Alec Baldwin’s Rust Crew Member Hospitalized, May Soon Lose His Arm
Alec Badlwin's Rust production may have another tragedy on its hands.
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Regardless of who you blame for the death of Halyna Hutchins on the set of Alec Baldwin’s Rust last month, we should all be able to agree on at least one thing — the cast and crew of the film have had more than their share of tragedy to shoulder. Unfortunately, fate doesn’t seem to be done with Rust. Jason Miller — a lamp operator and pipe rigger from the crew — is in the hospital and there’s a chance he may lose his arm.
Miller’s status was first reported by SkyNews, who says he was working on closing down the set of Alec Badlwin’s Rust when he was bitten by a venomous brown recluse spider. Miller was reportedly suffering serious symptoms such as necrosis of the arm and sepsis within days. A fundraising page for the crew member’s medical care says he has already “endured multiple surgeries each day” in the doctors’ race to halt the progress of the infection without amputating his arm. If Miller survives with his arm intact, the fundraising page says, there is a “very long road to recovery” waiting for him. The page points out that if his arm is lost, it will be a “life-changing and devastating event” for Miller.
What’s befallen Jason Miller is, sadly, just the latest bad news concerning the production of the western Rust. On Thursday, October 21, Rust lead and executive producer Alec Baldwin allegedly discharged a prop gun which he believed contained no live ammunition. It’s still under investigation how a live round wound up in the gun, but however it got there, in a tragic accident cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was killed and director Joel Souza was injured.
The person under the most scrutiny as far as the public is concerned seems to be Rust armorer Hannah Guttierez-Reed. Reports have since emerged of Guttierez-Reed angering actor Nicolas Cage on the set of the upcoming The Old Way when she allegedly discharged a gun without warning anyone on set. In response to widespread allegations of the armorer’s supposed negligence — including reports that she had allowed crew members to use the same prop guns Alec Baldwin and other actors would use with live rounds for target practice — Guttierez-Reed’s attorneys have put forth the theory the live round was intentionally placed in the gun as an act of sabotage by unhappy crew members.
While so far there’s been no evidence released to support the theory that the tragic shooting was the result of sabotage, it’s clear there was a lot of misery going around the set of Alec Baldwin’s Rust even before the tragic accident. Former Rust camera assistant Lane Luper — one of the crew members who walked off the set before the shooting — talked to The Hollywood Reporter last week about the conditions on the set. Luper described a production that was rushed and seemed badly organized. He mentioned the crew being paid late and — when they were paid at all — the numbers coming up short. Luper claims rehearsals and safety meetings were often skipped, and talked about accidental gun discharges from a week before Hutchins’ death.
What happened on the set of Alec Baldwin’s Rust promises to have far-reaching consequences. It’s opened up a discussion about the use of firearms on set in Hollywood productions. Some big names — such as Dwayne Johnson and The Boys showrunner Eric Kripke — have announced new policies on their productions banning all real guns on set and adding firing effects in post-production.
