'A cascade of terrible things'

A new documentary pieces together the story of the freak accident on the set of Rust and pays tribute to the cinematographer who was killed during filming

- Adrian Horton

Anyone who loved Halyna Hutchins expected her to become a name. At 42, she had worked her way from photojournalism to cinematography, building an impressive portfolio that was beginning to court attention in Hollywood. Her work alone attracted Joel Souza, a writer-director, who hired her in 2021 to be his director of photography for a new western called Rust, to film in Santa Fe that October. "She absolutely would have become a household name as a cinematographer," said Rachel Mason, one of Hutchins's close friends and the director of the new Hulu documentary Last Take: Rust and the Story of Halyna. "Anyone who knew her had absolutely no doubt she was going to be on the highest level, winning awards, becoming well-known for that."

Hutchins didn't get the chance. Instead, she became a household name in death, after a weapon actor Alec Baldwin was holding accidentally discharged during filming, which unbeknown to him, was loaded with live rounds. A bullet from the prop revolver passed through Hutchins and lodged in Souza's shoulder. Souza was hospitalised and recovered.

The accident, subsequent investigations and eventual trials - Baldwin and the armourer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, were both charged with involuntary manslaughter - made headlines around the world and sparked calls for greater safety on film sets. Hutchins's name always appeared next to a celebrity's or the word "killed", if she was mentioned at all. “This unimaginable thing happened and she overnight became very well-known for not the reasons we all expected her to become well-known,” said Mason. “It just felt so wrong and so unfair.”