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Halyna Hutchins shooting: George Clooney says it was ‘insane’ live bullets were used on Rust set

 (Getty Images)
(Getty Images)

George Clooney said it was “insane” live bullets were used during the filming of Rust after a gun discharged by Alec Baldwin killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins last month.

The Hollywood star, 60, claimed he had never heard the term “cold gun” being used to describe a firearm that is safe to use on set.

Assistant director David Halls is alleged to have used the phrase to declare the gun was safe before he passed it to Mr Baldwin, according to court documents.

Authorities are investigating how a suspected live round came to be in the firearm.

Baldwin is seen on the phone shortly after the shooting (AP)
Baldwin is seen on the phone shortly after the shooting (AP)

Speaking on the WTF podcast with Marc Maron on Monday, Mr Clooney said: “I’ve never heard the term ‘cold gun’. They’re talking about stuff I’d never heard of.

"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…Every single take.”

During the podcast, Mr Clooney added: “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 armourer. Period.

“And why for the life of me this low-budget film, with producers who haven’t produced anything, wouldn’t have hired, for the armourer, 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.”

Halyna Hutchins was killed on the set (Getty Images for SAGindie)
Halyna Hutchins was killed on the set (Getty Images for SAGindie)

It follows last week’s news Serge Svetnoy, the head of lighting on the film, is suing Baldwin and others who were on the set.

In his lawsuit, Mr Svetnoy alleges negligence caused him “severe emotional distress” that will haunt him forever

“They should never, ever, have had live rounds on this set,” Mr Svetnoy’s attorney Gary Dordick said at a news conference last week.