Guy Ritchie refuses to use real guns on set following ‘Rust’ incident
In 2021, cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was killed on the set of Joel Souza’s movie Rust after Alec Baldwin shot a gun used as a prop, unaware that it was loaded.
Since then, several filmmakers have decided to no longer use real guns on set, with Guy Ritchie telling Newsweek that he now only uses Airsoft guns. The British director was being interviewed alongside Jake Gyllenhaal, who stars in his newest film, The Covenant, which contains many shootouts.
When Gyllenhaal and Ritchie were asked about gun safety on set, the actor replied, “I generally feel like that’s more of a question for the producers, just because those are the choices that they make, but we used Airsoft weaponry on this.”
He added: “It allowed for a creative freedom, particularly as we were moving in the way guys shoot, so everything was safe.”
Ritchie chimed in, adding: “That whole thing has changed now, the whole game has changed. We haven’t used a real weapon since [the Rust shooting]. So there were no real weapons. It’s the first shoot that we had, which I have to tell you, it’s a tremendous relief for all of us. [Airsoft weapons] look as good as real weapons, they do all the functions as a real weapon.”
The director continued: “You get a gas discharge. It all seems as authentic as it can be, but as Jake said, it’s Airsoft though. No one can get into any trouble.”
He explained that he’s “never liked real firearms” and he “had no idea why we carried on in the industry with real firearms. It was just one of those things that everyone did, and it’s a tremendous relief, as I’m sure it is for Jake, as much as it is for me, that you don’t have that sword hanging over us any longer.”
On April 20th, it was announced that all criminal charges against Baldwin would be dropped.
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