Alec Baldwin has spoken out on his involvement in a fatal shooting — but did his body language
say more than his words?
On October 21, tragedy struck on the set of the film "Rust," being shot on location at
New Mexico's Bonanza Creek Ranch.
According to initial reports, a gun fired by Baldwin during rehearsal discharged a live
projectile in the direction of crew members, resulting in the death of cinematographer
Halyna Hutchins and the injury of director Joel Souza.
The shooting has raised a number of questions, from the nature of the projectile in the gun,
to the reported presence of live rounds on the film set, as well as who is ultimately
responsible for the tragedy. Baldwin also raised new questions with a new claim during
his December 2nd interview with ABC's George Stephanopoulos.
"It wasn't in the script for the trigger to be pulled."
"Well, the trigger wasn't pulled. I didn't pull the trigger."
"So you never pulled the trigger."
"No, no, no."
Of course, speech is just one way for a person to convey information, if you know what you're
looking for. As such, there's much more to this interview than just Baldwin's words.
The actor's body language had a lot to reveal as well.
To learn more about Alec Baldwin's body language during his ABC interview, Looper got in touch
with Body Language Expert Alison Henderson from Moving Image Consulting. What she had
to say about Baldwin's behavior during the interview was quite interesting.
First and foremost, she mentions that it's important to keep in mind that Baldwin is
an actor, meaning there were fewer visual "tells" to work off of than there would be
for someone with a different career. But just because he's used to controlling his appearance
in front of a camera doesn't mean that he's immune from betraying his feelings through
body language.
Starting at the top, Henderson says,
"At the beginning of the interview, Baldwin was less comfortable and exhibited some holding
behavior."
As evidence, she cites the way Baldwin sits while keeping his hands on his knees or lacing
his fingers together.
But the most interesting thing about the actor's body language was his eyes, and how he used
them. According to the expert.,
"The most striking moments were when Mr. Baldwin looked George Stephanopoulos in the eyes and
when he didn't."
Eye contact, Henderson says, implies honesty, meaning that Baldwin appeared truthful when
he referred to Hutchins as a "fantastic" person. He also appeared truthful when he recounted
his memory of how the gun went off.
"And I cock the gun, I go, 'Can you see that? Can you see that? Can you see that?' And she
says 'yes.' And then I let go of the hammer of the gun, and the gun goes off."
On the other hand, the actor's choice to drop eye contact when claiming he didn't observe
any safety or security issues on-set, as well as his denial that he feels guilty about the
situation, indicates there may be more to the story on those specific points.
"Were costs being cut at the expense of safety and security?"
"Well, I — in — in my — in my opinion, no, because I did not observe any safety or
security issues at all in the time I was there."
The intention behind Baldwin's big interview seemed to be to set the record straight, but
for many viewers, a question remains: was he being honest throughout this interview?
According to Henderson, the answer is a bit more complex than a simple "yes" or "no."
As Henderson points out, Baldwin is an actor, and an extremely seasoned interview guest.
As such, he was very much facing this issue on his home turf, and came into the interview
prepared.
The expert summed up the situation by saying,
"Everyone wants to know if Alec is lying. Overall, there was nothing which stood out
as a major red flag. However, Alec was also carefully controlling the narrative by bringing
up the feeling on set, multiple references to his family, etc. He stuck to his script
and his performance."
It makes sense that Baldwin would want to maintain control in what was possibly the
most important interview of his career, especially when the first interview he gave about the
subject was a more volatile affair. In October 21, Baldwin shared details about the "Rust"
shooting in a roadside interview with a group of paparazzi in Manchester, Vermont.
In the statements he gave back then, he mentioned his interest in doing what he could to help
improve gun safety on film sets, and mentioned that he'd been in touch with Hutchins family
— both points that he repeated in the new interview with ABC. He also told the photographers,
"I've been ordered by the sheriff's department in Santa Fe, I can't answer any questions
about the investigation. I can't. It's an active investigation."
Baldwin may have shared more information with his interview, but the central question of
who is responsible for the shooting remains unresolved.
"Someone is responsible for what happened, and I can't say who that is, but I know it's
not me."
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