Angelina Jolie is still doing interviews to promote the Eternals, and that means she’s been asked about recent news of the day. She was asked about the death of Halyna Hutchins on the New Mexico set of Rust. In the days that followed Hutchins’ death, we learned more about the on-set negligence within the props master and crew when it came to “prop guns,” which were real guns and, as it turned out, real bullets. Jolie has done so many movies where she’s had to handle handguns, pistols, machine guns, etc. She’s also directed movies where guns are used by actors. She seems to have a healthy respect for on-set weapons.
Angelina Jolie has revealed she is ‘always careful’ and follows gun procedure on set following Alec Baldwin’s fatal shooting accident on the set of his film Rust. The actress, 46, weighed in on the tragic incident after the actor, 63, was given a loaded gun, which he shot and killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins with, as well as injuring director Joel Souza.
Angelina, who has worked with guns on set on many occasions both as an actor and director, said that ‘certain procedures’ have to be taken ‘very seriously’, when asked about the accident during a recent interview with The Times.
The Eternals star, said: ‘I can’t imagine what these families are going through. At this moment, the grief and the tragedy of that accident is quite overwhelming.
‘I’ve always been very careful because I’ve had to work with guns a lot. The way I’ve worked or checked when I’m directing, there are certain procedures. You have to take it very seriously.’
Angelina’s many action parts have seen her handling guns on countless occasions, including her roles in Tomb Raider, Mr & Mrs Smith and Salt.
The A-lister previously revealed her pro-gun stance in 2008 when she admitted she kept a gun in the house during her marriage to Brad Pitt, 57. She said: ‘Brad and I are not against having a gun in the house, and we do have one. And yes, I’d be able to use it if I had to… If anybody comes into my home and tries to hurt my kids, I have no problem shooting them.’
Oof, I forgot that she and Brad had guns in the house back in the day. I wonder if she still has guns in the house or whether she just leaves it to her security to arm themselves. As for what she said about Hutchins and on-set gun safety… she was trying to be respectful of the situation. I don’t even think she’s trying to make some pointed comments at Alec Baldwin, really. After reading so much about the shooting and all of the things that were happening on set, I came away surprised that there are not more accidental shootings on film and television sets. While I’m sure there are many professional, competent armorers, it definitely feels like there are so many “accidents waiting to happen,” especially on low-budget indie film sets.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, ‘Salt’ and ‘Mr. and Mrs. Smith’.
Its doesnt bare thinking about if this were to happen on a Tarrantino or Matrix set. But i guess its the indie films that take the short cuts due to budget.
That’s what I said last week, I’m surprised there aren’t more accidents. Think of all the productions. I’m just guessing here, but I’m betting there are far more sets utilizing guns than not.
Gun accidents on set are apparently extremely rare, and this was hardly the first lower budget film to use them. There was criminal negligence here and much more is likely to be revealed.
You think this will lead to tighter rules and standards? I suppose it should. To be honest, I didn’t realize, for the most part, real weapons were used on sets with the capacity to fire real bullets. That’s frightening as hell.
There may be some changes, but the rules that have been in place since Brandon Lee was killed are very effective — when they are followed to the letter.
I don’t think she, or any other actors, should be commenting on this other than a vague “this is a terrible tragedy” statement. They need to direct reporters to IATSE and to amplify IATSE voices on this issue. The agreement has not yet been ratified, and there is an opportunity for the union to ensure greater safety for everyone on set and that’s where the attention ought to be.
So, she can’t say ‘certain procedures have to be taken ‘very seriously’ or that she’s ‘very careful?’ No others can say that either? Offer sympathy to both families? Get out of here with that nonsense. I don’t think you should be making comments about what others can say.
No thoughts on what AJ should or shouldn’t say, but huge LOL at “I don’t think you should be making comments about what others can say”
@Teecee Why Not? she is right take is seriously & follow the procedures don’t take it for granted!
It was an unfortunate accident. My heart breaks for everyone involved but especially for Hutchin’s family and also for Alec.
True. But there are “plain bad luck” accidents, and “OMG, that was 100% preventable” accidents of neglect. It absolutely never would‘ve happened if they’d simply followed the well laid out protocols for on-set gun safety. It’s akin to a drunk driving accident that kills someone- sure it’s a tragedy, but easily avoided by common sense.
It has always baffled me how little concern there has been over onscreen violence and gun portrayal versus the amount of ink spilled, handwringing and censorship over sex depicted in American films and TV. This shooting was a horrible tragedy but it is also symptomatic and the result of the continued obsession with guns that appears (from an outsider’s perspective) to define American culture.
This case is like texting and driving. It’s negligence. It’s not an accident. There are standard rules and procedures that should be followed when guns are used on set. They’re public. They were developed/refined after Brandon Lee died. If they had been followed then this killing would not have been possible.
There are 4 basic rules of safe firearm handling and they overlap. If you only break one rule you cannot kill someone. You have to fail more than once. The armorer was clearly negligent and so was the AD but Baldwin is the one who pulled the trigger on a gun he hadn’t checked personally while aiming in an unsafe direction. He has decades of professional gun-handling experience. He knew better. Each of them deserve more than a year in prison.
They risked lives so they could save money. And they did it with something designed to kill people.