'Rust' script never called for gun to be fired

A lawsuit alleges Baldwin played ‘Russian Roulette’

LOS ANGELES:

A crew member working on Rust said in a lawsuit on Wednesday that the script never called for a gun to be fired during a scene that Alec Baldwin was rehearsing when he killed a cinematographer last month.

Script supervisor Mamie Mitchell alleges Baldwin should have checked the gun himself for live ammunition rather than relying on the assistant director’s assertion that the Colt 45 revolver was safe to use. “In our opinion, Mr Baldwin chose to play Russian Roulette when he fired a gun without checking it and without having the armourer do so in his presence,” Mitchell’s attorney Gloria Allred told a news conference.

Mitchell, who said she was in the line of fire, alleges assault, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and deliberate infliction of harm and is seeking unspecified damages in the lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court. “I relive the shooting and the sound of the explosion from the gun over and over again,” said Mitchell, who made the emergency call to authorities immediately after the October 21 incident.

The lawsuit, the second to be lodged over the incident, names Baldwin, the film’s producers, assistant director Dave Halls and Hannah Gutierrez, the armourer who was in charge of the weapons used in the film. Representatives for Baldwin, the producers, and Halls did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A lawyer for Gutierrez said he had yet to see the lawsuit.

Baldwin has said he is cooperating with the law enforcement investigation. Rust Movie Productions is conducting its own probe. Authorities in New Mexico have said they are investigating how a live bullet ended up in the gun Baldwin was using. And no criminal charges have been filed yet.