Alec Baldwin to make acting return 5 months after fatal shooting of Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins
Alec Baldwin to make acting return 5 months after fatal shooting of Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins
Alec Baldwin is set to make an acting return five months after the death of Halyna Hutchins, the cinematographer who was shot and killed on the set of his film Rust.
The American actor, 63, will be arriving in Rome over the weekend to begin filming two Italian films, Kid Santa and Billie’s Magic World, according to Variety.
The films, which are being produced by Alec and his brother Daniel Baldwin, who is also starring in the two movies, will soon begin shooting in Rome.
Gianluca Curti, the chief of Italy’s Minerva Pictures, told Variety Alec will be arriving to Rome on Saturday. His brother is already in the historic city.
Kid Santa and Billie’s Magic World are both by Italian director Francesco Cinquemani, who previously worked with Alec on the 2015 film Andron. He also directed the 2021 film The Christmas Witch, which starred Alec’s brother William Baldwin.
The two films are being billed as ‘live-action/animation family Christmas comedies’, according to Variety.
Cuti told the site the Baldwin brothers will be in Rome for four weeks shooting the two movies’ live action scenes.
Curti also said Alec’s participation in the two films preceded the fatal shooting on the set of Rust.
Alec has been dealing with an ongoing wrongful death lawsuit over the on-set shooting death of Hutchins.
The cinematographer, 42, died on October 21 last year when a prop gun used in the film Rust was fired by Alec after he was told it wasn’t loaded, shooting her in the chest.
Director Joel Souza was also injured from Baldwin’s prop gun, though he survived his injuries.
Earlier this month, lawyers for the film’s armorer, Hannah Gutierrez, released a statement condemning the actor for pointing his firearm at crew members despite that being a violation of safety protocol.
‘Mr. Baldwin knew that he could never point a firearm at crew members under any circumstances and had a duty of safety to his fellow crew members,’ attorney Jason Bowles said in a statement obtained by ABC. ‘Yet he did point the gun at Halyna before the fatal incident against all rules and common sense.’
Bowles added that the monitor on set was broken on the day of the fatal shooting which ‘further prevented Hannah from knowing what was going on inside the Church,’ ABC reported.
This statement was in response to new documents in the wrongful death lawsuit against Baldwin and the production filed by Hutchins family.
Baldwin appeared to pass the blame onto the victim in an arbitration demand and claimed that his contract shielded him from any financial responsibility related to Hutchins’ death.
