Advertisement

Alec Baldwin ‘cancelling all projects’ following Halyna Hutchins death

Watch: Alec Baldwin is 'cancelling other projects' following Rust tragedy

Alec Baldwin has reportedly cancelled all other projects and is planning to step back from the public eye after he accidentally fired a loaded prop gun on set, killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

An investigation is continuing into Thursday’s shooting of Ms Hutchins, 42, the director of photography on the Western film Rust, near Santa Fe in New Mexico.

She was airlifted to hospital but was later pronounced dead. Director Joel Souza, 48, was also injured but later discharged from hospital.

Alec Baldwin  (AFP via Getty Images)
Alec Baldwin (AFP via Getty Images)

On Monday, sources close to Baldwin, 63, who was the lead actor and producer of the film, said he was looking “to take some time to himself and re-centre himself”.

The same source told People Magazine Baldwin was “hysterical and absolutely inconsolable for hours” after the accident and was now planning to “remove himself” from the public eye.

“This was pretty devastating,” the source said. “This is how he handles difficult times. Whenever something bad happens, in the short term, he removes himself from [the] public eye.”

Halyna Hutchins (Getty Images for SAGindie)
Halyna Hutchins (Getty Images for SAGindie)

It came as more details of what happened on set began to emerge.

A camera operator told investigators that Baldwin had been careful with weapons. Court records show cameraman Reid Russell told a detective that the actor was rehearsing a scene on Thursday in which he was to draw his gun while sitting in a church pew and point it at the camera.

The camera was not rolling when the gun went off, killing Ms Hutchins, Mr Russell told police. Meanwhile the assistant director who unwittingly handed Baldwin the gun was said to be the subject of a historic complaint about his conduct on a different set.

A sign at a vigil for Halyna Hutchins (REUTERS)
A sign at a vigil for Halyna Hutchins (REUTERS)

Maggie Goll, a prop maker and licensed pyrotechnician, said she filed an internal complaint about assistant director Dave Halls with the executive producers of Hulu’s Into the Dark TV series in 2019 over concerns about his conduct.

Ms Goll alleged Halls disregarded safety protocols and even tried to continue filming after the supervising pyrotechnician lost consciousness on set.

“This situation is not about Dave Halls... It’s in no way one person’s fault,” Ms Goll said. “It’s a bigger conversation about safety on set and what we are trying to achieve with that culture.”

Halls has yet to comment on the claims.

Candles lit for the cinematographer (AP)
Candles lit for the cinematographer (AP)

The film’s chief electrician Serge Svetnoy blamed producers for Ms Hutchins’ death in a Facebook post on Sunday. Mr Svetnoy said he had worked with her on multiple films and blamed “negligence and unprofessionalism” among those handling weapons on the set.

He also said producers had hired an inexperienced armourer.

Sources over the weekend told the Daily Beast that Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the 24-year-old armourer on set, was “a bit careless with the guns, waving it around every now and again”.

She has yet to comment since the tragedy but has removed several social media accounts after images emerged of her holding guns.

Last night a candlelit vigil was held for Hutchins in Burbank, near Hollywood Hills. It came a day after Baldwin was seen supporting the cinematographer’s grieving husband and nine-year-old son.

Baldwin expressed “shock and sadness” over the death, calling Hutchins a “deeply admired colleague” on Twitter.

Director Souza said at the weekend: “I am gutted by the loss of my friend and colleague, Halyna.

She was kind, vibrant, incredibly talented, fought for every inch and always pushed me to be better.”

A crew member on Monday said filming of Rust was unlikely to resume.

Watch: Tributes pour in for Halyna Hutchins, 'brilliant' cinematographer killed on set of Alec Baldwin’s ‘Rust'

Read More

Alec Baldwin careful with guns before fatal shooting, says crew member

What the papers say – October 25

Film director Joel Souza ‘gutted’ by death of Halyna Hutchins