![\"Joel](\"https:\/\/hollywoodlife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/GettyImages-1186031131_f90ba3-e1723744860129.jpeg?quality=100&w=384&h=216&crop=1\")
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Alec Baldwin<\/strong>\u2018<\/a>s Rust<\/em><\/a> film director, Joel Souza<\/strong>, is breaking his silence on the fatal shooting of late cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins<\/strong><\/a>. During a new interview published on Thursday, August 15, the 51-year-old filmmaker noted the experience \u201cruined\u201d him.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t mean that it put my career in ruins,\u201d he clarified to Vanity Fair<\/em><\/a>. \u201cI mean, internally, the person I was just went away. \u2026 You look in the mirror the day after that happens, and now there\u2019s somebody else there. I didn\u2019t know things about the world one day, and now I do. And none of them are good.\u201d<\/p>\n Souza is the director and screenwriter of the western production; Baldwin, 66, is the film\u2019s star and a producer. In October 2021, Baldwin was rehearsing a scene at the Bonanza Creek Ranch in New Mexico with Souza and Hutchins standing behind the cameras. The scene involved Baldwin aiming a prop gun at the camera. Unbeknownst to the actor, the gun contained live rounds of ammunition. The gun went off after he held it up, and Hutchins was fatally struck in the chest while the bullet also hit Souza in the arm.<\/p>\n \u201cThings get a little fuzzy for me,\u201d Souza claimed during his latest interview. He added that \u201call hell broke loose,\u201d the moment the gun went off. \u201cThe noise was much louder,\u201d he explained. \u201cIt felt like a horse kicked me in the shoulder or someone hit me with a bat. The whole right side of my body went numb, completely numb, but it also hurt excruciatingly at the same time.\u201d<\/p>\n In his first-ever interview about the incident, \u2018Rust\u2019 filmmaker Joel Souza mourns cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, unpacks his complicated relationship with Alec Baldwin, and discusses his reluctant return to finish the movie.<\/p>\n \ud83d\udd17: https:\/\/t.co\/SEq9phJU3k<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/yqQIEYRsGd<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 VANITY FAIR (@VanityFair) August 15, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Souza continued by remembering the \u201cpanic\u201d that ensued, noting that his initial thought was feeling \u201cvery angry\u201d and \u201cfurious at that moment.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI remember looking up and they were lowering Halyna to sit in front of me, and there was blood coming through her white shirt,\u201d he added. \u201cIt felt like it just all happened so quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n Hutchins was rushed to a hospital and pronounced dead hours later. She was 42 years old. Since then, the crew was involved in back and forth legal battles. Baldwin was initially charged with involuntary manslaughter, but the charge was later dropped in mid-2023. However, the charge was reinstated earlier this year. In July, Baldwin\u2019s case was dismissed after it was discovered that the state withheld evidence from the actor\u2019s defense team.<\/p>\n Set armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed <\/strong><\/a>was found guilty<\/a> of involuntary manslaughter. She is serving out an 18-month prison sentence.<\/p>\n Souza noted in his new interview that \u201cnothing that happened in any of this was fair,\u201d adding that \u201cno one deserved this, any of it, but it happened.\u201d When it came to Hutchins, Souza claimed that she was someone whom he felt a \u201creally instant bond with\u201d as a friend and colleague.<\/p>\n As for how he views Baldwin, Souza pointed out that they \u201cgot through\u201d the ordeal and that they\u2019re \u201cnot friends\u201d but \u201cnot enemies\u201d either.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n