Alec Baldwin Thanks People for Supporting Him After "Rust" Shooting

Alec Baldwin hopped on cam to deliver a holiday message ... thanking people who have supported him in the wake of the fatal shooting on the "Rust" set, saying it's been a rough road for him.

Baldwin expressed gratitude to people who reached out to him with messages of sympathy and support ... "I wanted to take a moment to say thank you to all the people who sent me such kind words and best wishes and strength and hope and prayers, thoughts and lots of encouragement. I got hundreds, hundreds of emails from friends, family and colleagues and people I haven't heard from in quite a while to send me strength and good wishes and so forth. I'm really grateful to them."

Baldwin talked about his desire to put the tragedy behind him, and at the same time acknowledged the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins will never be forgotten ... "I'm looking forward to some aspects of this being behind me, of course. For everyone who is involved in this, it'll never be behind us because someone died so tragically. I never lose sight of that, not a day goes by I don't think about that."

He then talked about the center of his life ... "It's true, I only care about my wife and my kids and moving forward with my life and trying to get through a tough time, a really tough time."