Joel Souza, the director of Alec Baldwin’s upcoming Western, has finally decided to speak aboutthe tragic events that took place on his set in October 2021. During the production of Souza’s filmRust, cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was fatally shot by Baldwin while rehearsing for a gunfight scene. Souza was also wounded in the tragic incident that has been deconstructed by basically everyone for three years. Now, Souza has decided to speak.
A boy left to fend for himself and his younger brother following their parents' deaths in 1880s. Kansas goes on the run with his long-estranged grandfather after he is sentenced to hang for the accidental killing of a local rancher.
Souza has spoken for the first time since theRustincident inan interview with Vanity Fair, in which he opens up about his friendship with Hutchins,Baldwin’s attitudeon set, and finishing the production of the film, which is set to be released at some point in the future. Souza’s attitude is that of an entirely new person with a new perspective:
“When I tell someone it ruined me, I don’t mean in the sense that people might generally think. I don’t mean that it put my career in ruins. I mean, internally, the person I was just went away.”
Souza continues:
“It’s not like I was in love with the guy I was before, anyway. You look in the mirror the day after that happens, and now there’s somebody else there. I didn’t know things about the world one day, and now I do. And none of them are good.”
Director Joel Souza Addresses the Rust Incident: “It Felt Like Someone Hit Me With a Bat”
Souza reflects on the incident in which a prop gun that contained a live round (something that should not have happened) was fired during the rehearsal. Hutchins was fatally wounded, and the bullet also went deep into Souza’s body:
“It’s bizarre to have been shot, and then, who was holding the gun?That’sbizarre. I had this weird thought, like, God, I remember watchingThe Hunt for Red Octoberin the movie theater when I was a kid. It’s like your older self whispers to your younger self, ‘Hey, that guy…someday…Life can take you down some very bizarre roads.'”
Souza also speaks about the false rumors spread by websitesregarding the live rounds:
“Some website ran with that on the day-of, I think, and said, ‘They were out shooting targets at lunch.’ I remember thinking, Wouldn’t we have heard that? Guns make noise. Wouldn’t we have heard gunfire going? Even the cops talked about never seeing evidence of it. I never heard of anything that made me think that that happened. People just ran with sh*t really quick. And it’s like, I don’t care if something makes us look good or look bad—let’s just beaccurate.And there was no accuracy in a lot of that stuff. If they did it, it would’ve been the worst thing in the world, but that didn’t happen.”
Joel Souza Remembers Halyna Hutchins
Souza does not expand much on the incident itself and has never done so. Perhaps it was because an investigation was still ongoing at the time, but now he seems to tilt towards paying tribute to Hutchins’ memory:
“Halyna was a very positive person…She had such a style to her. Everything was art for her. I loved the way she talked about her son. I loved the way she talked about her husband. And I thought, ‘Oh, this is cool,’ I wanted to craft the visuals in complete partnership.”
The director also speaks about Hutchins' role inRustand their relationship with Baldwin:
“She was very excited about it. I’ve heard from folks that knew her better than I did that she would talk about her excitement for it. As a cinematographer, Halyna should have been out of my reach if this business made any sense…Anybody who worked with her knew what she had and what she was.”
“She and I and Alec had dinner together at Geronimo in Santa Fe. And it was one of those nights that you have when you have dinner with Alec Baldwin… He’s holding court…We had this moment where we just sat in the car for a couple of minutes in silence, and she’s like, ‘That was kind of amazing.’ I think Alec was quite impressed with her as well.”
He also reveals his reaction to Hutchins' tragic death:
“I found out when I was in the hospital. I was in the ER still. It was much later. It was a very devastating moment, to say the least.” When asked how he found out he answers the following: “I think I’ll keep that for me. But I did find out, and it was crushing in a way that is difficult to put into words. There was an emptiness and just an absolute devastation.”
Rust First Images Reveal the Late Halyna Hutchins’ Vision for Alec Baldwin Western
First images from the upcoming western, Rust, have been released more than two years after the on-set accident that took the life of Halyna Hutchins.
For now, all there is to say is that the film has finished production. This, of course,after Baldwin was exonerated in a courtoom. Upon recovery, Souza decided to finish the film, but he didn’t do it because of any contractual obligation:
“The people that have money on the line—I don’t give a damn if they ever get a penny or not. It was a long time afterward that somebody floated the idea of: Would you be willing to come back? The answer was no. No, no, no, no. Never ever. In fact, there was a very long period of time where I thought I was just done ever doing this for a living…I knew that the movie being finished would financially benefit Halyna’s family, which is very important to me. 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.”
He also confirms that the scene in question has been entirely scrapped, as well as everything building up to it:
“Everything needed to be entirely reconceived there. There were a few things that came before that now wouldn’t make story sense. So we just sort of eliminated it and came up with something entirely different. I’m not going back to that. I’m glad you asked. I don’t want anyone who ever does see this to be waiting for that. No one ever pushed to keep anything like that.”
Rustdoes not yet have a release date or a US distributor.
