Alec Baldwin and Wife Hilaria Open Up in Rare Interview About Raising 7 Kids and Life After the Rust Tragedy (Exclusive)

• Alec Baldwin and his wife Hilaria open up in a rare joint interview as they prepare to debut their new TLC reality series The Baldwins
• The show, which filmed last year, follows the Baldwins as they raise their seven children and deal with the stress of Alec’s involuntary manslaughter trial, stemming from an accidental shooting on the set of Rust in 2021
• The couple talk about their deep bond and how they get through tough times together

Alec and Hilaria Baldwin’s sunny duplex apartment in New York City has all the hallmarks of parents with young children: framed photos of cherubic faces, stacks of books like Dinosaurs Love Underpants, and commotion. Lots of commotion. 

The Baldwins’ home — which on a recent January day doubled as the set for a PEOPLE photo shoot — is filled with the sounds of seven children running and playing as their mom tries to corral them for a family photo. 

“Come, come!” Hilaria calls out as several pairs of tiny feet stomp around from various directions. She tries again: “Everybody into the living room, please!” If Hilaria is stressed, she doesn’t show it. As she explains later of her parenting philosophy, “I’m going to go with the flow. Trying to fight seven little people? You’re greatly outnumbered.”

On the family’s new TLC reality series The Baldwins (premiering Feb. 23), lightheartedly chaotic moments like those are interwoven with scenes about Alec’s legal drama over the accidental shooting on the set of his movie Rust. 

The show gives viewers a glimpse of Emmy-winning 30 Rock star Alec, 66, and author, yoga pro and wellness expert Hilaria, 41, as they navigate a then-uncertain future and the joyful but hectic day-to-day with their kids: getting haircuts, tending to their pets (they now have four dogs and four cats) and ferrying between the city and their Long Island home in two SUVs. 

“This is our lives,” says Alec, sitting beside Hilaria in their kitchen a few minutes after the photo shoot wraps. 

Their children have always remained their focus and a source of happiness. “I always joke with her and say, ‘You know where I should be right now, don’t you? We should be on Geffen’s yacht, drinking a cappuccino and reading a book, and having dinner with Spielberg or whatever,’ ” he says. Hilaria interjects: “Instead we’re changing diapers!” 

Which is just the way they like it. “This is my reality,” Alec says, reflecting on their family dynamic. “I wouldn’t change anything,”

Putting their lives on-camera is a bold move for a couple who have often been targeted by tabloid press and social media commenters since they began dating after meeting by chance at a New York City restaurant 14 years ago. 

Alec and Hilaria, who wed in 2012, have been picked apart for their age difference, their decision to have a large family and everything in between. By now accustomed to facing criticism, the parents of Carmen, 11, Rafael, 9, Leonardo, 8, Romeo, 6, Eduardo and Marilu, 4, and Ilaria, 2, aim to reclaim their narrative and upend unfair misconceptions (she’s a gold-digger; he’s a grump). 

“Telling your story is one thing, and showing your story is something else,” says Hilaria. “It felt authentic, it felt human. It felt very empowering.” On the show they get candid about hot topics, including whether they had a prenup. “I said I would,” Hilaria recounts. “And then you’re like, ‘Okay, we don’t have to.’ ”

For Alec, whose oldest daughter, Ireland, 29 (with ex-wife Kim Basinger, 71), made him a proud grandfather in 2023, filming with his loved ones also felt like a bonus: It was work, but it didn’t feel like work. 

“We did the show because it’s in place of doing a movie or a play. Now I think to myself, ‘Am I going to be away from my kids five nights out of the week until 11 o’clock at night?’ ” says Alec. “For me, work-related things really aren’t that critical anymore. I thought, ‘I get to spend time with my family.’ ”

Still, filming came at a particularly tough time. Cameras rolled on the eight-episode docuseries last year in the weeks before Alec was tried in New Mexico for involuntary manslaughter following the deadly accidental shooting on the set of the western movie Rust in 2021. 

Alec, who faced up to 18 months in prison, was holding a prop gun when it discharged, killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and injuring writer-director Joel Souza (who recovered from his injuries).

Though Alec insisted he did not pull the trigger and could not have known the gun contained live ammunition instead of dummy rounds, he was indicted by a grand jury and stood trial in July. 

But on day three of the proceedings, the judge dismissed the case with prejudice after Alec’s lawyers argued that the prosecutors withheld evidence. 

Having cameras present at such a frightening time didn’t feel like an intrusion, says Hilaria. “It was an opportunity for us to actually speak. It was a really safe space,” she says. “And I think it was also very cathartic, almost like a diary, during a very unsure time of our life. That felt both terrifying and like it could get us through day by day.”

Wendy Douglas, Vice President of Production, TLC, praises the Baldwins' "honesty, emotional openness, and genuine willingness to share the most intimate aspects of their lives" during what she calls "an incredibly vulnerable time."

The couple leaned on each other, as seen in tender moments on the show. “I don’t know where I would be if I didn’t have her,” Alec says of Hilaria. “I don’t know what would’ve happened to me.” 

The Baldwins are keenly aware that others have suffered too, including Hutchins’s widower, Matthew, and their only child. As Hilaria says on the show, “A son lost his mom. We are going to feel and carry that pain forever.” 

So how do they carry it? “You can’t, but you do,” says Hilaria. “There is no recipe.”

With the trial behind them, the Baldwins are thankful for what they have and secure in knowing they can get through anything together. “We’re leaning into gratitude every single day,” says Hilaria. “The simple beauties of life can get you through hard moments.”

The Baldwins premieres on Sunday, Feb. 23 at 10pm E.T. on TLC.

For more on Alec and Hilaria Baldwin, pick up the new issue of PEOPLE.