The new documentary Last Take: Rust and the Story of Halyna explores the tragic death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of Rust and features interviews with several key individuals who were present that day.
However, neither actor Alec Baldwin nor convicted armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed participated in the interviews conducted by the documentary’s director, Rachel Mason, who was also a friend of Hutchins.
Dave Halls, who pleaded guilty to negligent use of a deadly weapon, did take part in the documentary, offering his account of the events leading up to Hutchins’ death.
In an interview published on Tuesday, March 11, Mason explained why Baldwin, 66, did not participate.
“I did reach out to Alec. It was not necessarily to say, ‘I want to do an interview,’ but it was a basic, just general communication,” Mason said. “He was working on his own projects. He could not participate.”
Baldwin faced trial last July after being indicted for alleged involuntary manslaughter following Hutchins’ death. The 42-year-old cinematographer was fatally shot, and Rust writer-director Joel Souza was injured when a prop gun Baldwin was holding discharged on the New Mexico set.
The charge against Baldwin was later dismissed after his attorneys argued that prosecutors had withheld evidence.
Meanwhile, Gutierrez-Reed, 28, who was responsible for overseeing prop weapons on set, received the maximum penalty of 18 months in prison in April. The documentary delves into both Hutchins’ death and the widely publicized Rust trials.
Among Baldwin’s recent projects is his family’s reality series, The Baldwins, which was filmed during last year’s trial. Mason acknowledged the show but admitted, “I haven’t watched it,” adding, “I’ve just been head down and finishing this film.”
While attending an event celebrating the grand opening of the new Planet Hollywood in Times Square on March 11, Baldwin spoke about the TLC series, which premiered on Feb. 23. He described the time when it was filmed as “unique” for his family.
The reality series began filming just a month before Baldwin went to trial and offers insight into how he and his wife, Hilaria, 41, balanced raising their seven children alongside the legal proceedings.
Alec Baldwin in Rust“When I think of the reality show, many things occur to me after the fact, like when we were doing it, it was a bit of a unique time for us, but afterward when we did it, I realized that that’s who we are,” Baldwin said.
The documentary was previewed during an FYC event on March 4 in West Hollywood, California. During a session at the event, Mason and Souza reflected on the challenges of making Last Take, with Souza expressing disappointment over the documentary’s focus.
“I hoped it might have a little more Halyna in it, or been a little more about Halyna,” Souza said during the event.
Co-producer Julee Metz explained that Mason initially had “a clear vision” to tell the story of Hutchins’ life and work, in addition to covering the circumstances of her death.
“But over time, and as we gained new partners on this project, it became clear that there was a commercial value to the story of Rust and that needed to be part of the story that we had to tell.
So I think it became less about Halyna’s life and more about her death, but that’s what we ended up having to do,” Metz explained.
Souza later discussed why choosing to participate in the documentary “wasn’t an easy decision” for him.
“I think I’m pretty protective, fiercely, of my privacy, but I knew that Rachel was a very good friend of Halyna’s and I think that Julie was as well. And it became very easy very quickly to trust both of them,” Souza said.
“I knew what was in their heart with it and where they were coming from with it, and Matt’s [Hutchins’ husband] involvement in it was also vital for me.
And no one looks forward to sort of sitting in a chair and opening a vein for people. But I felt I was in very safe and very caring hands the whole time.”
Last Take: Rust and the Story of Halyna is now streaming on Hulu.