Joel Souza, who directed the ill-fated movie Rust, wished for his own death after the bullet that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on set also struck him in October 2021. In an in-depth Vanity Fair interview, the filmmaker explained that the bullet he took in his shoulder missed his lungs “by this much” and narrowly missed his spine. He learned of Hutchins’ death in his ER room. Asked if he felt grateful to be alive, Souza said no.
“I remember specifically going to sleep that night and hoping I didn’t wake up the next morning,” Souza said. “I hoped I would just bleed out overnight because I didn’t want to be around anymore. It was a very difficult moment. I remember just thinking, Maybe I’ll just sort of bleed to death — that would suit me just fine.” When he woke up, grief struck him. The event ruined him on a personal level, stretching beyond his career.
Souza told the magazine he continued filming the movie after the tragedy — in which Alec Baldwin allegedly fired a prop gun loaded with a live bullet — with cinematographer Bianca Cline replacing Hutchins as a way to honor Hutchins. He wants Rust, which is complete but still needs a distributor, to make a profit for Hutchins’ family. “I knew that the movie being finished would financially benefit Halyna’s family, which is very important to me,” he said. “And I know this can sound trite for people who aren’t creative, but her last work matters. People seeing her last work matters. That was the tipping point for me in the decision.”
The filmmaker had kind words for Hutchins’ husband, Matt, and how he behaved following the shooting, comforting Souza, Baldwin, and other crew members. “Matt came out there as quickly as he could get out there, and he brought his son,” he said. “He came there to take care of people. The man just lost his wife. If I lost my wife, I would be a quivering mass of Jell-O, and I would be lashing out in every direction I could. I wouldn’t be in my right mind. Matt came out there, and the job that he put on himself was to make sure people were OK. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Hutchins’ death and the lawsuits that have followed it have cast a long shadow over Rust. The production’s armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, will serve 18 months in prison for involuntary manslaughter. Assistant director Dave Halls took a plea deal for negligent use of a deadly weapon. And Baldwin, who has said he believed the gun wasn’t loaded, was charged with involuntary manslaughter. A judge dismissed Baldwin’s suit a month ago upon learning that prosecutors did not share crucial evidence with Baldwin’s attorneys during discovery.
Souza told Vanity Fair he felt ambivalent about all of the controversy. “I don’t know what [justice] even is anymore — I’ll be very honest with you about that,” he said. “No one feels good about someone going to jail. If you feel good about that, take a hard look in the mirror.” He also would not place judgment on Baldwin. “Does it matter if I think it’s fair or not?” Souza said. “There is an argument that says if he checks it and starts fiddling around with it, he’s creating a safety issue. And then there is another thing that says it’s common sense, Jesus Christ. Be careful with this goddamn thing. So I don’t know anymore, to be honest with you. The charges got filed. That’s what they decided to do. Was he overcharged? I don’t know.” The filmmaker described his relationship with Baldwin as nonexistent; they’re neither friends nor enemies.
To complete the film, Souza made small changes to the script so that Hutchins’ death wouldn’t be moviegoers’ focus. The shooting scene, which took place in a chapel, will no longer feature in the film. “I don’t want anyone who ever does see this to be waiting for that,” Souza said. Instead, he hopes viewers’ impression of the film will be how it looks … which is what Hutchins was in charge of. “As a cinematographer, Halyna should have been out of my reach if this business made any sense, but it doesn’t,” he said. “She should have been doing big studio movies. She should have outgrown a movie the size of ours.”
Souza also gave advice to other filmmakers regarding the use of firearms on set. “My recommendation is this: that no guns should ever be allowed,” he said. “Nothing real that can fire anything. It should all be fake from here on to eternity. And there should still be armorers even because it’s fake, because they’re still not safe unless there’s an armorer.”
In May 2023, Baldwin posted on social media that filming was finished for Rust. He called the completion “nothing less than a miracle.”
