Alec Baldwin broke down in tears in his first interview since Halyna Hutchins was shot dead on a film set – and insisted he did not pull the trigger of the gun that killed her.

The actor-producer shot and killed the cinematographer when a prop gun he was holding went off during filming for the Western, Rust, in New Mexico.

And the 63-year-old sobbed while speaking to Good Morning America host George Stephanopoulos in his first interview since her death in October

In a promotional clip shared on Twitter, Baldwin said of Hutchins: “She was someone who was loved by everyone who worked with her, liked by everyone she worked with and admired.

“Even now, I find it hard to believe that, it just doesn’t seem real to me.”

Stephanopoulos asked: “It wasn’t in the script for the trigger to be pulled?”

And in comments that deepen the mystery surrounding the death, Baldwin replied: “Well the trigger wasn’t pulled, I did not pull the trigger…

“No, no, no, no, no, I would never point a gun at anyone and pull a trigger at them, never.”

Asked “how did a real bullet get on that set?”, the actor replied: “I have no idea, someone put a live bullet in a gun, a bullet that wasn’t even supposed to be on the property.”

Stephanopoulos also asked: “You said you’re not a victim, but is this the worst thing that’s ever happened to you?

“Yes,” Baldwin replied.

“Because I think back, and I think of ‘what could I have done?'”

Although his response does not feature in the trailer, the actor is also shown being asked: “I think the big question, and the one you must have asked yourself a thousand times, how could this have happened?

“You’ve described it as a one-in-a-trillion shot and the gun was in your hand, how do you come to terms with that?”

The full interview will air on ABC in the US at 1am UK time on Thursday.