'Ned's Declassified' star Devon Werkheiser opens up about 'Rust,' grieving Halyna Hutchins

Actor Devon Werkheiser is opening up about his experience and grief on the set of "Rust," where filmmaker Halyna Hutchins was fatally shot when Alec Baldwin's gun discharged during a rehearsal.

The incident has been widely covered and Baldwin has been charged with involuntary manslaughter. But the picture that's been painted about safety and disregarded rules doesn't necessarily encompass what the experience was for the cast of the Western, Werkheiser shared on "Ned's Declassified Podcast Survival Guide" in Wednesday's episode of the podcast hosted by Werkheiser and former Nickelodeon co-stars Lindsey Shaw and Daniel Curtis Lee.

"Everyone has an idea of what that set was, but if you weren’t on it, you don’t (expletive) know," said Werkheiser, who starred as Ned in "Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide" and was cast in "Rust" as a supporting role as a cowboy.

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“Every set has some chaos, every set is cutting corners and cutting budgets,” he said. “I can only speak for my experience. But in my experience, it was no different than any other set I’d ever been on. It didn’t feel more unsafe. I had a gun every day, I felt safe with it, I felt safe with the people. And we were just making a movie, man. It was not this crazy, stressed set, beyond the normal, beyond what a normal set is."

"Rust" armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was also charged with involuntary manslaughter, which carries a penalty of up to 18 months in prison.

Werkheiser said "Rust" was his favorite project since filming "Ned."

"I was literally living my dream on that set," Werkheiser said of the "Rust" set. "It felt so good."

While it was going well, Werkheiser couldn't have predicted what would come next: During a "Rust" rehearsal in October 2021, Baldwin was handed a firearm by assistant director Dave Halls, who yelled "cold gun" to confirm the weapon was safe, which later fired suddenly, killing cinematographer Hutchins.

"It has been a hard year after that,” he said, noting he's had trouble processing what happened.

"We all had to survive this and process the grief of this beautiful person who got killed, and who was really special to our set," he said. "She was a really talented artist, and like, a really beautiful person. And to lose her while making a movie, you can’t understand what that is like, for Alec included.”

Production for "Rust" shut down after the incident but is said to resume soon, reportedly in Montana.

While "it’s super complicated for people that we are finishing it,” Werkheiser is glad to be resuming filming with Matthew Hutchins, Halyna Hutchins' husband, who is involved in production as an executive producer.

"It feels like some kind of completion that feels right," he said. "And so I hope it comes out well."

More than a half-dozen individuals – ranging from "Rust" production employees to Baldwin himself – have filed lawsuits as a result of the shooting, which brought intense scrutiny to Hollywood's use of real weapons on set.

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Contributing: Marco della Cava

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Rust': Devon Werkheiser opens up on set safety of Alec Baldwin movie