Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson vows to stop using real guns on movie sets
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has promised to stop using real firearms on his movie sets in the wake of the shooting death of “Rust” cinematographer Halyna Hutchins at the hands of Alec Baldwin.
The 49-year-old actor, who owns the production company Seven Bucks, told Variety on Wednesday that he plans to only use rubber guns from now on.
“First of all, I was heartbroken,” Johnson told the outlet at the premiere of his new Netflix blockbuster “Red Notice” in Los Angeles. “We lost a life. My heart goes out to her family and everybody on set. I’ve known Alec, too, for a very long time.”
The former pro wrestler — who handles firearms in the new movie, which launches on Nov. 12 — said he also will enforce his new policy with any studio he works with in the future.
Johnson said he called his team a couple of hours after he heard that Hutchins had died on the “Rust” set and discussed what changes his company would make to prevent future tragedies.
“I can’t speak for anyone else, but I can tell you, without an absence of clarity here, that any movie that we have moving forward with Seven Bucks Productions — any movie, any television show, or anything we do or produce — we won’t use real guns at all,” Johnson told Variety.
“We’re going to switch over to rubber guns, and we’re going to take care of it in post[-production]. We’re not going to worry about the dollars. We won’t worry about what it costs,” he added.
The hulking superstar made his comments a couple of weeks after Baldwin fatally shot Hutchins and wounded director Joel Souza with a .45-caliber Colt revolver that he believed was loaded with dummy rounds.
The tragic shooting remains under investigation and authorities have not filed criminal charges in the case.
“I love the movie business,” Johnson told the outlet. “There are safety protocols and measures that we have always taken in the movie business and we take very seriously, and these sets are safe sets, and we’re proud of that. But accidents do happen.”
He continued: “And when something like this happens of this magnitude, [that is] this heartbreaking, I think the most prudent thing and the smartest thing to do is just pause for a second and really re-examine how you’re going to move forward and how we’re going to work together.”
