Joel Souza talks about the first filming of the movie “Rust”

“Rust” filmmaker Joel Souza speaks for the first time about the infamous fatal shooting on set.

In an exclusive interview with Vanity Fair, the director and screenwriter shared his thoughts on the 2021 filming on the New Mexico set of the western, during which a gun belonging to actor and producer Alec Baldwin went off, injuring Souza and killing his collaborator and friend, cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

“It's bizarre to have been shot,” Souza says. “And then who was holding the gun? It's bizarre. I had this weird thought, like, God, I remember seeing 'The Hunt for Red October' in the movies as a kid. It's like your older self whispering to your younger self, 'Hey, that guy… someday…'”

He continued, “Life can take you down very bizarre paths.” Souza has never commented publicly on the incident, but cooperated with detectives.

“When I tell somebody it ruined me, I don't mean it in the sense that people generally think,” Souza told the outlet. “I don't mean it ruined my career. I mean, inside, the person I was just disappeared. That stopped.”

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