A sad incident has happened on the set of the Hollywood movie ‘Rust’ during the shooting of an action scene in New Mexico, US. According to the reports, co-producer and actor Alec Baldwin shot a prop firearm that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and injured the film’s director, Joel Souza. The victims were rushed to separate hospitals by air where Halyna was pronounced dead and Souza went under treatment.
The incident happened at one of the popular filming locations, Bonanza Creek Ranch. Reportedly, the investigation has been going on and the police have been interviewing the witnesses. However, no charges have been filed yet.
Alec Baldwin Misfires Prop Gun with Blanks
The incident has been called an accident after the actor misfired the piece loaded with blank rounds. Reportedly, Alec Baldwin was seen in tears outside the sheriff’s office and his spokesperson said that he voluntarily spoke to the detectives. The police were trying to find out how the incident happened and what kind of projectiles were fired from the prop.
Fran Drescher, the president of Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), which is an American union that represents almost 160,000 media personalities, said that it was still an active investigation so did not have all the facts. She said that the guild will continue to work with authorities and other unions to investigate the incident and try to prevent such tragedy from happening again.
Disturbing News for Hollywood Fans
The fateful incident shocked the viewers who were reminded of a similar incident in the past. In 1993, Brandon Lee, the son of famous martial artist Bruce Lee was shot dead with a .44-caliber live round in a prop gun that was supposed to have blank ones.
The safety of crew members must be the prime concern of the film’s shareholders, which is why some fans have been deeply heartbroken. Their pain intensified when someone else was getting more media attention than the person who lost her life for a film.
Some fans highlighted that by making Alec Baldwin the face of this incident, the crucial debate about improving safety on some film sets was getting overshadowed.
Who is The Woman Killed on Film Set?
The 42-year-old director of photography Halyna Hutchins was just starting to make a huge name for herself. She was born in Ukraine and raised on a Soviet military base in the Arctic Circle. Halyna has also worked as an investigative journalist before moving to Los Angeles, California. There she graduated in filmmaking from the American Film Institute Conservatory in 2015 and was selected as the American Cinematographer’s Rising Stars of 2019.
Her work can be seen in Darlin’ (2019), Blindfire (2020), Archenemy (2020), and The Mad Hatter (2021). The last film she was working on with Alec Baldwin was set in the Wild West of 19th Century America and was sure to take her career to the next level.
