A sad Hollywood raced to pay homage to cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, who was accidently killed on set by actor Alec Baldwin.
Baldwin fired a toy gun at the 42-year-old when she was working as director of photography on the New Mexico set of the new Western “Rush.”
As the film industry disputed the use of fake firearms on set and Baldwin’s participation, Hutchins’ devastated colleagues and friends urged for the world to focus on her and her amazing skill.
“There’s Alec Baldwin, and all the news is talking about it because we adore sensations like this,” said Andriy Semenyuk, a colleague cameraman and friend. “And I’d simply like to remember an extraordinarily brilliant individual… the skill that she was contributing to our profession,” she said.
“That’s exactly who she was, not to mention her personality and her role as a wonderful mother. Just remember her for what she has accomplished, for her skill, and for what she has done.”
Hutchins, who was born in Ukraine, worked as a cinematographer in Los Angeles for 32 films, including Joe Manganiello’s “Archenemy.”
Manganiello wrote, “I’m in shock.” “On Archenemy, I was really fortunate to have Halyna Hutchins as my DP. An amazing skill and a kind guy. I can’t believe something like this could happen in today’s world… Could a crew member be killed by prop gun fire? What a dreadful disaster. My heart aches for her and her family.”
According to her website, Hutchins grew raised on a Soviet military outpost in the Arctic Circle. She began her work as an investigative journalist before travelling to the United States to study at the American Film Institute and finally breaking into the male-dominated field of cinematography. In 2019, American Cinematographer magazine labelled her an emerging star. Her most recent Instagram photo has her riding a horse in New Mexico, with the caption “One of the pleasures of filming a Western on a day off.”
