Succession star Brian Cox has said that his ‘heart completely goes out’ to Alec Baldwin after the ‘tragic’ shooting of Halyna Hutchins, as he recalled a ‘horrific’ gun incident he experienced in the past.
Last month, Baldwin, 63, discharged a gun on the set of the film Rust, accidentally killing 42-year-old cinematographer Hutchins and injuring director Joel Souza, 48.
Speaking on camera for the first time after the tragedy, Baldwin said that he couldn’t make any comments about the ongoing investigation, describing Hutchins as his ‘friend’.
On Monday’s edition of This Morning, Cox, who is a friend of Baldwin’s, expressed his sympathy over the impact the incident has had on the 30 Rock star while speaking to Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby.
‘In this situation, I can’t imagine. For the young woman, who had the most promising career, and apparently she was a rather brilliant cinematographer, it is truly, truly tragic. But it’s also tragic for Alec,’ the 75-year-old said.
‘In the last 10 years he’s had about five kids and he has a very happy life. He’s an interesting guy, Alec, really smart man. But he’s had a tough time.’
Describing Baldwin’s stint on sitcom 30 Rock as ‘a great renaissance for him’, Cox added: ‘But for this to happen, my heart completely goes out to him.’
Cox also recalled an incident he had at one point in his career when he was a stage manager, when he accidentally fired a blank from a gun causing a minor injury.
The Churchill actor said that he was being shown ‘how to hand somebody a gun’ when he ‘fired the gun by accident’ and it ‘burnt the end of the nose’ of the other person.
‘It was horrific but it was also kind of farcical as well. It was okay and it was a minor blank,’ he said.
At the beginning of Cox’s interview on This Morning, Schofield was forced to apologise for the actor’s foul language, when he slipped up by saying he was ‘p**sing about’.
He also revealed that after making several critical remarks about other actors including Johnny Depp, Edward Norton and Michael Caine in his new autobiography, he is going to publish an addendum.
Speaking specifically about Caine, Cox said that he has ‘such respect’ for the Alfie actor, saying that he has ‘given great performances’ and continually ‘honoured his working class roots’.
However, he acknowledged that some opinions that he had about people 30 years ago may not still hold true today, as ‘everybody is capable of change’.
This Morning airs weekdays at 10am on ITV.
Got a story?
If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.
MORE : Alec Baldwin’s wife Hilaria shares support as he speaks out over Halyna Hutchins shooting