The news that Alec Baldwin faces manslaughter charges for killing a cinematographer with a gun, which he was told was safe, had actor Steven Pasquale reminiscing about the set of “Aliens vs. Predator 2” over a decade ago, when he was handed a military-style rifle and told to start shooting.
He said he felt safe because he depended on the professional prop experts and the gunman who had checked the rifle and shown it to him.
“We are artists — not real cowboys, policemen or superheroes,” Pasquale said.
Actor Michael Chiklis, who has starred in TV crime dramas like “The Shield,” said there was “absolutely no reason to ever use a live firearm in a setting again.”
The case, in which New Mexico prosecutors say Baldwin had a responsibility to ensure that the gun given to him on the “Rust” forum was safe, has sparked debate within the film industry about safety and protocols. of weapons. SAG-AFTRA, a union that represents silver screen workers, said the responsibility did not lie with the actors, but with trained professionals.
Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins died on October 21, when Baldwin’s rehearsing revolver went off. Baldwin says that she was told that the gun did not have real bullets.
Mary Carmack-Altwies, the district attorney, announced that she planned to argue in court that Baldwin failed to exercise “due caution or prudence.”
Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the gunman on “Rust,” also faces manslaughter charges.
Dave Halls, the film’s first assistant director, had proclaimed the gun “cold” that day, meaning it should not have been loaded with real bullets, according to court documents. Halls told investigators that Gutierrez-Reed had opened the gun before him, but that he did not inspect each bullet.
Halls has agreed to plead guilty to one count of negligent use of a deadly weapon.
The “Rust” case is transforming the film industry. Dwayne Johnson, whose production company makes gun-laden tapes like “Hobbs & Shaw,” has announced that the company will no longer use real weapons.
Victor Talmadge, director of the theater studies program at Northeastern University in Boston, said future movies might make greater use of special effects or require more training, but he didn’t think real guns would go away.
“The idea of a character holding a gun—that mythical model in American culture—I don’t know if that’s going to go away,” he said.
By: Graham Bowley, Julia Jacobs and Marc Tracy
BBC-NEWS-SRC: http://www.nytsyn.com/subscribed/stories/6552968, IMPORTING DATE: 2023-01-31 22:00:08
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