Alec Baldwin Is Starring In A Movie About One Of The Most Famous Shootings
Alec Baldwin will star in a movie about the Vietnam Protest Shootings that occurred at Kent State in 1970.
Two years ago, Alec Baldwin was at the top of Hollywood’s most elite actors list after spending four decades carefully curating a career that featured the prestigious actor as the star of many notable films, including Beetlejuice, Aviator, and It’s Complicated. However, after the tragic accidental shooting on the set of Baldwin’s Western film Rust in 2021, the actor spent a few years laying low, that is, until he made the surprising decision to finish the ill-fated film. Now, according to The Hollywood Reporter, Baldwin is making another surprising choice for his next movie, as he is officially set to star in a feature production about one of the most infamous shootings of all time—the Vietnam Protest Shootings that occurred at Kent State in 1970.
The upcoming Alec Baldwin feature, which is called Kent State, will depict the intense and heartbreaking incidents that occurred on May 4, 1970, when four students were shot and killed by the National Guard during a campus protest against the Vietnam War. For the film, Baldwin will take on the persona of Kent State President Robert I. White. Karen Slade wrote the script and is set to make her directorial debut with the film, which is being sold at Cannes.
So far, Alec Baldwin is the only actor whose character has been revealed, but a slew of other talent has been announced to be attached to the production. Dermot Mulroney (My Best Friend’s Wedding), Clancy Brown (The Shawshank Redemption), Askel Hennie (The Cloverfield Paradox), Jacqueline Emerson (The Hunger Games), Christopher Ammanuel (Black Lightning), Andrew Ortenberg (A-X-L), and Ian Slade (The Hating Game) will all officially appear in the film. Kent State will be produced by Kristen Moser of Autumn Moor Productions, and the executive producers on the project include Tom Ortenberg, Kevin Beer, Ivan Williams, and Michael Walsh.
News of Alec Baldwin joining the cast for one of the most famous and tragic shootings comes only days after the actor wrapped filming on Rust, a Western that was struck with its own real-life tragedy when an improperly loaded gun went off on set and killed the film’s cinematographer, Haylna Hutchins, and injured director Joel Souza. While Baldwin was initially facing charges for the incident, the charges were eventually dropped, although an ongoing investigation is still in the works. Rust is currently still in production (though Baldwin has wrapped for his part), with Souza still directing and Hutchins’ widower producing.
Rust is styled as a classic American Western film where Alec Baldwin plays an outlaw who comes out of hiding to stop his 13-year-old grandson from being hanged for murder. While the film should wrap up production soon, there is currently no set public release date for the movie.
While the Rust shooting seemed to stall Alec Baldwin’s career for a short time, the actor has not hesitated in jumping back on the horse. The Departed actor currently has nine projects in the works, including Kent State and Rust. Amongst the other seven are the family comedy Billie’s Magic World, the thriller 97 Minutes, and the crime movie Hollywood Heist.
