Los Angeles, Apr 29 (IANS): Actor Alec Baldwin's eldest daughter Ireland Baldwin says her father is "suffering tremendously" in the wake of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins' death on the sets of his movie 'Rust'.

Alec was handling a gun on the sets of 'Rust' last October when it went off and fatally wounded the cinematographer, and his daughter Ireland - who he had with ex-wife Kim Basinger - "can't imagine" how distressing the situation has been for her dad, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

Appearing on 'Red Table Talk' with her mother, Ireland said: "It's so heartbreaking. My dad is suffering tremendously and I love him and I can't imagine what he feels like and what's running through his head but the entire situation is just so devastating."

The tragedy played a part in the manifestation of Ireland's own anxiety but it also made the 26-year-old model "more defensive" of her famous father.

She added: "I was more angry, like at people's responses … I was in full defense mode,"

Although Ireland never used to be able to talk about her own issues with the former '30 Rock' star - who has six younger children with pregnant wife Hilaria - but she thinks he's "gotten way better" after being "forced" to deal with his own anxiety.

She said: "He deals with anxiety greatly, but he's someone who grew up in a family that would suppress that as well, or tell him he's weak for feeling that way. There's things I would go to my father for, but if I ever even tried to have this conversation in any way with him, I don't think he would be able to really absorb any of it.

"He can't really sympathise as much with it, but it's not his fault, and he's gotten way better. I mean I think he really suppressed his anxiety like up until pretty recently. He's really been dealing with things that kind of have been thrown at him. He's been forced to finally deal with these things."