Clooney says having live bullets on set is 'insane'
George Clooney has said it was 'insane' and 'infuriating' that live bullets were on the set of Alec Baldwin's film Rust, which resulted in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.share
The Hollywood star, 60, added he has never heard the term 'cold gun' used to describe a firearm that is safe to use on set, after the phrase was supposedly used by the film's assistant director before handing the revolver to Baldwin.
Clooney said the fatal shooting, which also wounded director Joel Souza, was a 'terrible accident' but claimed AD David Halls should never have been near the prop gun and was in disbelief that it occurred after rigorous safety measures implemented following the on-set deaths of Brandon Lee and Jon-Erik Hexum
He said whenever he is handed a gun on set, he opens it, shows it to the person he's pointing it at and the crew, fires it six times into the ground before handing it back to the armorer after each scene.
Speaking on the WTF podcast with Marc Maron, the actor also accused Rust of 'skimping' on costs which led to the hiring of inexperienced armorers in an apparent dig at Baldwin who was a producer on the film.
Baldwin is being sued for his alleged role in the horrific incident and has been named along with other producers in a lawsuit by the film's head of lighting Serge Svetnoy, accusing him of negligence.
Speaking to the WTF podcast with Marc Maron, Clooney said: 'I don't know Alec that well. I've been watching the news and I have to say, they've got the bad guy, which is going to be the first AD.
'He may be a d**k, I don't know the guy at all, but I've been on sets for 40 years and the person that hands you the gun, the person that is responsible for the gun is either the prop person or the armorer. Period.
'Every single time I'm handed a gun on set, I look at it, I open it, I show it to the person I'm pointing it to, we show it to the crew, every single take you hand it back to the armorer when you're done, and you do it again.
'Part of it is because of what happened to Brandon. Everyone does it. Everyone knows.
'Maybe Alec did that, I hope he did, but the problem is, dummies are tricky. Because they look like real bullets. They've got a tiny hole at the back where someone has taken the gunpowder out.'
Since the fatal shooting in New Mexico, concerns have been raised about the safety on set amid allegations of inexperienced armorers using the gun for target practice.
Assistant director David Halls was given the gun by armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, 24, and he declared it a 'cold gun' before passing it over to Baldwin, court documents state.
Clooney added fuel to the fire, saying: 'And why for the life of me this low-budget film, with producers who haven't produced anything, wouldn't have hired, for the armorer, someone with experience...
'Maybe they weren't even using that gun to do target practice, but they had live ammo with dummies in her pack. That is insane, it's insane and it's infuriating.
'We need to be better at making the heads of department experienced and know what they're doing. Because this is just infuriating. Every time I get handed a six gun, you point it at the ground and you fire. You squeeze it six times. Always.'
He added: 'I've never heard of the term "cold gun", they're just talking about stuff I've never heard of. It's infuriating.'
The Santa Fe County Sheriff's Department has said in court documents prop master Sarah Zachary took the gun from a locked props truck and gave it to armorer Hannah Guttierez-Reed.
She loaded it with rounds from a box of dummies but apparently one of them was live ammunition.