say, "He's an experienced actor. He knows how to cry on cue."
That may or may not be so but he's not going to win any sympathies with it, nor will saying — as he did in several forms — "I would go to any lengths to undo what happened." That's kind of a hollow, easy thing to say when we all know that there's no way to undo what happened.
There will presumably be a report that will spread blame around to many but to one person in particular — whoever was responsible for the live charge in the gun. That person will pay a high price and there will be civil suits where someone or someones will pay a high price. Some people will never believe the "official" conclusion because some people never believe the "official" explanation of anything. And there will be some new rules or policies about guns on movie sets which may do the teensiest smidgen of good.
And the other mystery is why I watched that interview…and that one, I can answer. I think I was just dumb and I would go to any lengths to undo…