"It ruined me" - When Joel Souza, Rust director, finally opened up about Alec Baldwin's accidental on-set shooting
Joel Souza, the writer-director of the 2024 Western film Rust, opened up in an interview with Vanity Fair on August 15, 2024, about the harrowing incident that took place on the movie sets on October 21, 2021.
To recap, Alec Baldwin plays Harland Rust, the protagonist of this movie. While rehearsing a scene where Baldwin was using a prop revolver, he accidentally fired a round at the crew behind the camera, shooting cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in the chest.
A bullet also lodged itself into Souza's shoulder, just missing his spine by inches. Halyna was killed on the spot.
"It ruined me, I don’t mean in the sense that people might generally think,” Souza stated when asked about how the incident affected his career.
“I don’t mean that it put my career in ruins. I mean, internally, the person I was just went away. That stopped," he added.
While Souza survived the terrifying experience, he mourned the loss of his friend and work partner.
Joel Souza elaborates on how filming Rust changed him
The 51-year-old writer-director opened up about his friendship with Halyna - their bonding over parenthood, movies, and filming the Western together. He had looked forward to collaborating with her on more projects in the years to come.
“Oh my God, she was too cool for me to know; I felt like, "Wow, this is somebody that I feel a really instant bond with.""
Three years later, Souza is still in shock over losing his dear friend and coworker. This incident also gave him a newfound appreciation for his own life.
“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."
Alec Baldwin worked closely with Souza on the script for Rust
Alec Baldwin had offered his help in writing the script for Rust, as he had never done a Western-themed film before. Together, they wrote a story of a powerful grandson-grandfather duo. However, the accidental firing of the revolver made Souza look at things differently.
“It’s bizarre to have been shot,” he claimed
“And then, who was holding the gun? That’s bizarre. I had this weird thought, like, God, I remember watching The Hunt for Red October in the movie theater when I was a kid. It’s like your older self whispers to your younger self, ‘Hey, that guy…someday…’”
After a series of lawsuits against Baldwin, prop coordinator Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, and assistant director David Halls for negligent use of dangerous props, Souza found it hard to shake the pain off himself.
“Life can take you down some very bizarre roads,” he concluded.
Will Rust still be available to watch?
Production for the movie resumed in January 2023 and concluded in May 2023. The movie premiered at the Polish film festival Camerimage on November 20, 2024. It will have its theatrical release on May 2, 2025.
Rust will be making its cinema debut across the US on May 2, 2025.
