Quentin Tarantino speaks out about the filming of “Rust” and partly blames Baldwin

Although the case surrounding the shooting in “Rust” was dismissed against Alec Baldwin, director Quentin Tarantino believes that he is not entirely innocent.

The 61-year-old “Pulp Fiction” filmmaker spoke to Bill Maher on Sunday's episode of the comedian's “Club Random” podcast and argued that actors like Baldwin are partly responsible for the safe handling of weapons on film sets.

During the discussion, Maher sharply criticized the criminal case against Baldwin, arguing that it was absurd to claim that the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was his fault because he did not “intentionally shoot” her. The actor was charged with manslaughter after a gun he was holding went off on the set of the 2021 film “Rust,” fatally shooting Hutchins and injuring director Joel Souza.

But Tarantino, whose films often feature gun violence, disagreed with Maher's argument, telling the comedian: “The gunsmith – the guy who handles the gun – is 90 percent responsible for everything that happens with that gun. But the actor is only 10 percent responsible. It's a gun. They share responsibility to some extent.”

USA TODAY has reached out to representatives for Baldwin for comment.

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The Oscar-winning director went on to say that an actor must take measures to ensure safe handling of weapons.

“They show you that the barrel is clear and there's nothing jammed in the barrel,” he said. “(They) actually show you the barrel. And then they show you something like, 'Here are our blanks. These are the blanks. And here's the gun. Boom. Now you're ready to go.'”

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Baldwin has denied responsibility for Hutchins' death. He said he did not pull the trigger of the gun and was told it did not contain live ammunition. In July, the manslaughter charge against him was abruptly dropped because prosecutors had suppressed evidence. The “30 Rock” star thanked his supporters for their “kindness.”

Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, Rust’s gunsmith, was found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to 18 months in prison.

Tarantino, who called the filming of “Rust” a mistake that “undermined an entire industry,” also rejected Maher's argument that guns on film sets should be empty for safety reasons and digitally altered in post-production.

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“It's exciting to shoot blanks and see the real orange fire, not the extra orange fire,” said the director of “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” adding, “Given the amount of guns we've fired in movies, the fact that we only have two examples of people being shot on set by a gunshot accident is a pretty (expletive) good record.”

Tarantino was referring to the fact that actor Brandon Lee was fatally shot in an accident on the set of the film “The Crow” in 1993. Director Rupert Sanders recently told USA TODAY that he insisted on not having any live weapons on the set of his “The Crow” remake, which opened in theaters Friday.

“We work in a very dangerous environment,” Sanders said. “There's always a fast car with a crane attached, or a horse galloping at high speed, or you're filming takeoffs on the USS Roosevelt. You're always in the line of fire, but for me safety comes first. It's just not worth the risk.”

Quentin Tarantino speaks out about the filming of “Rust” and partly blames Baldwin

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