Alec Baldwin says ‘Rust’ tragedy left him wanting to retire, stay home

Alec Baldwin says the years-long fallout from the fatal 2021 shooting on the set of “Rust” has left him wanting to abandon acting entirely, telling The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast that he spent three and a half years largely homebound and has little desire to return to work.

“I don’t want to leave my house anymore. I don’t. I don’t want to work anymore. I don’t. I really don’t. I want to retire and stay home with my kids,” Mr. Baldwin, 68, told the outlet in an episode published Monday.

The “30 Rock” alum was charged with involuntary manslaughter after cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was killed when a gun he was holding discharged on the New Mexico set of the indie western. The case collapsed in July 2024 when a judge ruled that prosecutors had withheld evidence and dismissed the charges with prejudice.

Mr. Baldwin said completing “Rust,” required under the terms of a wrongful-death lawsuit settlement with Hutchins’s widower, Matthew Hutchins, compounded the physical toll. He described developing orthostatic hypotension, a condition triggered by blood pressure medication in which a sudden drop in blood pressure upon standing can cause blackouts.

“I blacked out three times during the St. Patrick’s Day weekend of that year, and fell on top of my wife once,” he said. “It was crazy. It was horrible. So I get into bed. I’m in bed for eight days. I can’t get out of bed. I can’t walk. I had to go to physical therapy for two weeks.”

According to the Cleveland Clinic, orthostatic hypotension occurs when the body cannot adequately compensate for blood pooling in the lower extremities upon standing. There is no cure, though the condition can be managed.

Mr. Baldwin said he ultimately returned to Montana to finish the film despite his illness.

“I had to get up on a horse and go back there to Montana to finish the film, or they were going to sue the s—- out of me,” he said. “I get there, and I don’t give the performance I want to give because I’m sick, but I did the best I could.”

The film was released last year but performed poorly at the box office. Since the shooting, Mr. Baldwin has worked only sparingly, and a reality television series, “The Baldwins,” was critically panned with a second season considered unlikely.

Mr. Baldwin said the ordeal took a toll across every dimension of his life. “It impacted me in every way — financially, career-wise, my wife, my kids, my health,” he said.

At the close of the podcast, Mr. Baldwin FaceTimed his wife, Hilaria Baldwin, 42, telling the audience: “I told them if it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have survived all of the ’Rust’ situation, so thank you.” The couple share seven children together. Mr. Baldwin also has a daughter, Ireland Baldwin, from his previous marriage to actress Kim Basinger.