‘Rust’ Director Joel Souza Blasts Alec Baldwin After Surviving Shooting – ‘We’re Not Friends’

The world was stunned in October of 2021 when a gun that Alec Baldwin was holding on the set of his movie Rust went off. The shooting killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and injured director Joel Souza, who was shot in the shoulder. In the nearly three years since then, Souza has stayed relatively quiet about the shooting.

Until now.

Souza Left ‘Ruined’ By Shooting

In a new interview, Souza is saying that he was left “ruined” by the shooting. He also spoke out against Baldwin, who got off scot-free in court.

“When I tell someone it ruined me, I don’t mean in the sense that people might generally think,” Souza told Vanity Fair. “I don’t mean that it put my career in ruins. I mean, internally, the person I was just went away. That stopped.”

“It’s not like I was in love with the guy I was before, anyway,” he continued. “You look in the mirror the day after that happens, and now there’s somebody else there. I didn’t know things about the world one day, and now I do. And none of them are good.”

Pretty brutal stuff.

Souza Is ‘Not Friends’ With Baldwin

Despite what happened, Baldwin was still determined to finish Rust. While Souza agreed to complete the film, he wants the world to know that he has “no relationship” with Baldwin.

“Getting through it was tough. We got through it. I got the performance I wanted,” he explained. “We’re not friends. We’re not enemies. There’s no relationship.”

When asked if he thinks justice has been done now that the charges against Baldwin have been dropped, Souza replied, “I don’t know, and I don’t know what that even is anymore — I’ll be very honest with you about that.”

“There is an argument that says, if he checks it and starts fiddling around with it, he’s creating a safety issue,” Souza continued. “And then there is another thing that says, it’s common sense, Jesus Christ. Be careful with this goddamn thing. So I don’t know anymore, to be honest with you.”

Though the cast and crew managed to complete Rust, they threw out the scene that they were rehearsing for when Hutchins was killed.

“Not just that, but also a few things leading up to it,” Souza revealed. “Everything needed to be entirely re-conceived there. There were a few things that came before that now wouldn’t make story sense.”

“So we just sort of eliminated it and came up with something entirely different,” he continued. “I’m not going back to that. I’m glad you asked. I don’t want anyone who ever does see this to be waiting for that. No one ever pushed to keep anything like that.”

Related: Alec Baldwin Attacks Family Of Cinematographer He Fatally Shot On ‘Rust’ Set

Souza’s Testimony

Souza previously testified at the trial of the Rust armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed. She was ultimately convicted of involuntary manslaughter and is currently serving an 18-month prison sentence.

“I went inside [the church] again to see, to try to see what the angle was, there were a lot of voices,” Souza said in his testimony. He added that he “heard Alec’s voice…heard Halyna’s voice, everyone sort of talking at once. I don’t have a clear memory of how long I was standing behind her.”

“I know I got up behind her to . . . try to see on the monitor, and there was an incredibly loud bang that was not like the half and quarter loads you hear on a set,” he recalled. “Those are sort of, they’re loud poofs and pops. This was deafening. And it felt like somebody had taken a baseball bat to my shoulder. I remember that distinctly and sort of stumbling back and shouting. I don’t remember exactly what I said.”

Related: Here’s Why Alec Baldwin’s ‘Rust’ Trial Really Went Off The Rails

Souza ‘Didn’t Want To Be Around Anymore’

When asked in his latest interview if he felt lucky to be alive when he was in the hospital recovering, Souza replied, “No, I wasn’t. I remember specifically going to sleep that night and hoping I didn’t wake up the next morning.” 

“I hoped I would just bleed out overnight because I didn’t want to be around anymore,” he continued. “It was a very difficult moment. I remember just thinking, ‘Maybe I’ll just sort of bleed to death—that would suit me just fine.’”

Though some of the feelings of “not wanting to be around anymore” seem to have gone away, Souza is still in the process of emotionally recovering.

“You have responsibilities in life, and people you love that love you, and you want to be there for them,” he explained. “There were a lot of very rough times in the years since, and there are very rough times now.”

This was clearly a very traumatic experience for everyone involved. We continue to pray for Hutchins’ family. Please join us in saying a prayer for Souza as well!