Another major injury has occurred on the set of Rust, the indie Western that recently shut down production following the tragic death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. While preparing to film a scene for the movie, Alec Baldwin was holding a gun believed to be loaded with blanks, not knowing that a live round had somehow gotten loaded into the firearm. This led to a fatal accident with the gun discharging the round, killing Hutchins and injuring director Joel Souza.
After the incident, the production was indefinitely shut down by the producers, and its chances of starting back up seem very slim. One crew member working on the movie, Jason Miller, was hired to help break down the Santa Fe set with production getting halted. While working, Miller was bitten by a venomous brown recluse spider, resulting in a painful injury so horrific that it might even result in an amputation of his left arm.
As of now, Miller is being treated, and while TMZ has published photos of his injuries, they’re a little too gruesome for us to repost here. Take our assurances that the result looks incredibly painful, with some of the photos even revealing the muscles inside of his arm and shoulder. He is facing a long rehabilitation process, and it’s still uncertain if he’ll even be able to keep his arm. Jason’s mother says that the limb may need to be amputated, and says he’s already planning to sue for workers’ compensation.
Typically, brown recluse spiders don’t attack humans, though they sometimes will if they feel threatened. While they are highly venomous, their bites can sometimes go unnoticed with only mild symptoms felt by the person. As Jason Miller knows first-hand, however, it’s not the same story with every person, as some bites will have a worse effect on certain people than others. In any case, the pain can be excruciating, and Miller is said to still be very sick.
And this all comes in the wake of the deadly shooting on set. Police are actively working on the case to uncover how and why a live round was on the set as well as how it got into the gun. The movie’s armorer has since lawyered up with her attorney suggesting that a “disgruntled” crew member could have mixed some live rounds in with a box of blanks as a way of deliberately sabotaging the set. That stems from reports of several crew members walking off of the set very shortly before the accident happened.
Until the police reach a conclusion, there can be new efforts made in Hollywood to help prevent similar tragedies, with Brandon Lee’s sister Shannon calling for gun safety reform. Alec Baldwin himself has also suggested that police officers, paid for by the production, can be employed to be present on every movie or TV set where firearms are involved, ideally to monitor the weapons for safety. Many are on board with this idea while many others disagree, as how to handle the situation moving forward has proven to be a very divisive topic. This news comes to us from TMZ.
Source: movieweb.com