Left-wing Hollywood star Alec Baldwin is celebrating the final days of filming on his troubled western movie, Rust, by shaving off his beard for an Instagram post.
Baldwin officially wrapped principal photography on the film this week after the film was delayed for more than a year when cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was accidentally shot and killed on the set during a rehearsal for a scene in 2021.
In his Instagram post on Monday, Baldwin told fans, “God, it felt good to shave off that beard.”
Just before that post, Baldwin added another telling fans that it was the “last day on the set of RUST” and buzzed about working with young actor Patrick Scott McDermott.
The western was thrown into chaos for many months after Hutchins was killed on set in Oct. of 2021, shot by the gun that Baldwin was handling during the rehearsal for the project.
Baldwin always denied he pulled the trigger of the gun that killed Hitchins, despite that fact that the firearm is a single action revolver that cannot fire unless it has been both cocked and the trigger pulled.
New Mexico authorities dithered for months on whether to charge Baldwin for the shooting. Eventually manslaughter charges were filed. But soon enough, those charges were dropped.
In the meantime, there was a raft of lawsuits filed by surviving loved ones of the deceased Hutchins, various crew members, and even Baldwin himself in retaliation.
Ultimately, the film relocated to finish its final scenes from New Mexico to Montana and resumed shooting in April.
With the film waiting in limbo for so long, and lawsuits continuing to fly, it is still unknown if it will ever hit theaters. But Baldwin seems determined to finish the film, come what may and in the face of ongoing controversy.
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