It’s been three years since Halyna Hutchins died on the set of the film Rust, and star Alec Baldwin still hasn’t seen the completed project.
“No, I haven’t seen the final cut. I was sent a rough cut early on, before everything got a little more sticky and difficult. So I haven’t seen the film,” Baldwin, 66, told Variety in an interview published on Monday, November 25. “But, again, I hope the film is released, that it comes out. That it makes its money back for its investors. You never want these people who believed in your project to be left high and dry.”
In particular, Baldwin said he hopes Halyna’s husband, Matt Hutchins, “gets his money” earned from the film. “We all made a deal with him and we all want to follow through,” Baldwin added. “But this idea that people — who shall remain nameless — say, ‘You are profiting from this!’ That is absolutely wrong.”
The actor went on to slam “blatantly untrue” claims that he has profited off of Halyna’s death as a result of the film’s “sale and distribution.” According to Baldwin, he went against his doctors’ advice to return to Montana to finish filming.
“I said to Joel [Souza, Rust director], ‘Are you going to do it? If you think it’s important to do this, I’ll do it. If it’s the only way we can settle the case with [Hutchins’] husband and the estate is to finish the film, let’s do it,’” he explained. “So we go to Montana. We finish … And I waived my fee. I gave them back the fee in the budget. I waived all my backend. I gave everything to her husband. He owns the film. Her husband, I believe, is the sole owner of the film, though I could be wrong. Everything was done with that in mind.”
Baldwin’s comments come one week after Halyna’s mother, Olga Solovey, claimed he “unjustly” profited from the cinematographer’s death. “That is the reason why I refuse to attend the festival for the promotion of Rust, especially now when there is still no justice for my daughter,” she told The Hollywood Reporter on November 19.
Halyna was killed and Souza, 51, was injured as the result of a prop gun containing real bullet being fired on set in October 2021. Halyna’s family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Baldwin in February 2022 and reached a settlement with the Emmy winner that October.
Baldwin, who denied pulling the trigger, was later charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter in January 2023 and pleaded not guilty one month later. The criminal charges were dropped in April 2023. However, he was indicted for involuntary manslaughter a second time earlier this year and headed to trial in July.
The case was dismissed by First Judicial District Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer in July after the prosecution withheld evidence potentially linked to the case. The film’s armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in March and sentenced to 18 months in prison. Her attorneys filed a motion seeking a new trial or dismissal of past charges in July.
Rust made its world premiere at Poland’s Camerimage International Film Festival earlier this month.
When asked by Variety whether he plans on watching the final cut of Rust, Baldwin said he has no plans to see it at the moment. “Only because this is obviously the most difficult thing I’ve ever dealt with in my life. … Because the film doesn’t stand by itself. It’s always going to be overshadowed by this,” he stated on Monday.
Baldwin said that for now, “I want all things Rust to just leave my windshield, so I can go and do other things and be a father to my children.” (He shares seven kids with his wife, Hilaria Baldwin, and his eldest child, daughter Ireland, 27, with his ex-wife, Kim Basinger.)
