Quentin Tarantino believes Alec Baldwin bears some responsibility for the Rust set shooting.
The subject of Baldwin accidentally shooting and killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins after being given a toy gun with live ammunition came up during Tarantino’s recent appearance in THE Random Club podcast, where Bill Maher joked that the actor had been invited to host the Oscars, but “couldn’t make it; he was on set.”
Maher then asked the filmmaker, “How can it be Baldwin’s fault? Either you think he deliberately shot the cinematographer, or you think he didn’t do it on purpose. And if he didn’t do it on purpose, then it’s bullshit. Am I wrong?”
“No,” Tarantino replied. “I think I’m pretty fair in saying that the gunsmith, the guy who hands him the gun, is 90 percent responsible for everything that happens with that gun.” The director, however, said that “the actor is 10 percent responsible” in that type of situation.
“It’s a weapon. You’re a responsible partner to some extent,” Tarantino continued.
“How do you test it?” Maher asks. “They show you,” the author says. “If there are steps to follow, you follow them and it’s done with due diligence. And you know it’s for real.”
Tarantino explained that if Baldwin “followed the steps he’s supposed to follow, then he (should know better).” Those steps include making sure “the barrel is clear, there’s nothing stuck in between” and seeing the blank cartridges used in the scene.
The director also noted that if an actor is aware that he has “three hot bullets” in the gun and is going to shoot a scene, “if one of the bullets doesn’t go off while he’s doing his ‘bam, bam, bam,’ then he should cut the scene and say, ‘Guys, one of the bullets didn’t go off. I think I’m still holding a hot gun here.'”
When Maher asked why the fake guns couldn’t be empty and have gunshot sounds added in post-production, Tarantino replied, “I guess I can add digital erections to porn, but who wants to watch that?” He added that it was “exciting to shoot blanks and see the real orange fire and not add orange fire.”
Earlier this year, Baldwin was tried for involuntary manslaughter. The case was ultimately dismissed in July. “The late discovery of this evidence impacted the fundamental fairness of the proceedings,” Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer told the court. “There is no way for the court to redress this wrong. The sanction of dismissal is the only remedy that is warranted.”
