Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Alec Baldwin’s ‘Rust’ character was a reluctant gun-toting outsider in this scene from ‘Mark Felt’
A man who directed Alec Baldwin’s US thriller “Rust” has been arrested and accused of illegally possessing a gun in a Washington DC cinema.
Bruce McKinley, who appeared in the film alongside Baldwin, was arrested on Friday when police searched his car and hotel room, prosecutors said.
A search warrant, filed in court on Monday, reveals his admission to firearms “safety” issues.
Mr McKinley’s lawyer denied any wrongdoing and said he would plead not guilty.
Police said he “dressed in the disguise of someone who does not own a firearm” and hid his weapon in a piece of luggage in his car and in his hotel room.
Mr McKinley was filming in Washington as part of “Rust”, a movie about an assistant director working in a film studio but who is easily attracted to an outsider with a gun.
It features none other than Baldwin, who has said he was looking for a “mumblecore” movie to do between Family Guy and 30 Rock.
Image copyright 20th Century Fox Image caption Baldwin played a gun-toting assistant director in “Rust”
Mr McKinley, who is acting defence counsel, said his client was in the US after searching for work “through a wonderful website called ProHollywood”.
He said his client had been unaware there was a federal criminal gun-trafficking law that would make it illegal to have a gun in a public place.
The actor, who gave up his US residency to join his second wife, Hilaria, in the UK, is reportedly due to play president Richard Nixon in the TV political drama Trust.
Mr McKinley said his client had more reasonable requirements, saying: “No one has it more than him.”
Image copyright Reuters Image caption Mr McKinley is charged with violating the federal Firearms Act
US Attorney Jessie Liu said her office took all charges very seriously and is working with local law enforcement to identify how the weapon ended up in the room and elsewhere in the hotel.
“They’re both under investigation at this point. We’re working with them,” she said.
Mr McKinley faces up to two years in prison if convicted of illegal possession of a firearm.
Image copyright Fox Image caption And in the future? Alec Baldwin says he wants to do more of these underdogs
In the long-delayed adaptation of Mark Felt’s life as FBI chief of security from 1973 to 1976, Mr Baldwin stars opposite Diane Lane, James Woods and August Diehl.
