Brandon Lee: Eliza Hutton breaks silence 28 years after fiancé’s death in the wake of Halyna Hutchins shooting
Lee died aged 28 after an actor shot him with a prop gun while filming ‘The Crow’
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Eliza Hutton, the fiancé of Brandon Lee, has broken her silence on his death after a film set incident last week left cinematographer Halyna Hutchins dead.
On Thursday (21 October), Alec Baldwin “discharged” a prop gun while on set for his movie Rust in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Hutchins died aged 42 as a result. The film’s director Joel Souza was also wounded.
In an exclusive interview with People, Hutton called the recent death yet another “avoidable tragedy”.
“Twenty-eight years ago, I was shattered by the shock and grief of losing the love of my life, Brandon Lee, so senselessly,” said Hutton.
Lee died in 1993 aged 28. The actor and son of the late action star Bruce Lee had been killed during the filming of The Crow after an actor fired a prop gun he believed to be loaded with blanks.
It was later discovered that a fragment of a dummy shell had been left in the gun’s barrel. Lee died in hospital following hours of surgery.
“My heart aches again now for Halyna Hutchins’s husband and son, and for all those left in the wake of this avoidable tragedy,” said Hutton.
She continued: “I urge those in positions to make change to consider alternatives to real guns on sets.”
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Earlier this week, Hutton shared a photo to Instagram in a tribute to her late fiancé. Her account appears to be private.
The black and white photo of Lee and Hutton, which was shared by the publication, was taken in Venice, Italy, in October 1992 after the pair got engaged.
She accompanied the photo with a caption reading: “There’s no such thing as a prop gun.”
The couple had planned to be married on 17 April, 1993 after The Crow was scheduled to wrap production.
Lee died less than a month earlier on 31 March during the final week of filming.
In the wake of Hutchins’s death, Lee’s sister, Shannon – who runs a Twitter account to honour her late brother’s legacy – shared a message.
“No one should ever be killed by a gun on a film set. Period,” wrote Shannon.
Others have also encouraged the banning of real guns on set. Booksmart film director Olivia Wilde has called on Hollywood to implement what she has called “Halyna’s Law”.
A petition urging Baldwin to take the lead in a campaign to ban the use of real firearms had attracted more than 30,000 votes by Tuesday morning (26 October).