Alec Baldwin says he is ready to retire from his acting career and spend time with his family after the “very painful” five years following the 2021 shooting on the set of Rust that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
The 68-year-old actor appeared on the Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast Monday, where he spoke about “staying home a lot” after facing involuntary manslaughter charges. In October 2024, a New Mexico judge upheld her decision to dismiss an involuntary manslaughter charge against Baldwin in the fatal shooting. The case was resolved in December 2024 after prosecutors withdrew their appeal of the July 2024 dismissal.
“We had this incident, this tragedy, in New Mexico, where Halyna Hutchins was killed on the set of the film, and that was unspeakably difficult to deal with,” Baldwin recalled.
“Because of the situation in New Mexico, which was very painful, I wound up staying home a lot. I was home with my kids for three-and-a-half years,” Baldwin said. “I hardly worked at all. And that’s just changing now, I’m going to go off and do a bunch of things, but I was home and I got used to it, and I don’t want to leave my house anymore.
“I don’t want to work anymore. I don’t. I really don’t. I want to retire and stay home with my kids.”
Baldwin shares seven children, all under the age of 12, with his wife, Hilaria, whom he’s been married to since 2012. He also has one older daughter, Ireland, 30, from his first marriage with actor Kim Basinger.
The 30 Rock actor spoke about his life with his family during the podcast.
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“My kids are all born in Manhattan, same hospital, same doctor. And my son Romeo was there and we’re picking clothes, they’re picking out ski jackets back in November. And I go, ‘Get that one, get that colour. I like that one. Don’t just get the black, get that one.’ And he looks at me and goes, ‘What do you know? You’re from Long Island,’” Baldwin said.
“And that’s my life now, day after day after day after day.”
During his appearance on the podcast, Baldwin discussed a health scare he experienced during his trial for the involuntary manslaughter charges.
While working on the new Rory Kennedy-directed documentary The Trial of Alec Baldwin, the actor said he “had a nerve condition that you get when you take blood pressure medication.”
“I was so sick. I mean, we had to go back and finish the movie Rust in Montana as a component of the settlement with her [Hutchins’] husband. We had to finish. We gave him the movie and said, ‘You sell it and do whatever you want with it,’” Baldwin shared.
“So I had to go [finish the film], and I was really sick — I had a nerve condition that you get when you take blood pressure medication, orthostatic hypotension, where you black out. I blacked out three times during the St. Patrick’s Day weekend of that year, and fell on top of my wife once. It was crazy. It was horrible.”
Orthostatic hypotension is caused by a large drop in blood pressure that occurs when you stand up after sitting or lying down, according to the Cleveland Clinic. It can make you feel dizzy or faint when your body can’t adjust your blood pressure quickly. Causes include dehydration or certain conditions.
Baldwin revealed that he was “in bed for eight days” and couldn’t walk.
“I had to go to physical therapy for two weeks. And 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 sh-t out of me. So I make it — 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,” he added.
Last January, Baldwin filed a civil lawsuit for malicious prosecution and civil rights violations in the fatal shooting of Hutchins.
Baldwin alleged defamation in the suit, saying that prosecutors and investigators intentionally mishandled evidence as they pursued the case.
Defendants named in the lawsuit include special prosecutor Kari Morrissey and Santa Fe District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies, along with three investigators from the Santa Fe County sheriff’s office and the county board of commissioners.
“Defendants sought at every turn to scapegoat Baldwin for the acts and omissions of others, regardless of the evidence or the law,” the lawsuit stated.
It also said prosecutors and investigators targeted Baldwin for professional or political gain.
Hutchins died shortly after being wounded during a rehearsal for the movie Rust in October 2021 at a film-set ranch on the outskirts of Santa Fe, N.M.
Baldwin, the lead actor and co-producer, was pointing a pistol at Hutchins when it discharged, killing her and wounding director Joel Souza. Baldwin has said he pulled back the hammer — but not the trigger — and the revolver fired.
— With files from The Associated Press
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