Alec Baldwin says he doesn’t want to watch the movie Rust: ‘The hardest thing I’ve ever dealt with’

Protagonist of Rustdirected by Joel Souza, Alec Baldwin revealed how he doesn’t want to watch the film after the director of photography’s fatal shooting Halyna Hutchins on set. According to the actor, the consequences of the accident were “obviously the hardest thing I’ve ever faced in my life.”

In October 2021, a scenographic weapon wielded by Baldwin fired a live bullet that killed Hutchins and seriously injured Souza. The actor was charged with manslaughter before a judge dismissed the case on July 12, 2024.

Hannah Gutierrez-Reedarmorer on the film set of Rustwas tried on charges of manslaughter, to which she pleaded not guilty. In March 2024, the jury convicted her but found her not guilty of tampering with evidence. She may, however, be released as a result of the case being dismissed.

The production has already been shown at festivals. Premiered at the festival EnergaCamerimage in Toruń, Poland, but Alec Baldwin was not invited. However, he appeared on Turin Film Festival in their first festival appearance since the tragedy.

During an interview with Variety node Turin Film Festivalin Italy, the 66-year-old artist spoke about the impact the incident had on him and was asked if he had seen the final version of the film or if he would like to watch it.

“At this point, no. Just because this is obviously the hardest thing I’ve ever faced in my life. Besides the victims themselves, what hurts me the most is what this did to my wife,” he said. “My wife was very, very traumatized by this. There’s been a lot of pain. When you’re married to someone and everything was going great and we had seven kids… and the floor falls out. It’s very scary and very upsetting.”

And we’re trying to keep the wind in our sails, to get away from these things. Because the film is not independent. It will always be overshadowed by it.

“The last two years of this situation have just hammered me, just exhausted me. And I have an obligation, like any other man who is a father, or couples of fathers – two men who have children, whatever – we have an obligation to keep the best we have for our children,” he continued. “And that’s been the hard part for me.”

Right away, Alec Baldwin expressed a desire to Rust be officially released in theaters: “That it returns money to its investors. You never want those people who believed in your project to be left aside. And I hope the film sells and that it [Matt Hutchins, marido de Halyna] receive money. We all made a deal with him and we all want to move on. But this idea that people – who will remain anonymous – say, ‘You’re profiting from this!’ It’s absolutely wrong.”

To end the film – and this is the only thing I can say because I have another case [civil] pending – we traveled to Montana. All my doctors told me ‘don’t go’ – mental health professionals, cardiologists. I mean, after that I was really sick for a while, physically exhausted and sick. But I went.

“I told the Joel [Souza]: ‘Are you going to do this? If you think it’s important to do this, I will do it. If it’s the only way to resolve the affair with your husband [de Hutchins] and the spoils is to finish the movie, let’s go,'” he recalled. “So we went to Montana. We broke up… and I waived my fees. I returned the fee to them in the budget. I gave up my entire backend. I gave everything to her husband. He owns the film. I believe her husband is the sole owner of the film, although I could be wrong. Everything was done with that in mind.”