Halyna Hutchins’s widower, Matt Hutchins, has posted several tributes to the late cinematographer on social media. The posts hint at how much he misses his late wife already.
On Twitter, he shared a somber statement about her legacy, her family’s loss and their need for privacy at this time.
“Halyna inspired us all with her passion and vision,” he wrote. “And her legacy is too meaningful to encapsulate in words. Our loss is enormous, and we ask that the media please respect my family’s privacy as we process our grief. We thank everyone for sharing images and stories of her life.”
On Instagram, he posted a simple yet deeply sad message to his late wife. “We miss you, Halyna!,” he wrote. Alongside that caption, he added a photo of the couple with their 9-year-old son, Andros.
Halyna Hutchins Was Ascendant When She Died
Before she tackled “Rust,” Hutchins, 42, had been slowly building up a resume of impressive credits. She had worked on the feature films “Archenemy,” “Blindfire” and “The Mad Hatter” as well as short films and commercials. “Archenemy” colleague Adam Egypt Mortimer told the Los Angeles Times she was on track to become “very famous” and “very successful” as a cinematographer.
“After we made ‘Archenemy,’ people were calling me saying, ‘She did good work. We’re thinking about putting her up for something,’” Mortimer said. “She was building a reputation. She was showing people what she could do.”
Mortimer added that the cinematographer was “super rugged” and would venture into any space to get the camera angle right. She was reportedly huddled over a monitor when star Alec Baldwin accidentally shot her on the Bonanza Creek Ranch in Santa Fe on Thursday.
From the “Rust” set, Halyna Hutchins was transported by helicopter to the University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque. She tragically passed away there.
Gun That Killed Hutchins May Have Been Used for Target Practice Off Set
According to court records since made public, assistant director Dave Halls had handed the gun to Baldwin. Moreover, Time reports that as he did, Halls shouted, “Cold gun!” That meant the gun was not supposed to carry live rounds.
But the gun was loaded. And in fact, it may have been used off-set for target practice, TMZ reports.
Sources tell TMZ that crew members had been using that gun recreationally, loading it with real bullets. Meanwhile, police who arrived on the scene of the shooting also found that live ammunition and blanks were being stored in the same area on set.
Besides, that was not the first time a prop gun had gone off on set. A crew member told the L.A. Times that his colleague had voiced alarm about the three accidental prop gun misfires that preceded the tragic incident on Thursday. That colleague also reportedly sent a text message about it to the unit production manager.
The armorer on the movie was Hannah Gutierrez Reed, 24. She’s the daughter of a seasoned Hollywood armorer. Reed had worked on one feature film before “Rust.”
Besides the safety issues, the film had also been beset by labor disputes, with some camera crew workers actually walking off set to protest the working conditions there. Crew members worked long hours. What’s more, they were apparently asked to make a 50-mile commute to set from Albuquerque every day. So that way, the filmmakers didn’t have to pay for hotel rooms nearby.
