Alec Baldwin reveals he’s grateful for career comeback after Rust shooting due to having seven kids to support

Alec Baldwin has shared his relief at his career getting back on track three years after Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was killed in an on-set shooting.

Production on the Western was paused in October 2021 when a prop gun being held by Baldwin, 66, discharged, killing Halyna, who was just 42, and injuring director Joel Souza, but the movie ultimately wrapped filming in May 2023. 

The actor whose trial for involuntary manslaughter was thrown out in August, said he was happy to report his work prospects had strengthened as he has seven young children to support during a candid chat on David Duchovny’s podcast, Fail Better from Lemonada Media.

Dad of eight Baldwin shares his brood aged 11-two with wife Hilaria, 40, and is also father to daughter Ireland, 28, with ex-wife Kim Basinger.

He said: ‘I do believe that by the communications I’ve had lately, that things are coming back my way to work, and I’m happy for that because I’ve got seven kids.’

‘But I’ve also enjoyed the fact that there’s so much of this case that is not known, because we didn’t have a full trial. The judge canceled the case. She ruled that it was dismissed with prejudice, which I’m very grateful for because it was, I think, a very, very informed decision on her part. 

‘But if I’d gone all the way and gotten a verdict, that’s a little bit better because a bunch of people in a jury had considered the facts and we would’ve presented so much more. All that doesn’t get presented because the case is over. 

Discussing his plans now he is no longer facing jail time, he said: ‘So for me, I’m going to take a break. I don’t want to talk about this for a while. I want to kind of take a nap.

‘I’m just saying for me, there’s another phase of this, but we’re going to get to that probably in a couple months. 

Praising wife Hilaria, he added: ‘And in the meantime, I want to have a nice holiday with my family. I owe my wife everything. She is the most spiritually ascended human being I’ve ever met, and she was kind to me and supportive of me. 

‘She was frustrated. She was in pain. She suffered tremendously, tremendously. You’re a guy, you fall in love with somebody and you’re like, ‘what can I do to make my wife safe?’ 

‘And I couldn’t do anything to stop what was happening to me. Anyway, we’re going to stop. They’re kicking me out of here. Let me just say I don’t get out there much, but I think I am going to start coming out there after the first of the year and if you don’t mind, I’ll call you.’

Rust recently premiered at the EnergaCAMERIMAGE Film Festival in Toruń, Poland on Wednesday, November 20

Baldwin’s trial for involuntary manslaughter was thrown out after a judge ruled evidence had been mishandled.

The Boss Baby star has repeatedly insisted that he didn’t pull the trigger of the gun or know why it contained live ammunition. 

Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the film’s armorer, was jailed for 18 months in April after being found guilty of charges connected to the incident.

Rust resumed filming and finished its shoot in May 2023, saying in an Instagram post marking its completion: ‘It’s been a long and difficult road. But we reach the end of the trail today.’

Earlier this month, a judge upheld an involuntary manslaughter conviction against the movie’s armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, in the fatal shooting of Hutchins. 

Gutierrez-Reed asked a New Mexico court to dismiss her conviction or convene a new trial, alleging that prosecutors failed to share evidence that could have cleared her over the shooting on the set of Rust. 

Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer, however, explained in her written order that Gutierrez-Reed’s attorneys did not establish that there was a reasonable possibility that the outcome of the trial would have been different had the evidence been available to her. 

The judge also rejected a request from Gutierrez-Reed that she be released from custody, saying it was moot because the request for a new trial was denied. 

In July, Marlow Sommer halted and ended Baldwin’s trial based on misconduct of police and prosecutors and their withholding evidence from the defense in the 2021 shooting of Hutchins. 

Baldwin, the lead actor and co-producer for Rust, was pointing a gun at Hutchins during a rehearsal on a movie set outside Santa Fe when the revolver went off, killing Hutchins and wounding Souza. 

A jury convicted Gutierrez-Reed of involuntary manslaughter in March in a trial overseen by Marlowe Sommer, who later sentenced her to the maximum 18-months.

Gutierrez-Reed has an appeal of the conviction pending in a higher court. Jurors acquitted her of allegations she tampered with evidence in the Rust investigation. 

Prosecutors blamed Gutierrez-Reed for unwittingly bringing live ammunition onto the set of ‘Rust’ and for failing to follow basic gun safety protocols.

Evidence that Gutierrez-Reed’s attorneys said prosecutors failed to share included a report by a firearms expert about the functionality of the gun that Baldwin used, ammunition that was later turned in to authorities and an interview with Rust ammunition supplier Seth Kenney.

Gutierrez-Reed is currently serving her sentence at the Santa Fe County Adult Detention Facility.

Baldwin, meanwhile, saw his involuntary manslaughter case dismissed in July.

The judge at the court in Santa Fe, New Mexico, said at the time that there had been errors by the prosecution in the handling of evidence, which she said ‘impacted the fundamental fairness of the case’.

The decision came after a day-long hearing without the jury present over bullets that should have been in evidence, which Baldwin’s lawyers claimed were ‘concealed’ from them and ‘buried’ in another case file.

The issue had upended the trial for Baldwin who pleaded not guilty to two counts of involuntary manslaughter as he was accused of negligence.

Gloria Allred, who represents Hutchins ‘s parents  Solovey and Anatolii Androsovych and sister Svetlana Zemko, spoke out after involuntary manslaughter charges against the actor were sensationally dropped in July.

Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer threw out the case ‘with prejudice’ – meaning Baldwin can never be tried again on the same charges – after it was revealed that prosecutors withheld vital evidence.

Allred said: ‘He should just have the human decency to say ‘I’m sorry’ in a phone call or FaceTime to the parents.

‘This was somebody’s daughter, somebody’s sister. It’s not all about Alec Baldwin. There are victims in this case. They are not celebrities, they matter.

‘This dismissal of the criminal case against Alec Baldwin is in no way, shape or form an exoneration of him. It does not change the fact that Alec Baldwin killed Halyna Hutchins.’

Yesterday, the actor made his first public comment since the case was thrown out, writing on Instagram: ‘There are too many people who have supported me to thank just now.

To all of you, you will never know how much I appreciate your kindness toward my family.’ Hollywood insiders say he now stands to make millions in book, movie and interview deals.