Actor Alec Baldwin has claimed that he has been fired from an upcoming project due to the firearms shooting incident that took place on the set of the now-suspended western, Rust. The incident tragically resulted in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, who was accidentally shot and killed when a gun being used as a prop by Baldwin was fired during the preparation for a scene. In an interview with CNN, Baldwin revealed that he had been let go from a project that was all set and ready to begin.
While he did not reveal which upcoming project it was, Baldwin continued, stating that the experience following the Rust accidental shooting has “taken years off my life” and revealing that he would likely have walked away from the industry altogether if not for the support of his wife.
“I got fired from another job yesterday. There I was all set to go to a movie, jump on a plane … I’ve been talking with these guys for months and they told me yesterday we don’t want to do the film with you because of this.”
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
Halyna Hutchins was killed on the set of Rust when a gun used as a prop was fired by Baldwin, with director Joel Souza being wounded by the same projectile. The incident is currently being investigated by the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office, the New Mexico First Judicial District Attorney, and the New Mexico Occupational Health and Safety Bureau, with the FBI forensic testing and investigation of the firearm determining that the revolver could not have been fired without a trigger pull.
“If I didn’t have my wife, I don’t know where I would be right now … If I didn’t have her, I probably would have quit, retired, gone off, you know sold everything I owned, got a house in the middle of nowhere and just you know did find something else to do, sell real estate.”
Alec Baldwin Has Stated That He Did Not Pull the Trigger
Paramount Pictures
Since the findings of the FBI forensic team, Baldwin has stated that he did not pull the trigger and that he was told unequivocally that the gun was safe. “The man who is the principal safety officer of the set of the film declared the gun was safe when he handed it to me,” Baldwin said. “The man who was the principal safety officer of the film declared in front of the entire assemblage, ‘This is a cold gun.’ Now, why did he say that if he didn’t know and hadn’t checked?”
He continued, “The point is we were told everything was cool and you can relax and we are working with a gun that is safe to rehearse with. What is likely is that someone who was responsible for one situation or one line of responsibility and the other person—a tandem of the two people—one of them or both were negligent.”
Filming on Rust is suspended. Alec Baldwin currently has several projects on the horizon, including the thriller 97 Minutes, the animated comedy Kid Santa, the family adventure Billie’s Magic World, and the disaster action movie Supercell where he stars alongside the late Anne Heche.
