Did Alec Baldwin Really Want To Finish Filming Rust After Halyna Hutchins' Tragic Death?
In October 2021, an accident on the set of "Rust" made headlines globally. In the accident, actor Alec Baldwin discharged a prop firearm that contained a live round. This round struck and killed the director of photography, Halyna Hutchins, and wounded the film's director, Joel Souza, per the Hollywood Reporter. In the weeks that followed, production on the film was halted and other crew members came forward with allegations accusing the production staff of being inexperienced — especially when it came to handling weapons on the set.
In his first interview since the shooting, Baldwin told ABC News that he had not even fired the gun at all. As he revealed, he simply let go of the hammer on the gun and it went off, striking Halyna and Souza. In February 2022, Baldwin and the rest of the cast and crew of "Rust" returned to the set to resume filming. Shortly after the cast and crew resumed filming, Halyna's family filed a wrongful death suit, alleging that the actions of Baldwin and other key leaders on the set led directly to Hutchins' death in October 2021, per the Hollywood Reporter.
During an interview with "TODAY," Halyna's husband, Matt Hutchins, told co-host Hoda Kotb that he was angry with Baldwin. "Watching him I just felt so angry," Matt said. "I was just so angry to see him talk about her death so publicly in such a detailed way and then to not accept any responsibility after having just described killing her."
Baldwin pushed for the filming of Rust to be resumed only weeks after the fatal shooting
An arbitration filing on Friday revealed that actor Alec Baldwin, who also served as a producer of "Rust," began persuading cast and crew members to resume the filming of the movie only weeks after the fatal shooting of Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film. According to Variety, Baldwin persuaded cast and crew members, including director Joel Souza, to finish the filming of "Rust" in order to pay tribute to Halyna and use the profits from the film to provide further financial aid to her family. However, the filing also made it clear that many members of the cast and crew were hesitant to resume filming.
The filing also states that Baldwin revealed these plans to return to filming in order to give the profits of the film to Halyna's family to her husband, Matt Hutchins, who was at first receptive to the idea. "When agreeing to complete 'Rust,' every person involved spoke of Halyna Hutchins's flourishing talent and their desire to celebrate her legacy through completion of the film," the filing states, per Variety. "But plans to complete 'Rust' and to channel its proceeds into a fund for Hutchins' and his son's benefit have unfortunately broken down as a result of the lawsuit and these public statements."
According to People, the Santa Fe Sheriff's Office has not charged anyone involved in the accident on the set of "Rust" at this point.