Rust co-star Devon Werkheiser says that, despite the tragedy that resulted in Halyna Hutchins’ death, the movie set was like any other.
The tragic production of the upcoming movie Rust, in which cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was killed on the set after Alec Baldwin accidentally shot her, has undoubtedly been one of the most talked-about productions of late. There have been calls for stricter gun laws on sets, debates about the necessity of firearms in movies and more. However, Rust co-star Devon Werkheiser is insisting that the production was relatively normal.
Recounting being on the Rust movie set, Werkheiser recalled, “We’re like three weeks into shooting, I was two days away from being done. We had this huge accident where our DP got shot and killed. And like…man, it has been a hard year after that…That has been so fucking hard to deal with and process—kind of because of all that. Like, it’s this loss of life, it was the moment it hit me, it was all the press about it after. Like, everyone has an idea of what that set was, but if you weren’t on it, you don’t fuckin’ know.” He added, “You can’t understand what that is like, for Alec included.”
While Werkheiser makes a point that it’s impossible to be inside of anyone’s head, especially amid so much tragedy, he does have some thoughts that can be read as completely tone deaf. “Like, every set has some chaos, every set is cutting corners and cutting budgets…I can only speak for my experience. But in my experience, it was no different than any other set I’d ever been on. It didn’t feel more unsafe. I had a gun every day, I felt safe with it, I felt safe with the people. And we were just making a movie, man. It was not this crazy, stressed set, beyond the normal, beyond what a normal set is.”
Now, nobody here at JoBlo was on the set of Rust, but we are fairly sure that most movie sets don’t end up with the cinematographer being shot to death. Thus, Rust was anything but normal. Despite the controversy surrounding the making of the movie, production is expected to resume in the spring.
How do you feel about Werkheiser’s comments about the Rust movie set? Give us your thoughts in the comments section below.