A career that spanned from “Beetlejuice” in 1988 through “The Hunt for Red October” and a seven-season Emmy-winning run on “30 Rock” may be coming to an end. Alec Baldwin, 68, told The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast that he wants to retire from acting and stay home with his kids.
“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.”
The actor has seven young children with his wife Hilaria Baldwin, and a 30-year-old daughter, Ireland Baldwin, from his first marriage to actress Kim Basinger.
Baldwin’s comments came as he discussed the October 2021 shooting on the set of “Rust” at a ranch outside Santa Fe, New Mexico. During a rehearsal, the gun Baldwin was holding discharged, killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza. He called the incident “unspeakably difficult to deal with.”
The movie’s armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, had loaded a live round into the revolver. Assistant director Dave Halls had told Baldwin the gun 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.
Gutierrez-Reed was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to 18 months in prison in April 2024. She was released in May 2025.
A Santa Fe judge dismissed the involuntary manslaughter case against Baldwin himself in July 2024. The dismissal wasn’t based on the shooting itself, but because prosecutors had concealed evidence from Baldwin’s legal team. 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.
Baldwin then 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, several investigators from the sheriff’s office, and the county board of commissioners.
However, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge ruled that Baldwin must face a civil jury trial over the shooting. Serge Svetnoy, a gaffer on the “Rust” set, brought the case, alleging he suffered emotional distress after the bullet that killed Hutchins narrowly missed him. The judge rejected defense arguments that Baldwin and Rust Movie Productions bore no responsibility for set safety, allowing claims of negligence, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and punitive damages to proceed. “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. Baldwin’s assault claim was dismissed — the judge found no evidence he intended to harm anyone — but the core negligence case moves forward.
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.”
Baldwin had to return to finish filming “Rust.” He struggled to complete filming in Montana, describing 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.
On the Dopey podcast in late 2025, Baldwin discussed his health struggles since the October 2021 shooting, saying the ordeal has taken a significant toll on him both physically and emotionally, affecting his spiritual, financial, and career well-being.
In February 2025, Baldwin and Hilaria Baldwin premiered a TLC reality show called The Baldwins. 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 that he is happier when asleep than when awake.
Baldwin 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.
He has a few minor roles in development, including “Kockroach,” a crime thriller.
The Alec Baldwin who existed before October 2021 is gone. What’s left is someone who sounds like he’s just tired.
If Baldwin steps away for good, it would be the end of one of the more complicated careers in Hollywood history — a fixture in American entertainment for the better part of five decades.