Director Quentin Tarantino has weighed in on the shooting on the set of the movie Rust that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in 2021. While he believes that the armorer is mostly responsible for anything involving a gun on set, he still believes that the actor is partially responsible, he explained on the Club Random with Bill Maher podcast. Maher, in contrast, didn't see how Alec Baldwin could be at fault for the shooting. Baldwin has claimed that he didn't know there were live rounds in the gun that he used while rehearsing on set.
The movie's armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, 26, was sentenced to 18 months in prison for involuntary manslaughter. Baldwin’s involuntary manslaughter case was dismissed. To Maher, blaming Baldwin for the shooting didn't make much sense.
"Like, either you think he purposely shot that cinematographer or you think he didn’t purposely shoot her, and if he didn’t purposely shoot her, then it’s all f—ing bulls—, am I wrong?" Maher said on his podcast.
But Tarantino had a different opinion.
"It’s a situation, I think I’m being fair enough to say, that the armorer — the guy who handles the gun — the armorer is 90% responsible for everything that happens when it comes to that gun," Tarantino explained.
"But, but, but, but, but, but, the actor is 10% responsible," he continued. "It’s a gun. You are a partner in the responsibility to some degree."
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Maher was still a bit confused about how actors could be responsible in that situation. He asked what actors are supposed to do to ensure that a gun is safe to use on set. Tarantino doubled down on his assertion, insisting that there are procedures in place for actors to follow.
"They show it to you, [and] if there are steps to go through, you go through them. It’s done with due diligence, and you know it’s f—ing for real," he explained.
While Tarantino said actors might be somewhat to blame if something goes wrong when using a gun on set, it's the armorer's responsibility to provide actors with information about the guns and explain what steps to go through.
He emphasized that guns are used in tons of movies but fatal incidents on set are rare. Still, Maher wondered if there were any better alternatives to using real guns on set, considering the risk is still there.
Maher said he would be "nervous" about the possibility of something like that happening on set when using real guns.
"That’s the kind of f— up that happens that undermines an entire industry," Tarantino said in response to Maher's concerns about safety. "You don’t need nervous people; you want people to go for it. That’s the last thing you want is nervous people, you want, 'We’re all in this together, and we’re going to capture this exciting thing on film.'"
