The director of photography accidentally killed by a prop gun that actor Alec Baldwin fired on a New Mexico movie set was a “fantastic” and “brilliant” talent and a rising behind-the-camera movie star, industry leaders said Friday.
Hollywood stars, directors and fans mourned the tragic death of Halyna Hutchins, the 42-year-old cinematographer who was killed Thursday when Baldwin pulled the trigger on a prop gun while rehearsing or filming a scene in the western.
Hutchins died at an Albuquerque hospital after she was shot on the set of Baldwin’s new film “Rust.” Director Joel Souza was wounded, but he survived and was treated at a hospital and released.
Initial reports suggest the shooting was accidental, but the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office is still investigating what exactly led to the incident and whether Baldwin or anyone else should be charged.
Hutchins, who is survived by a husband and a son, seemed thrilled to be working on “Rust,” a western about a 13-year-old boy who goes on the run after an accidental killing. Her last Instagram post was a short video showing her riding a horse Tuesday at a ranch in Santa Fe.
“One of the perks of shooting a western is you get to ride horses on your day off,” she said in a caption for the video. Earlier that day, she had posted a group photo of the cast and crew.
In her Instagram bio, Hutchins described herself as a “restless dreamer” and an “adrenaline junkie.”
Hutchins, who is originally from Ukraine, grew up on a Soviet military base inside the Arctic Circle, where she was “surrounded by reindeer and nuclear submarines,” according to a bio on her website.
Two of her most recent films are “Archenemy,” starring Joe Manganiello, and “Blindfire,” with Brian Geraghty.
“I woke up to the messages and read the news and I am in shock,” Manganiello said in an Instagram post..
“She was an absolutely incredible talent and a great person,” he wrote. “She had such an eye and a visual style. She was the kind of cinematographer that you wanted to see succeed because you wanted to see what she could pull off next. She was a fantastic person. There was no amount of pressure she couldn’t handle. She was a great collaborator and an ally to anyone in front of her camera.”
Hutchins, who was based in Los Angeles, had a degree in international journalism from Kyiv National University in Ukraine and later studied film at the American Film Institute in California, according to her website.
She previously worked with British documentary productions across Europe and was named in 2019 as one of the American Cinematographer’s Rising Stars of that year.
She has also been praised for breaking barriers in a male-dominated industry.
“I’m so sad about losing Halyna,” said “Archenemy” director Adam Mortimer. “And so infuriated that this could happen on a set. She was a brilliant talent who was absolutely committed to art and to film.”
“What’s so tragic is she’s made beautiful films already but when you think about what was ahead of her, that is also so sad,” fellow cinematographer Catherine Goldschmidt told BBC News.
“She was also a mom, which I think is very difficult,” Goldschmidt said. “When I first met her I remember being really impressed, shocked even, that this beautiful, creative, outgoing, enthusiastic talented cinematographer also is raising the child.
Filmmaker Bandar Albuliwi, who attended the esteemed American Film Institute shortly before Hutchins arrived there, launched a Change.org petition following Hutchins’ death.
“We’re working these people 18 hours a day,” Albuliwi told the Daily News. “It shouldn’t be too much to ask that there aren’t bullets flying over their heads.”
According to Albuliwi, breaking into the cinematography business is especially difficult for women and shooting a film anchored by a star like Baldwin should have been the beginning of an exciting career for Hutchins.
Albuliwi told The News that award winning cinematographer Bill Dill, whom he said mentored Hutchins, is “devastated” by her death. It’s his hope that there will be no more deaths on film set caused by live firearms of any kind.
“I just want answers,” he said. “It changes right now.”
The American Film Institute and several industry groups also weighed in.
“As is profoundly true in the art of cinematography, words alone cannot capture the loss of one so dear to the AFI community. At AFI, we pledge to see that Halyna Hutchins will live on in the spirit of all who strive to see their dreams realized in stories well told,” the AFI Conservatory said.
“We are heartbroken and devastated to learn that one of our members, sister Halyna Hutchins, died yesterday from injuries sustained on set while working as the Director of Photography on Rust in New Mexico,” the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees said in a statement. “Our entire alliance mourns this unspeakable loss with Halyna’s family, friends, and the Rust crew.”
