'I wish I'd never written it'

Rust director Joel Souza on finishing his film after the fatal on-set shooting, his hopes for the western and his complicated feelings towards star Alec Baldwin

- Ryan Gilbey

Joel Souza never liked guns. “I didn’t grow up around them and I don’t like the culture,” says the 51-year-old film-maker at his home in Pleasanton, California. “Guns make me recoil.”

In October 2021 he was in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on the set of his sixth feature, the western Rust, when a gun being held by the film’s star, Alec Baldwin, was discharged accidentally during rehearsals. The weapon should have been loaded with blanks but a live round had found its way into the chamber. The movie’s Ukrainian cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins, was fatally wounded. Souza was hit in the shoulder by the same bullet that killed her.

Did he think he might die? “I don’t remember what was going through my head … it felt like I was lying there for five minutes. Apparently, it was half an hour.” Hutchins was taken away by helicopter, Souza in an ambulance.

In the aftermath, there was blame-slinging, multiple criminal cases and an official report that described the film’s producers as indifferent to gun safety. A settlement was paid by Baldwin to Hutchins’ family. Her widower, Matthew Hutchins, confirmed that all parties “believe Halyna’s death was a terrible accident”.