The 'Midnight Sky' actor offers his two cents regarding the fatal gun incident on the set of Alec Baldwin's movie, insisting he never heard the term 'cold gun' used on the set.

• Nov 17, 2021

AceShowbiz - George Clooney has stressed the importance of gun safety on movie sets following the tragic death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

Hutchins was shot and killed by actor Alec Baldwin on the set of Western "Rust" last month (Oct21), with the bullet also injuring director Joel Souza. The shocking tragedy has sparked debates about the use of firearms in movie-making, with Clooney weighing in during an appearance on the "WTF With Marc Maron" podcast.

"Every single time I'm handed a gun on the set - every time - they hand me a gun, I look at it, I open it, I show it to the person I'm pointing it to, I show it to the crew," he said. "Every single take. Then, you hand it back to the (armourer) when you're done."

"Everyone does it. Everyone knows (to do that). Maybe Alec did that - hopefully he did do that. But the problem is dummies are tricky because they look like real (rounds). They got a little tiny hole in the back (from which) somebody's (removed) the gunpowder."

Clooney added that he's always taken it upon himself to repeatedly check the guns he's handed on set to ensure they're safe before filming begins.

"I mean every time I get handed a six-gun (a gun that holds six cartridges) you point it at the ground and you squeeze it six times," he said, adding that "it's just insane" not to.

"The Midnight Sky" star also reflected on the report from the "Rust" set that the assistant director had told Baldwin it was a "cold gun" - meaning it was safe to be used - as he handed it to him.

"I've never heard the term 'cold gun,' " Clooney sighed. "I've never heard that term. Literally. They're just talking about stuff I've never heard of. It's just infuriating."