Rust writer-director Joel Souza reveals he has never seen Alec Baldwin’s TLC reality series The Baldwins
Rust premiered at Poland’s Camerimage Festival last November, more than three years after its cinematographer Halyna Hutchins died on Oct. 21, 2021, after a prop gun Baldwin held discharged during a rehearsal for a scene
Souza, who was also injured during the Rust shooting incident, has shared he has “no relationship” with Baldwin
Rust writer-director Joel Souza says he has steered clear of Alec Baldwin’s reality series, The Baldwins.
Speaking with The Guardian ahead of Rust‘s premiere on May 2, the director candidly shared he has not seen the TLC series, which focuses on the life of Alec, 67, and wife Hilaria, 41, and their seven children. The series premiered on Sunday, February 23.
“I think I was busy hitting myself in the face with a frying pan that night,” Souza, 51, said of when the series first debuted.
Aside from following the Baldwin family’s lives in New York City, the series also covers the involuntary manslaughter charge against Alec after a gun he was holding on the set of the film Rust discharged in October 2021, killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, 42, and injuring Souza.
The charge was dismissed after Baldwin’s attorneys alleged prosecutors had withheld evidence. Armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, 28, who was responsible for overseeing prop weapons on set, was sentenced to 18 months in prison, the maximum penalty, last April. Dave Halls, the first assistant director, pled guilty to the charge of negligent use of a deadly weapon last March and was sentenced to six months of probation.
Last year while speaking to Vanity Fair, Souza shared where he stands with the Crescent City actor, noting, “We’re not friends. We’re not enemies. There’s no relationship.”
Related: The Biggest Revelations from Hulu’s Rust Documentary That Explores Halyna Hutchins’ Final Moments
Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office/ZUMA Press Wire Service/Shutterstock
The set of ‘Rust’ following the fatal shooting of Halyna Hutchins.
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In the first episode of the series, Alec and Hilaria both opened up to how they had been coping in the aftermath of the Rust shooting.
“This has been just surreal,” Alec told his wife in the debut episode. “I mean, I can’t even believe that we’re going through this, and I always feel more in pain about you than me, because I think to myself, well, you know, I’m going to try to my best to just get through it, and I think what it’s done to you and how much it’s hurt you and everything.”
In his confessional, Alec added: “This past year was just terrible. There were times I’d lay in bed. I’d go, ‘Wow, my kids. I can’t get up.’ That’s not like me. I’m not like that at all, not in any way am I like that. Never.”
The fitness instructor agreed, telling cameras her husband’s shift in mood following the involuntary manslaughter charge.
“Everyone who is close to Alec has seen his mental health decline,” explained Hilaria, who also said her husband’s OCD has worsened since. “He was diagnosed with PTSD, and he says in his darkest moments, ‘If an accident had to have happened this day, why am I still here? Why couldn’t it have been me?’”
The Baldwins is available to stream on Max.
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