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Alec Baldwin's First Sit-Down Interview Since Rust Shooting Is 'So Raw,' Says George Stephanopoulos

Alec Baldwin attends the World Premiere of National Geographic Documentary Films' 'The First Wave' at Hamptons International Film Festival on October 07, 2021 in East Hampton, New York.
Alec Baldwin attends the World Premiere of National Geographic Documentary Films' 'The First Wave' at Hamptons International Film Festival on October 07, 2021 in East Hampton, New York.

Mark Sagliocco/Getty Alec Baldwin

Alec Baldwin will do his first interview since he discharged a gun that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and injured director Joel Souza, a source confirms to PEOPLE.

The Saturday Night Live actor, 63, will sit down with George Stephanopoulos for ABC News, as first reported by CNN Business, following the tragedy on the set of his Western film, Rust. The primetime special airs tomorrow (Thursday) at 8 p.m. ET on ABC, streaming the next day on Hulu.

On Good Morning America Wednesday, Stephanopoulos, 60, said the interview (recorded Tuesday afternoon) is the "most intense" he has done in his career.

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"It is so raw. I mean, as you can imagine he's devastated. But he was also very candid, he was very forthcoming, he answered every question. He talked about Halyna Hutchins, talked about meeting with her family as well," shared Stephanopoulos. "He went through, in detail, what happened on set that day. I have to tell you I was surprised in many places over the course of that hour and 20 minutes that we sat down yesterday."

Baldwin's interview with Stephanopoulos will mark the first time he has sat down for an interview since the incident occurred on Oct. 21 on location at the Bonanza Creek Ranch in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

The actor publicly addressed the accident twice. In a statement posted to Baldwin's official Twitter account one day after Hutchins' death, Baldwin spoke out about the shooting for the first time, writing, "There are no words to convey my shock and sadness regarding the tragic accident that took the life of Halyna Hutchins, a wife, mother and deeply admired colleague of ours."

RELATED: Alec Baldwin Seen Distraught After Accidental Shooting on Set of Rust Movie, Killing Cinematographer

"I'm fully cooperating with the police investigation to address how this tragedy occurred and I am in touch with her husband, offering my support to him and his family," the 30 Rock alum continued. "My heart is broken for her husband, their son, and all who knew and loved Halyna."

Baldwin spoke about Hutchins, 42, for the second time in a video shared by TMZ on Oct. 30, in which he called her "my friend."

Halyna Hutchins
Halyna Hutchins

James Gourley/Shutterstock Halyna Hutchins

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Shortly after the on-set shooting occurred, a source told PEOPLE that Baldwin was struggling with what happened to Hutchins and Souza, 48. "Alec is still trying to get his head around everything that happened," the source said. "This has been devastating. It's been incredibly difficult."

On Nov. 17, Baldwin and Rust producers were named in a lawsuit filed by script supervisor Mamie Mitchell, who was allegedly standing in the line of fire when the gun went off.

RELATED VIDEO: Alec Baldwin Seen Distraught After Accidental Shooting on Set of Rust Movie, Killing Cinematographer

"Days before the shooting there were warning signs that there were dangerous conditions related to guns on the site, a camera operator had reported two gun discharges during a rehearsal in a cabin," Gloria Allred, Mitchell's lawyer, told reporters via SkyNews. "Important industry safety protocols designed to ensure firearms would be safely used were ignored and actions were taken that were against all industry norms."

RELATED: Gun Alec Baldwin Fired on Rust Set Contained 'Live Round,' Prop Masters Union Says

A vehicle from the Office of the Medical Investigator enters the front gate leading to the Bonanza Creek Ranch on October 22, 2021 in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Director of Photography Halyna Hutchins was killed and director Joel Souza was injured on set while filming the movie "Rust" at Bonanza Creek Ranch near Santa Fe, New Mexico on October 21, 2021. The film's star and producer Alec Baldwin discharged a prop firearm that hit Hutchins and Souza.

Sam Wasson/Getty

Prior to Allred's statement to reporters, a Rust crew member spoke to PEOPLE about "red flags" they saw while watching the film's armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed.

"There's a lot of times where her little cart that has her weapons — I've been on other shoots where they're very safe and professional," the crew member explained. "No one handles those weapons but the armorer and they keep them safe … She just had them on a cart, unattended sometimes where anybody could grab it, tamper with it."

Gutierrez-Reed, 24, has since defended her work on the film. Last month, she said through her attorney Jason Bowles in a statement shared with PEOPLE that she did not think live bullets would end up on the Rust set "in a million years," and she did not know how they got there.

"Hannah Gutierrez-Reed would like to add a few points to the continuing narrative on the tragic events surrounding the shooting on the Rust set," Bowles stated. "First, Hannah was incredibly safety conscious and took her job very seriously from the moment she started on Oct. 4."

He added, "She did firearms training for the actors as well as Mr. Baldwin, she fought for more training days and she regularly emphasized to never point a firearm at a person. Never in a million years did Hannah think that live rounds could have been in the 'dummy' Round box. Who put those in there and why is the central question."

In the statement shared with PEOPLE, Bowles said Gutierrez-Reed "kept guns locked up, including throughout lunch" on the day Hutchins was shot and killed. "She instructed her department to watch the cart containing the guns when she was pulled away for her other duties or on a lunch break," Bowles added.

"Hannah did everything in her power to ensure a safe set. She inspected the rounds that she loaded into the firearms that day. She always inspected the rounds. She did again right before handing the firearm to Mr. Halls, by spinning the cylinder and showing him all of the rounds and then handing him the firearm," Bowles stated. "No one could have anticipated or thought that someone would introduce live rounds into this set."