He’s made millions from his movies using bigs guns but now Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has pledged to stop using real firearms on all projects produced by his company following the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
Variety reports in the wake of the tragic death of Hutchins on the set of Alec Baldwin’s film Rust, Johnson says his Seven Bucks Productions will no longer use weapons in pursuit of authenticity.
“First of all, I was heartbroken,” Johnson began, speaking to Variety at Wednesday night’s premiere of his latest film 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.”
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The pro-Black Lives Matter actor who endorsed Joe Biden and and Kamala Harris, is shooting some big guns in Red Notice, which also stars Ryan Reynolds and Gal Gadot. Johnson said he will only use rubber guns on his sets, and will enforce that rule with any studio he is working with:
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.
We’re going to switch over to rubber guns, and we’re going to take care of it in post. We’re not going to worry about the dollars; we won’t worry about what it costs.
Johnson’s endorsement to end the use of real firearms was reinforced when he revealed he was on the phone with his team within a couple of hours of the tragedy to discuss what changes were needed going forward to create a safe workspace.
“I love the movie business,” Johnson said. “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.”
Johnson conceded accidents do happen, but cautioned that doesn’t mean change can’t happen for the betterment of all, “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.”
The actor’s commitment to gun-free productions came just 24-hours after lawyers representing Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the woman who loaded Alec Baldwin’s gun, said an act of “sabotage” by disgruntled crew members may have caused the tragic shooting on the set of Rust.
A petition launched in the wake of Hutchin’s death has put pressure on Baldwin to push the effort to ban real guns from movie sets.
This week, the Hollywood Reporter is noted that “roughly 200 cinematographers” have signed a letter demanding a ban on “functional firearms” on movie sets.
The Rust movie set shooting is still under investigation. Santa Fe District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies told NBC News last week that Baldwin “pulled the trigger.” She said her office hasn’t ruled out pressing charges in the case.