Alec Baldwin, 68, who has spent nearly five decades in American entertainment, told The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast that he wants to call it quits on his career.
“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 want to retire and stay home with my kids.”
Baldwin’s desire to step away comes as he continues grappling with the aftermath of the fatal shooting on the Rust set in October 2021. The tragedy occurred while Baldwin was rehearsing a scene at a ranch outside Santa Fe, New Mexico. The gun discharged, killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza. Armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed had loaded a live round into the revolver, though assistant director Dave Halls had told Baldwin it was a “cold gun” — industry speak for unloaded and safe. Baldwin has maintained that he pulled back the hammer but never pulled the trigger, and the gun fired on its own.
During the podcast interview, Baldwin called the shooting “unspeakably difficult to deal with.”
Gutierrez-Reed was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to 18 months in prison in April 2024. She was released in May 2025.
Baldwin faced involuntary manslaughter charges himself, but a Santa Fe judge dismissed them in July 2024. The dismissal wasn’t based on the shooting itself but on prosecutorial misconduct. Baldwin’s defense team discovered that live ammunition connected to the shooting had been turned over to the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s office but buried in a separate case folder and never disclosed to the defense. The judge ruled that was a fatal flaw and dismissed the case.
Prosecutors tried to appeal the dismissal but eventually withdrew that appeal in December 2024, officially ending the criminal case against Baldwin.
On April 17, 2026, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Maurice Leiter ruled that Baldwin must face a civil jury trial over the shooting, scheduled to begin on Oct. 12, 2026. Gaffer Serge Svetnoy, who was working on Rust when the tragedy occurred, brought the case claiming he suffered emotional distress when the bullet that killed Hutchins nearly struck him. Leiter rejected defense arguments that Baldwin and Rust Movie Productions weren’t responsible for set safety. Claims of negligence, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and punitive damages will proceed to trial. “A reasonable jury could find that Mr. Baldwin recklessly disregarded the probability that pointing a gun in the direction of someone, with the finger on the trigger, would cause emotional distress,” the judge wrote. The assault claim was dismissed because Leiter found no evidence Baldwin intended to harm anyone.
In January 2025, Baldwin filed a civil lawsuit for malicious prosecution and civil rights violations. The suit named special prosecutor Kari Morrissey, Santa Fe District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies, three investigators from the sheriff’s office, and the county board of commissioners.
Production on Rust eventually resumed, with Baldwin returning to complete filming. As part of a settlement with Hutchins’ husband, Matthew Hutchins, the production gave him the movie. Baldwin described it bluntly: “We gave him the movie and said, You sell it and do whatever you want with it.”
Filming in Montana proved physically grueling for Baldwin, who experienced repeated blackouts from orthostatic hypotension — a nerve condition caused by blood pressure medication — that left him bedridden for over a week.
The completed movie debuted in select theaters in May 2025.
Baldwin and his wife Hilaria Baldwin premiered a TLC reality show called The Baldwins in February 2025. Critics called it a distasteful image rehabilitation attempt. But Hilaria Baldwin revealed her husband had been diagnosed with PTSD, and Baldwin himself admitted on the show, “I’m happier when I’m asleep than when I’m awake.”
On the Dopey podcast in late 2025, Baldwin reflected on his health struggles: “If I told you what my health conditions have been since Oct. 21 of 2021, it’s taken 10 years off of my life.” He said the ordeal “broke every nerve in my body, spiritually, financially, work-wise, career-wise.”
Baldwin still has a few minor roles in development, including Kockroach, a crime thriller starring Chris Hemsworth, Zazie Beetz, and Channing Tatum. He also worked with director Rory Kennedy on The Trial of Alec Baldwin, a documentary about the legal fallout. That film premiered at DOC NYC in November 2025, but a wider release date hasn’t been set.
Baldwin has seven young children with Hilaria Baldwin, and a 30-year-old daughter, Ireland Baldwin, from his first marriage to actress Kim Basinger.
If Baldwin steps away for good, it would be the end of one of the more complicated careers in Hollywood history — spanning from Beetlejuice in 1988 to The Hunt for Red October to a seven-season Emmy-winning run on 30 Rock.
The Alec Baldwin who existed before October 2021 is gone. What’s left is someone who sounds like he’s just tired.
