Alec Baldwin ‘Rust’ shooting trial begins with jury selection as actor is charged with involuntary manslaughter

In an exclusive interview with NewsNation’s guest host Brian Entin on Banfield | NewsNation this week, Hollywood prop master Neal Zoromski said he was set to work on the Alec Baldwin film “Rust” but backed out after noticing some budgetary red flags.

On that movie set, Baldwin ended up firing a prop gun filled with real bullets, killing the film’s cinematographer.

Nearly three years after cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was shot and killed on the New Mexico set of the film “Rust,” Alec Baldwin is going on trial over her death.

Jury selection is underway today and opening arguments are expected to begin Wednesday.

Here are the essential things to know:

Before the horrific 2021 shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of “Rust” put Alec Baldwin’s career in question, he took on, and sent up, a wide spectrum of variations of masculinity.

He has shifted from playing heroes to scoundrels to thugs to gentle father figures to office alpha males to a “ Boss Baby.” He went from star leading man to bit player to scene stealer, at times going years without a major role in a hit film or show.

But he has remained a household name for nearly 35 years, largely on the strength of his real-life personality: as an outspoken liberal, occasional hothead, talk-show guest, podcast host, game show host, and the king of all “Saturday Night Live” hosts.

Here’s a look at Baldwin’s career in and out of Hollywood:

Baldwin, 66, emerged as a major movie star in the late 1980s and early ‘90s through films like “Beetlejuice” and “The Hunt for Red October,” and has remained a household name ever since.

He would move on to memorable supporting roles in films including 2003’s “The Cooler,” which got him an Oscar nomination. Comedy dominated his later career as he won two Emmys for playing network executive Jack Donaghy on six seasons of “30 Rock,” and won a third for playing Donald Trump on “Saturday Night Live.”

He has also played the role of outsized public personality, as a cherished talk-show guest, a sought-after liberal, and at times as a man unable to control his outbursts of anger, which have brought public embarrassment and a previous run-in with the law much more minor than the current one.

Baldwin is the eldest of six children — five of them actors — from Massapequa, New York, who has lived in New York City for most of his adult life.

He has an adult daughter, Ireland Baldwin, with his first wife Kim Basinger, and seven small children with his second wife, Hilaria Baldwin.

A New Mexico jury will decide whether the actor is guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the shooting death of Halyna Hutchins.

The involuntary manslaughter charge is a fourth-degree felony.

If found guilty, Baldwin could receive a sentence of up to 18 months in prison and a $5,000 fine.

Jury selection can take a number of weeks for high-profile trials as lawyers attempt to find jurors who are not biased.

But according to local news outlet KCCI, this may not be the case.

In New Mexico, where the trial is being held, residents selected for jury duty receive an online questionnaire that lists all the cases a juror could serve on, KCCI reported.

On Tuesday, there were 78 potential jurors being questioned as a group. Only 12 jurors, plus alternates, will be selected.

They are expected to be selected by the time opening statements begin on Tuesday.

Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, a movie weapons armorer, received the maximum sentence of 18 months in jail for involuntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer by Alec Baldwin on a Western movie set.

A New Mexico judge found that Gutierrez-Reed’s recklessness amounted to a serious violent offense, while noting few indications of genuine remorse from the defendant since her conviction in March.

Prosecutors blame Gutierrez-Reed for unwittingly bringing live ammunition onto the set of “Rust,” where it was expressly prohibited, and for failing to follow basic gun-safety protocols .

Attention is now on Baldwin’s trial on a charge of involuntary manslaughter in the October 2021 death of Halyna Hutchins at a movie ranch on the outskirts of Santa Fe.