How Did the Cast of Alec Baldwin's Rust Find Out About Halyna Hutchins's Unfortunate Death? Hulu's Last Take Reveals

The shooting at the set of Alec Baldwin's Rust made the headlines around the world, now a new documentary reveals how did the cast and crew of the movie found out about Halyna's death.

Written by Apoorva Rastogi , Entertainment Journalist

Updated on Mar 10, 2025 | 05:27 PM GMT | 9.8K

Still shot of Halyna Hutchins from Hulu's documentary Last Take (YouTube)

Back in 2021, a gun on the set of Rust that was supposed to be a prop, discharged, killing the cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, and injuring director Joel Souza. The tragic news made the headlines around the world, with a long case brought against actor Alec Baldwin, assistant director Dave Halls, and armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed.

In a new documentary on Hulu, Last Take: Rust and the Story of Halyna which is directed by Hutchins' friend, Rachel Mason, the filmmaker catalogs the former's last days on set and the frenzy that ensued afterward. One moment that not many know about is how the crew and the cast of the movie found out about their colleague's death. The doc reveals, that on the day of the shooting, after the accident, everyone involved in the film's production was huddled together under a tent waiting for updates on Hutchins and Souza's health.

It is revealed that while the police had broken the unfortunate news to Balwin, the crew found out through the media. Actor Devon Werkheiser revealed, "What’s so f----d is before, we had cops at set and we had people from production at the hospital, before we heard anything officially that she had passed, it came out online."

The 34-year-old recalls how as one by one everyone found out, they started to break down. He continued, "All of a sudden, I just started seeing pockets of people as they read the news, just started seeing pockets of people just like break down." Werkheiser echoed everyone's sentiment on the set, saying, "You’re trying to hold onto hope and it was the worst possible outcome for the day."

The doc that'll come out on March 11, also features the footage from the police interrogating Baldwin, and when they informed him of Hutchins' demise, the actor looked shocked and horrified, gasping with his hand on his mouth. The charges against the SNL star were dropped in 2024, July, while the armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was sentenced to 18 months in prison.