More than three years after the accidental death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of his Western “Rust,” Alec Baldwin is hoping to finally put it behind him.
“This is obviously the most difficult thing I’ve ever dealt with in my life,” Baldwin tells Variety at the Torino Film Festival, looking weary yet ready to be back on the festival circuit. “Beyond the victims themselves, the thing that most pains me is what it did to my wife … We are trying to get the wind in our sails, to get away from this stuff. Because the film doesn’t stand by itself. It’s always going to be overshadowed by this.”
Baldwin’s visit to the Torino event, in the northern Italian city of Turin, marks his first appearance at a festival since the tragedy and ensuing involuntary manslaughter case (Baldwin was handling the prop gun at the time of the accident), which was dismissed in July on the grounds that the prosecution had failed to turn over evidence.
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The Oscar-nominated actor is receiving a career honor at the fest just days after “Rust” premiered to politely positive response elsewhere in Europe at the EnergaCamerimage festival in Toruń, Poland (Baldwin was not invited to attend the premiere, according to organizers). And though he’s been keeping a low profile over the past few years, Baldwin has popped up on “Saturday Night Live” several times this season, as both Bret Baier and RFK Jr.
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Following a celebratory press conference, during which Italian journalists were told by festival publicists that anything pertaining to “Rust” was off-limits, Baldwin sat down with Variety and spoke candidly about his feelings surrounding the film’s premiere and “cancel culture.”
Starting on a lighter note, you’ve been back on “SNL” this season. How does it feel to be welcomed back there?
They are old friends of mine, dear friends of mine. When I did the show [in the past] and hosted it for a period of time I would always say, “God, wouldn’t it be great to be a member of the cast?” And then I became a member of the cast when I did the Trump thing for four years. They are always calling me, and they are always calling me on a Saturday morning — I’m not kidding — and they are always saying, “What are you doing tonight?” They call me and then they say, “Bret Baier,” and I’m like, “I don’t know how to do that?” But then they put the monster wig on me. He’s a very nice guy, by the way, I met him at a restaurant the other day. And then Bobby Kennedy, who was a friend of mine.
You know, in the cancel culture you get worried about doing something wrong. So where Bobby has the voice, which is obviously very raspy, I was afraid of doing too much of that because I would get condemned by people who have that condition. You are always mindful whatever you do in the United States these days, because you are going to get into trouble.
Speaking of “cancel culture,” I don’t want to rehash the “Rust” trial but I do want to ask you about the movie’s premiere last week at the Camerimage festival in Poland. How do you feel now that the movie is out there?
There are two points I want to make about that question, and I appreciate the question. One is that in the press, the notion that anybody has profited from the film’s sale and distribution is blatantly untrue. In order to finish the film — and this is the only thing I can say about it because I have another pending [civil] case — we traveled to Montana. All my doctors told me “don’t go” — mental health practitioners, cardiologists. I mean, I was very sick afterwards for a while, physically drained and ill. But I went.
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.” 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.
Have you seen the final cut?
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. 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. And I hope the movie is sold, and that he [Matt Hutchins, Halyna’s husband] gets his money. We all made a deal with him and we all want to follow through. But this idea that people — who shall remain nameless — say, “You are profiting from this!” That is absolutely wrong.
The thing I find interesting about journalists today is that with two phone calls you can find that out. But most journalists take this hearsay and they echo that. They don’t bother to pick up a phone and call his [Matt Hutchins’] lawyer. There’s a handful of people you can call to find out the nature of the settlement. I was very disturbed by that, because from the get-go in the settlement we all said, “We don’t want anything! You can have everything!” And we gave everything, literally.
Do you want to see the final cut?
Right now, no. Only because this is obviously the most difficult thing I’ve ever dealt with in my life. Beyond the victims themselves, the thing that most pains me is what it did to my wife. My wife has been very, very traumatized from this. There has been a lot of pain. When you are married to somebody and everything was going fairly well and we had seven kids … and the floor falls out. It’s very frightening and very disturbing. And we are trying to get the wind in our sails, to get away from this stuff. Because the film doesn’t stand by itself. It’s always going to be overshadowed by this.
That’s sad because when we started, I put my shoulder into this the way I did, helping them to write a script and to bring all these other things. I endured multiple rises and falls with this like a soufflé: up, down, up, down, trying to find a location, to find money and stuck with this for a couple of years. Then we finally got it made. When we arrived on set, we were all elated. We were so happy! Like all independent films, there were a lot of time considerations, we were on a tough schedule. But we were all happy to be there, we were happy to make the film. And I am happy that the film got completed. It’s been such a tragedy, which of course we would do anything to undo. But we arrived to the reshoot and it was a better film in a lot of of ways. Other than Halyna. But 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.
At this age, I’m 66 years old, and you want to have the energy for your kids. The last two years of this situation have just hammered me, just drained me. And I have an obligation like any other man who is a father, or couples of fathers — two men who have children, whatever — we have an obligation to save some of our best for our kids. And that’s been the tough part for me.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
