Alec Baldwin did not want to be a ‘public person’ any more after Rust incident

The star recently had charges of involuntary manslaughter against him dropped
FILES-US-CRIME-FILM-ACCIDENT-BALDWIN
Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office
Cormac Pearson26 May 2023
The Weekender

Sign up to our free weekly newsletter for exclusive competitions, offers and theatre ticket deals

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Actor Alec Baldwin has revealed he wanted out of the public spotlight after he accidentally shot dead cinematographer Halyna Hutchins with a prop gun in 2021.

In an interview with The Times, Baldwin said he had called his wife after the incident on the film set of the movie Rust and told her: “I don’t want to do this for a living any more. I don’t.

“I don’t want to be a public person.”

The 65-year-old actor said he still struggles with the fatal shooting, and despite a lifetime of accomplishments, he knows it will be what he is remembered by.

Baldwin credited his wife Hilaria Baldwin with helping him survive the past 18 months as he faced criminal charges, telling the Times how she “took control of his life”.

Charges of involuntary manslaughter against Baldwin over Ms Hutchins’ death were formally dismissed by New Mexico prosecutors in April.

Prosecutors said they were unable to proceed with the case, but the decision to dismiss the charges did not “absolve Mr Baldwin of criminal culpability”.

The Hollywood actor had faced two counts of involuntary manslaughter over the shooting on the New Mexico movie set in October 2021.

But the family of Ms Hutchins are continuing their civil lawsuit against Baldwin over her death.

Legal representatives for the family said last month that Baldwin could not “escape from the fact that he had a major role in a tragedy”.

He has also booked another film joining the cast of Kent State, a dramatisation of the 1970 killing of four students by the National Guard protesting the Vietnam War on the Ohio college campus.

Baldwin is to play Robert I White, Kent State’s then president, in the film written and directed by Karen Slade.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in