Alec Baldwin’s wife fears the actor is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder following the accidental fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on a New Mexico film set.
Hours after Baldwin broke his silence on the tragedy, speaking to reporters in rural Vermont, Hilaria Baldwin described how she wanted to protect her husband and children from the glare of publicity following the tragedy.
“I brought Alec up here because we have to mourn Halyna’s death,” she told the New York Post.
“Alec had a really traumatic thing happen, and I am trying to limit the PTSD.
“He needs space for me to take care of him and his mental health,” she said. “It’s an awful thing that happened. Alec feels awful.”
Mrs Baldwin was hopeful he would resume his acting career, but was unsure when.
She had driven more than 200 miles from Greenwich Village in New York City to Vermont with her six children.
“I drove around for an entire day trying to find a place,” she said.
Exactly when Baldwin arrived in Vermont was unclear, although he is believed to have arrived early last week.
Once spotted the photographers and reporters descended on Manchester, Vermont, a small town with a population of just over 4,000.
Pursued by the media Baldwin and his wife pulled over by the roadside to speak to them.
It was a tense encounter with the Baldwins visibly annoyed by a reporter who appeared to have forgotten Ms Hutchins’ name.
“You don’t know her name? Come on. Halyna Hutchins,” the actor snapped.
He described how he had met with Ms Hutchins’ husband, Matthew and their son.
Then, to the actor’s apparent irritation, Mrs Baldwin interjected interrupting him in mid-flow.
“Do me a favour? I’m going to answer the question,” he snapped at her.
Later, when asked why the family had headed to Vermont, Mrs Baldwin answered the question before the actor put his hand on her shoulder indicating that he would handle the questions.
Ms Hutchins, 42, died after Baldwin discharged a gun on set that he apparently did not realise had contained a live round.
The 63-year-old actor defended the film’s staff against accusations of negligence, when he spoke to the media in Vermont.
“We were a very, very well-oiled crew shooting a film together when this horrible event happened,” said Baldwin, who was starring in and producing the western.
“This is a one-in-a-trillion episode, a one-in-a-trillion event.”