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Angelina Jolie got candid about her experience with gun safety in Hollywood following the recent devastating incident that saw veteran actor Alec Baldwin accidentally shoot and kill cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
According to the award-winning star, she is always “very careful” while on set. “The way I’ve worked or checked when I’m directing, there are certain procedures. You have to take it very seriously,” she told the LA Times.
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The 46-year-old – who has starred in action movies such as Lara Croft, Mr and Mrs Smith and Wanted – also expressed her deep sympathy for Halyna’s family for their great loss.
“I can’t imagine what these families are going through. At this moment, the grief and the tragedy of that accident are quite overwhelming,” she says.
Angelina isn’t the only star to have reflected on the shocking accident. One of Hollywood’s renowned actions stars Dwayne Johnson recently announced a new onset protocol for guns. “I can’t speak for anyone else, but I can tell you, without an absence of clarity here, that any movie that we have moving forward we won't use real guns at all,” the star told Variety.
The 49-year-old says that he is “heartbroken” by Halyna's death. “We lost a life. My heart goes out to her family and everybody on set. I’ve known Alec, too, for a very long time.”
Which is why going forward any production company or studio he works with will only use rubber guns. “We’re going to switch over to rubber guns, and we’re going to take care of it in post,” he adds, referring to the sound effects added later.
Rubber guns are non-firing props that will still have the same special effects and sound which are usually added in post-production compared to prop guns that use blank cartridges.
While prop guns are a replica of live ammunition, the shell casings are loaded with gun powder that excludes a bullet which is instead replaced with cotton or paper wadding.
The discharge of a prop gun usually imitates the sound of a real gun and the combusting gun powder causes a muzzle flash – if unloaded at close range a prop gun can cause injury or death.
Which is why the Red Notice star has banned all use of the weaponry on set.
“We’re not going to worry about the dollars; we won’t worry about what it costs,” Dwayne says.
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Emmy award-winner Jeffrey Wright, had been working with a weapon on the set of upcoming movie The Batman when the news broke.
“We were all pretty shocked. And it informed what we did from that moment on,” he says.
According to the 55-year-old, “I don't recall ever being handed a weapon that was not cleared in front of me — meaning chamber open, barrel shown to me, light flashed inside the barrel to make sure that it's cleared,” he explains.
Simply siting the tragedy as, “a mismanaged set.”
The tragic accident scared many A-listers that often use guns on set such as, The Umbrella Academy actor Justin Min who is currently filming Detained, an upcoming thriller movie.
“It's been a very somber time,” he says.
“After that — I mean we have obviously already been careful, but it's just another level of precaution.”
There is still an ongoing investigation following the events that unfolded on the set of Rust and Alec is cooperating with the authorities.
