SANTE FE, N. M. — Alec Baldwin “played make-believe with a real gun” on the set of “Rust” — and cinematographer Halyna Hutchins died as a result, prosecutors argued at the start of the actor’s trial Wednesday.

Baldwin’s lawyer, meanwhile, said he was merely an “actor, acting” and that the people who handed him a gun loaded with a live round are the ones responsible for Hutchins’ death.

Baldwin, 66, arrived at the court in Santa Fe around 8 a.m., roughly an hour before opening statements began in the manslaughter trial against him, wearing a dark suit, light purple button down shirt, maroon tie and glasses. He did not answer questions from a gaggle of reporters.

“The evidence will show that someone who played make-believe with a real gun and violated the cardinal rules of firearm safety — is the defendant Alec Baldwin,” prosecutor Erlinda Ocampo told jurors, as Baldwin took notes on a yellow legal note pad.

The “30 Rock” star is charged with one count of involuntary manslaughter after he fired off a live round while rehearsing on the set of the Western at the Bonanza Creek Ranch, killing Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza on Oct. 21, 2021.

He faces up to 18 months in prison if convicted.

The “30 Rock” star is charged with one count of involuntary manslaughter after he fired off a live round while rehearsing on the set of the Western at the Bonanza Creek Ranch killing, Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza on Oct. 21, 2021.

He faces up to 18 months in jail in convicted.

“After that shooting, the defendant began to claim he didn’t pull the trigger,” Ocampo said. “The evidence will show that’s not possible.”

Ocampo said multiple gun experts will testify that “the gun will not discharge without a pull of that trigger.”

And multiple tests by a gun expert after Hutchins’ death showed, “This gun functioned and worked perfectly fine.”

Ocampo also told jurors that Baldwin requested that he work with the biggest gun possible and it was not a prop gun but rather a real one.

“It’s not a toy,” Ocampo said. “It’s not made of rubber. It’s a real gun.”

Baldwin “mishandled” the gun by pointing it at others and at things, the prosecutor alleged.

“You will hear about numerous breaches of firearms safety with this defendant and with this firearm,” the prosecutor said.

Ultimately, Ocampo said that Baldwin failed to do a safety check with armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed because “he didn’t want to offend her.”

“One of the main problems that afternoon is that the defendant didn’t do a gun safety check with that inexperienced armorer,” Ocampo said. “He pointed the gun at another human being, cocked the gun and pulled that trigger in reckless disregard for Ms. Hutchins safety.”

Baldwin lawyer Alex Spiro said during his openings that “This was an unspeakable tragedy. [But] Alec Baldwin committed no crime. He was an actor, acting.”

Baldwin sat with his arms crossed and took deep breaths as Spiro began addressing the jury. Wife Hilaria and brother Stephen Baldwin sat stone-faced in the courtroom gallery as the lawyers spoke.

Spiro placed the blame of Hutchins’ death squarely with Gutierrez-Reed and with assistant director David Halls, who both handled the gun and were in charge of checking it before Baldwin handled it.

“Those people failed in their duties, but Alec Baldwin committed no crime,” Spiro said.

“Nobody had any idea that this venomous toxic element had been inserted into this magic they were creating,” the defense lawyer said. 

“But it did, it entered that place. It killed an amazing person, it wounded another and it changed lives forever.”

Spiro said Baldwin didn’t “intentionally” pull the trigger, in an apparent attempt to backtrack on statements the actor made in the media following Hutchins’ death, saying he didn’t pull it.

Spiro also claimed Baldwin was deeply engrossed in his role as an “outlaw” and trusted the crew when he was told it was a “cold gun,” when he followed the director’s instruction to “whip it out.”

Before the start of trial Wednesday, Hutchins’ family’s lawyer Gloria Allred was present for trial Wednesday and said she planned to attend most of the trial on behalf of Hutchins’ mom, dad and sister who cannot attend as they live in war-torn Kiev, Ukraine.

The family has a lawsuit pending against Baldwin and the production company over the 42-year-old mother’s death.

“They wish they could be here, but they can’t,” Allred said, holding up a photo of Hutchins with her mom and son. “They want to find the truth about what really happened. Alec Baldwin said he didn’t pull the trigger. I guess we will find out.”

Allred also blasted Baldwin for potentially using the trial as content the TLC reality series he and wife Hilaria will be featured in with their seven children.

“The Baldwins” is set to come out next year, and The Post previously reported that producers are preparing for the possibility that Baldwin will go to jail.

Hilaria was not accompanied by any of the couple’s kids Wednesday. 

The latest on the film set shooting of Halyna Hutchins

 “If he uses this trial and his children as part of a reality show, I think it’s sick,” Allred said, noting that Alec and Hilaria were photographed holding their baby outside of court Tuesday.

“This is not a reality show. This is a trial for involuntary manslaughter of a young, talented cinematographer. She had a right to be safe in that set,” Allred said.

A jury of 12, with four alternates, was chosen Tuesday during the first day of trial.

Baldwin pleaded not guilty and has maintained that while he cocked the hammer on the .45-caliber revolver he never pulled the trigger. His lawyers have also argued that it was “incomprehensible” that live bullets were on set and loaded in the gun.

Gutierrez-Reed was convicted of one count of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to the maximum time she faced of 18 months behind bars after a separate trial earlier this year. She is appealing that conviction.

Halls admitted that he failed to check the gun for live bullets before handing it over to Baldwin and he was sentenced to six months probation for the crime.

Outside court, roughly a dozen spectators showed up, including Rachel Jarrell, 32, of Rio Rancho, N.M. who had to drive an hour for the trial.

“I watched the Gutierrez case,”  the stay-at-home mom of two said. “Super excited it was in my home state, drove about an hour to be here.”

Jarrell said she doesn’t think it’s right to use the case for Baldwin’s anticipated show.

“I think that was wild to capitalize off a tragedy for fame,” she said. “I thought that was sad.”

Santa Fe resident Frank Winberly, 81, said he thinks Baldwin “pulled the trigger.”

“That gun won’t fire unless you pull the trigger,” Winberly said, noting he owns a similar kind of revolver Baldwin had.