Legendary Hollywood actor Alec Baldwin has been caught up in a tragedy on the set of his latest movie, Rust. Baldwin was allegedly firing a prop gun which turned out to fire a real bullet, killing the director of photography Halyna Hutchins while also injuring Joel Souza, the film’s director.
How did this happen?
Baldwin has been seen at the local Sherriff’s office in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where the movie, in mid-production, was being filmed. Police and investigators are looking into exactly what happened and how did a prop end up killing Hutchins and injure Souza.
Baldwin fired the gun, according to Police
According to a statement from Alec Baldwin’s management, a prop gun filled with blank cartridges was fired by Baldwin while he was filming Rust. Sadly, the bullet hit the film’s director of photography, Halyna Hutchins. Director Joel Souza was also injured and is being treated in a local hospital.
Police were called to the Bonanza Creek Ranch, where filming has been taking place, about 2pm local time.
“According to investigators, it appears that the scene being filmed involved the use of a prop firearm, [which] was discharged,” sheriff’s spokesman Juan Rios told the Albuquerque Journal.
The sheriff’s office have made it very clear that currently no charges have been laid and they were in the midst of interviewing witnesses who were onset at the time.
Not the first time this has happened
This is not the first instance that either the cast or crew have been injured onset by a prop gun while filming. Legendary martial arts actor Bruce Lee’s son Brandon Lee was killed in 1993 after a gun was meant to be filled with blanks, however, it fired at him during the production of The Crow and it killed him.
RIP Halnya
Halyna Hutchins was a 42yo cinematographer. Originally from Ukraine, she grew up on a Soviet Military Base in the Arctic Circle and now lives in Los Angeles. She was working on the set of Rust when she was allegedly fatally shot by Alec Baldwin.
Graduating from Kyiv National University in Ukraine with a degree in international journalism, she previously worked with British documentary productions in Europe and was named as a Rising Star of Cinematography in February 2019.
Two days ago, she posted the below video on Instagram riding horses with the caption: “One of the perks of shooting a western is you get to ride horses on your day off.”
Flooded with comments of people grieving her death, her final post has become somewhat of her last public engagement.
“I feel like I’ve had the wind knocked out of me. You will be so missed,” one commenter said.
“Damn you were such a gem, RIP Halyna,” wrote another.
View this post on Instagram
Who is Alec Baldwin?
In case you haven’t heard of him before, 68-year-old Alec Baldwin is an American actor who has starred in dozens of hugely successful movies and TV series over a span of 40 years.
He is currently playing outlaw Harland Rust who helps his estranged 13-year-old grandson run from the law after the being sentenced to hang for the accidental killing of a rancher in Kansas.
He’s had memorable dramatic roles in films including Martin Scorcese’s 2006 film The Departed and the 1990 Jack Ryan movie The Hunt for Red October.
He is best known for his comedic acting as lead character Jack Donaghy in the critically acclaimed show 30 Rock, and for lending his voice to the titular character in the animation franchise Boss Baby.
The 68-year-old New York native is listed as a producer of Rust, and as playing the character Harland Rust.
Who is Joel Souza?
The Director of Rust, Joel Souza was injured in the shooting in New Mexico too. The 48-year-old movie Director made his debut in 2019 having written, directing and producing the movie Crown Vic.
Rust is described on IMdB as being about: “A 13 year-old boy, left to fend for himself and his younger brother following the death of their parents in 1880’s Kansas, goes on the run with his long-estranged grandfather after he’s sentenced to hang for the accidental killing of a local rancher.”
According to IMDb, Souza lives in San Francisco with his wife and two children.
