Rust director Joel Souza wasn’t too keen on catching Alec Baldwin’s latest reality TV show. The 51-year-old filmmaker opened up about Baldwin and the show in a recent chat with The Guardian that dropped on Monday.
The Baldwin’s, a new series on TLC, premiered on February 23. It follows Alec, 67, his 41-year-old wife Hilaria, and their seven kiddos.
“I didn’t watch ‘The Baldwins.’ I think I was busy hitting myself in the face with a frying pan that night,” Souza shared when asked about the show’s debut.
In the past, Souza has mentioned that he and Baldwin don’t exactly have a close relationship. It’s more of a “we’re not friends, we’re not enemies” kind of situation.
Baldwin and Hilaria didn’t shy away from discussing the tragic shooting incident that occurred on the set of Rust, where Souza was injured, and cinematographer Halyna Hutchins lost her life. The incident happened three and a half years ago when a prop gun Baldwin was holding accidentally discharged during a rehearsal.
The couple delved into the aftermath of the Rust shooting on their TLC series. Baldwin expressed his disbelief and pain over the ordeal, especially for his wife.
“I mean, I can’t even believe that we’re going through this, and I always feel more in pain about you than me, because I think to myself, well, you know, I’m going to try to my best to just get through it, and I think what it’s done to you and how much it’s hurt you and everything,” Baldwin shared with Hilaria.
Baldwin further opened up about the toll the Rust shooting took on him in one of the show’s confessional interviews.
“This past year was just terrible. There were times I’d lay in bed. I’d go, ‘Wow, my kids. I can’t get up.’ That’s not like me. I’m not like that at all, not in any way am I like that. Never,” Baldwin expressed.
Hilaria also touched on how her husband’s mental health took a hit following the involuntary manslaughter charges he faced in connection with the shooting.
“Everyone who is close to Alec has seen his mental health decline,” she revealed.
She also mentioned that Baldwin’s OCD worsened, and he was diagnosed with PTSD following the incident.
“He was diagnosed with PTSD, and he says in his darkest moments, ‘If an accident had to have happened this day, why am I still here? Why couldn’t it have been me?’” Hilaria recounted.
Baldwin’s manslaughter case was eventually dismissed in December after his legal team argued that crucial evidence was concealed by the prosecutor and law enforcement regarding the live round that caused Hutchins’ death. The armorer on Rust, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to 18 months in prison. David Halls, the film’s first assistant director, pled guilty to negligent use of a deadly weapon and received six months of probation.
Despite the tumultuous events surrounding Rust and its aftermath, the film is set to hit theaters this Friday, marking a bittersweet moment for all involved.
