
Who's to blame in 'Rust' shooting? 'Last Take' says there's plenty to go around
Who's to blame in 'Rust' shooting? 'Last Take' says there's plenty to go around
Show Caption
Hide Caption
'Last Take: Rust and the Story of Halyna': See the trailer
The new Hulu documentary "Last Take: Rust and the Story of Halyna" examines the life and tragic death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
For the public, the tragic debacle of "Rust" − the Western movie set where a prop gun held by Alec Baldwin discharged during rehearsal in 2021 and killed promising cinematographer Halyna Hutchins − is over.
Baldwin, the film's star and producer, was acquitted of criminal charges on legal technicalities last summer. The movie's young armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, is serving 18 months in prison for involuntary manslaughter. And "Rust" was finished and had a quiet debut at a Polish film festival last fall. As yet, there are no U.S. distribution rights.
But for many, "Rust" never sleeps. It haunts Hutchins' widower, Matt, and their son, Andros, who was 9 when his mother died, as well as Hutchins' family in Ukraine and her many friends in Hollywood. Which is why filmmaker Rachel Mason, who bonded with Hutchins when the two dropped off their then-3-year-olds at day care, has directed a documentary about her pal, "Last Take: Rust and the Story of Halyna" (streaming now on Hulu).
"I was here to bear witness as her friend, sent by Matt, who wanted this done," says Mason, whose goal with "Last Take" wasn't to reinvestigate the case, but rather to "show the overall human toll, from the crew to the people in the courtroom, everyone had their own unique angle on that pain."
Several questions addressed by Mason's documentary:
Why did 'Rust' resume filming two years after Halyna Hutchins died?
On Oct. 21, 2021, filming halted immediately on the New Mexico set of "Rust" after Baldwin's gun went off. With the criminal and civil lawsuits that followed, it seemed unlikely "Rust" would ever be completed. And yet that's what happened in 2023, as Baldwin, his production team and a new cinematographer, Bianca Cline, went to Montana to finish the Western.
But accusations of this decision being callous don't resonate with Mason. Hutchins, 42, would have wanted as much. "If Halyna chose a film to work on, it's because she was committed to it," Mason says. "Looking at it from the victim's perspective, she wanted to make it, and she died making it. If you knew Halyna, it's impossible not to think she would want it completed."
Mason's documentary shows Cline avidly studying the voluminous notes Hutchins kept while working on "Rust," details covering everything from lighting ideas to lens possibilities. "When you see her images from 'Rust' coupled with what people say about her vision for this movie, it hits home why it had to be made," Mason says.
Is Alec Baldwin in 'Last Take,' the new documentary about Halyna Hutchins?
Mason felt comfortable approaching Baldwin for an interview because she knew him from a prior encounter.
"I'd met Alec years before at a film festival and he was a big champion of my 2019 film 'Circus of Books' (about a gay bookshop in Los Angeles)," says Mason. When she spoke to him after the shooting, "he was in a state of utter trauma. It was a sad and horrible thing. I did ask him later to be in ('Last Take'), but he was working on other projects at the time." The star is currently seen in his family's TLC reality show 'The Baldwins.'
One of the most striking moments in Mason's film involves Baldwin. Footage shows the actor being interviewed by two Santa Fe law enforcement officials after the shooting. One tells Baldwin that Hutchins has died. He sits frozen for a long time, almost giving the impression that the video has glitched. "You see his total shock in that footage," Mason says.
Who else from 'Rust' is seen in the 'Last Take' documentary?
The "Rust" shoot was conducted on a budget and perhaps in a bit of a rush, as evidenced by some crew members quitting just before Hutchins' accidental shooting to protest working conditions. "Last Take" spotlights camera assistant Lane Luper, who explains the concerns he had about a few accidental firearm discharges, which he shared with producers at the time.
It might be easy to blame negligent producers who didn't heed such warnings, but Mason she wanted to show that the reality of a movie set is more complex. "Yes, there was a lot of tension on this set and people weren't listening to each other well, but I don't think that's unique to 'Rust,'" says Mason, adding that complaints about "Rust" set safety often were part of very lengthy emails that included issues related to COVID policies.
"OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) would argue there should always be a 'stop work order' option, where any person has the authority to say stop work now, but on a film set, the hierarchy is baked in," Mason says. "So you have Hannah who is feeling low on the totem pole, while Alec is on the high end, and in between people are saying this and that. Communication (on a set) sadly is not as simple as stop and let's all halt."
Who is to blame for the death of Halyna Hutchins, according to the 'Last Take' documentary?
Of all the players in the "Rust" tragedy, only Gutierrez-Reed is serving jail time. In "Last Take," she seems baffled when Santa Fe authorities tell her that multiple live rounds were found floating around the set.
And yet "Last Take" also features a telling text exchange in which Gutierrez-Reed asks for more time to secure the weapons and is told she needs to tackle her various chores with the time she has. "Where this all lands for me and for the film is where it lands for most people: We don't have more answers to truly how that gun came to be loaded with that live bullet," Mason says. "I really wish we did."
Regret seems to be the most common sentiment in "First Take." Veteran actress and "Rust" cast member Frances Fisher recounts how disorganized Guitierrez-Reed was upon their first meeting. It was an omen she ignored.
"I wish I had said something to her, and I wish I had said something to Alec," she says. "And would my alerting somebody, would that have changed anything? That's what gnaws at me."
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
20 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Disney to Pay Comcast $438.7M for Full Hulu Ownership, Ending Valuation Dispute
The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) is one of the best Dow stocks to invest in. The company has agreed to pay Comcast $438.7 million to buy out its remaining stake in the streaming service Hulu, ending a lengthy appraisal process. In 2023, The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) announced its plan to acquire Comcast's 33% share of Hulu, paying $8.6 billion based on a minimum value of $27.5 billion that the companies had agreed on in 2019. This move wasn't unexpected, as reports had indicated Disney's intention to gain full control of Hulu. The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) had originally acquired a two-thirds stake in Hulu through its purchase of Fox Corp.'s entertainment assets. After the initial payment, Disney and Comcast entered an appraisal process initially set to finish in 2024. The deal is expected to be finalized by July 24. Disney CEO Bob Iger made the following statement: 'We are pleased this is finally resolved. We have had a productive partnership with NBCUniversal, and we wish them the best of luck.' Meanwhile, The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) has started merging Hulu with its other streaming services, which are also bundled with ESPN+, its sports streaming platform. While we acknowledge the potential of DIS as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock. READ NEXT: and Disclosure. None.


CNET
41 minutes ago
- CNET
You Likely Hate This Masterpiece Sci-Fi Show. Here's Why You Need to Rewatch It in 2025
You may be thinking, "Really, Macy? You're going to the mat over a show that came out over 20 years ago?" Well, yes. Because it simply isn't given the respect it deserves. Like many Americans, my family and I loved our nights huddled around the TV to watch our favorite TV shows live. For us, that meant American Idol, Dexter and, of course, ABC's network hit Lost. There's a good chance you watched Lost in the early 2000s, too. And there's an even better chance you think it got bad. Or you have some sort of perspective that it started strong but went off the rails after the first three seasons. Somewhere along the way -- maybe when the flash-sideways began, or when a smoke monster turned into a man, or when you realized there wasn't going to be a clear-cut answer to every mystery -- you bailed. Maybe you saw the finale and thought it ruined the whole show. (More on that later.) I watched Lost when I was a kid, but hadn't revisited it for close to a decade. Until it came to streaming services, first Hulu and now Netflix and Disney Plus. One day, I decided to replay the pilot episode and, well, it transformed me into the person writing this 1,500-word defense. I binged the show and then immediately turned around and binged it again. I'm truly mad at myself for wasting so much time thinking this show was a disappointment. In truth, it's a glorious, ambitious near-masterpiece. It's my favorite show. That's why I'm writing this. I'm here to ask you to do something radical: Rewatch Lost in 2025. Yes, all of it. And this time, go in with fresh eyes -- see it not as a weekly network drama, but as a serialized, character-driven odyssey that, along with The Sopranos and Mad Men, paved the way for the prestige genre TV we obsess over now. Because the truth is, Lost wasn't a failure. It was just ahead of its time. Here's why. It's time to go back to the island for a 2025 rewatch. ABC's Lost Looking for more streaming recommendations? You should also watch my favorite movie, a historical drama packed with modern themes, for free now. No, the ending is not what you think The last thing I want to do is spoil the ending of a show I'm trying to get you to rewatch. But I feel like I need to address this early since one of the main reasons audiences ultimately turned on the show was a misconception about the ending. I'll tell you right now, spoilers be damned. They. Were. Not. All. Dead. The. Whole. Time. The idea that the characters were really all dead the whole series and that the island was just a purgatory-like state is completely untrue. It's been debunked by the creators of the show, the actors who starred in the show and the dialogue in the series finale itself. A twist ending like that -- revealing they had all died in the plane crash right at the start -- would be a horrible one. It would retroactively reduce the entire plot of the show to meaningless, empty nothingness. So, thankfully, that's not how it actually ended. Now, you can just enjoy the show knowing that it all matters. The cinematography of Lost is some of the best ever put to television. ABC's Lost TV in 2004 didn't look like Lost When Lost premiered in 2004, there was nothing like it on network television. A lush, cinematic sci-fi mystery shot on 35mm film, with a massive ensemble cast of mostly unknown actors and an evolving mythology? On ABC, of all places? In the era of CSI, Desperate Housewives, and the dozens of other cop shows and formulaic TV, Lost was a risk. Lost is a sci-fi show (I think a lot of people forget that) with horror and supernatural elements. It's serialized, meaning you must see each episode to understand the next one, unlike so many shows that were airing on network TV at the time. The show follows a group of drastically different people who have just survived a plane crash on a remote, tropical island that seems to harbor deep, dark mysteries. But each survivor has secrets of their own. And they must live together in order to survive. (I can vividly remember hearing protagonist Jack Shepard say, "If we don't learn to live together… we're gonna die alone.") These characters come together with their differences, their pasts (beautifully depicted in flashback scenes), their traumas, their hopes and their desires, to collectively navigate this horrible situation. What unfolds is six seasons of intense, heart-wrenching plot points that subvert expectations and are rich with themes of faith, spirituality, dualism, philosophy and the mystical. It's pretty normal for TV shows now to be cinematic. Shows like The Last of Us, Succession, Stranger Things and Severance all make use of big budgets, high-quality production, engrossing performances and teams of insanely talented writers. But Lost was doing that in 2004 on ABC, which means the showrunners were dealing with the many obstacles and restrictions of network television. For instance, the show's creators -- J.J. Abrams, Jeffrey Lieber and Damon Lindelof -- wanted Lost to only be three seasons, but ABC said no, and pushed them to do 10 seasons when they saw what a hit the show had become. They eventually negotiated down to the six seasons we have today. But that's twice the amount of runtime the original creators intended. Despite this, the writers crafted compelling story lines and introduced some of the most intriguing characters (Ben, Juliet, Jacob, Penny, Miles) into the later seasons. It's easy to forget that Lost was doing time jumps, shifting perspectives and emotional bottle episodes long before The Leftovers, Dark or Severance existed. It experimented with structure constantly: a flashback here, a flash-forward there, a time loop in season 5. Entire episodes would focus on side characters you hadn't seen in weeks. It was complicated, sure, but thrillingly so. The show trusted its audience to keep up, even when it was confusing. And yes, that led to frustration at the time, but trust me, it works much better now that Lost is on streaming services. It's a show that really should be binged, so that you can truly appreciate the nuance and hidden details of the writing. The things that made Lost so good at the time are why it hasn't been fully appreciated. It was simply ahead of its time. Small plot seeds would be introduced and then left unvisited for several episodes, making Lost a show that's perfect for binge-watching. ABC's Lost Lost indeed was a risk, but one that paid off in six seasons of wild, genre-bending storytelling and a gut-punch, emotional ending that will land as long as you give it another chance with an open mind. Read also: The 21 Best Sci-Fi TV Shows to Stream on Netflix It holds up in 2025 Part of what makes Lost such a rewarding rewatch in 2025 is that it doesn't feel dated. The series still looks and sounds incredible. Because it was filmed on 35mm, which can be upscaled and remastered. Plus, shot on-location in Hawaii, the series still looks gorgeous. Lost was shot on 35mm film, which means it can be upscaled and still look brand new 20 years later. ABC's Lost The performances of the 14 regularly recurring leads of the cast are absolutely brilliant, too. Even though this was a cast of mostly unknown actors at the time, they all, guest actors included, reached a caliber of performance that is still so rare to witness in a TV series. And the music is absolutely remarkable. Michael Giacchino (The Incredibles, Up, Coco, Inside Out) created what I think is the best TV score of all time for Lost. I mean, he used debris from the crashed plane from the pilot episode to create the unique, bizarre sounds you hear each episode. The score is a perfect fit for a unique storyline. More than anything else, Lost is a show that will make you feel. Lost is a show that is full of emotionally poignant moments. ABC's Lost Is every plotline perfect? No. Do the final seasons get a bit complex? Absolutely. But on balance, Lost is one of the most ambitious, strange, beautiful things ever put on television, and it is emotionally satisfying from start to finish. Lost opened the door for serialized sci-fi and genre storytelling on TV, especially character-first narratives with weird, metaphysical themes. What I'm saying is that without Lost, it's hard to imagine Severance, Stranger Things or other TV sci-fi faves. So if you haven't watched it since 2010 -- or if you've never watched it at all -- now's the time. The entire series is available to stream on Hulu, Netflix, Disney Plus and Prime Video for rent. Skip the Reddit threads. Forget the hot takes. Just hit play. And maybe, just maybe, you'll find that Lost didn't lose its way. We just didn't know how to watch it yet. For more, you can explore the 13 best sci-fi shows on Apple TV Plus and the 18 best sci-fi shows on Prime Video.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Hilary Duff's ‘Lizzie McGuire' Co-Star Jake Thomas On Revival Series 'Falling Apart': 'It Was Bad Timing'
It's been over five years since the Lizzie McGuire revival series was officially scrapped, and Jake Thomas is weighing in. The former Disney Channel actor who played Hilary Duff's little brother Matt in the comedy explained why the sequel series didn't move forward. More from Deadline Hilary Duff On The 'Lizzie McGuire' Flashback On 'How I Met Your Father' Writer On Canceled 'Lizzie McGuire' Reboot Details Plot That Might Have Made Disney Uncomfortable 'Project Runway' Season 21 Gets Premiere Date & First Look Teaser With Heidi Klum As Host On Freeform, Hulu & Disney+ Reboot 'Sometimes that just happens,' Thomas told E! News. 'It was bad timing with everything. It was right at the beginning of COVID.' The sequel series was announced during the Disney D23 Expo in 2019 and was being developed for the new Disney+ streaming service. However, the original series' creator, Terri Minsky, stepped down in January 2020. Duff took to social media to ask Disney to move the series to Hulu, allowing the character to live more authentically to her age. Despite the series being canceled altogether, Thomas finds it 'crazy how embedded Lizzie McGuire has become within a millennial culture as something that we're still referencing today,' adding, 'It blows my mind, and I'm thankful for that.' The revival series would've brought back the original cast members, and in 2024, one of the writers of the series revealed that two episodes were filmed. Jonathan Hurwitz said in a TikTok video that the first episode found Lizzie living in New York City as an interior designer. Lizzie soon finds out her chef boyfriend is cheating on her with her best friend, which prompts her to return to her childhood home in California, where animated Lizzie is waiting for her. Hurwitz noted that Episode 3 didn't end up getting filmed, and believed this was the episode that Disney might have had some issues with. 'Episode 3 wasn't filmed, but there was a script for it,' Hurwitz said. 'Lizzie wakes up in Ethan's bed, in his water polo t-shirt. Animated Lizzie pops up and she has this little checklist, like a to-do list, and Ethan is on the list and she checks it off.' Hurwitz continued, 'I think she says something like, 'I checked that box –dramatic pause– twice.' So if I had to guess, I saw another comment about certain storylines [about] why Disney wasn't comfortable with it, my guess was… that moment was probably one of them.' In an interview on Watch What Happens Live in 2023, Duff continued to be optimistic about the revival getting another shot, saying the show 'lived up to her vision.' She added, 'Disney+ was very new and I think they were figuring out their… and we were figuring out our… and I am optimistic.' Since the launch of Disney+, the lines between Disney's streaming platforms have been blurred. Subscribers of both services can see Hulu's content within the Disney+ app. Shows not necessarily Disney+ friendly, like The Kardashians, The Handmaid's Tale, and Only Murders in the Building, are available on the Disney+ platform for those with the bundle. Best of Deadline 'Stick' Release Guide: When Do New Episodes Come Out? 'Stick' Soundtrack: All The Songs You'll Hear In The Apple TV+ Golf Series 2025 TV Series Renewals: Photo Gallery