An “absolutely devastated” Alec Baldwin is pulling the plug on his other work projects after last week’s movie-set mishap that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
A source close to the 63-year-old actor told People magazine that the actor “is canceling other projects” and plans to “take some time to himself and re-center himself” after last week’s shooting on the New Mexico set of “The Rust.”
“This is how he handles difficult times,” the source said. “Whenever something bad happens, in the short term, he removes himself from [the] public eye.
“It’s going to take him time to figure all this out,” the source said, adding that the ordeal “was pretty devastating.
“He needs to take a while to himself, to be with his family.”
Baldwin was handed a real gun being used as a prop during the filming of the Western on Thursday and fired off the shot that killed Hutchins, 42, and wounded director Joel Souza, 48.
Filmmakers have traditionally used real guns on movie sets but load them with blanks instead of real bullets to avoid a similar mishap. Baldwin’s gun had real bullets in it. It’s still unclear why.
Last week’s incident left the veteran actor “hysterical and absolutely inconsolable for hours,” the source told People.
In a Twitter post Friday, Baldwin said he was heartbroken for Hutchins’ family.
“There are no words to convey my shock and sadness regarding the tragic accident that took the life of Halyna Hutchins, a wife, a mother and deeply admired colleague of ours,” he wrote. “I’m fully cooperating with the police investigation to address how this tragedy occurred.”
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