Ridley Scott says Idris Elba thought he had been shot by Denzel Washington while filming 'American Gangster'
- Ridley Scott said Idris Elba thought he'd been shot for real while filming "American Gangster."
- Scott spoke about the filming of a scene where Elba's character gets shot in the head.
Ridley Scott told The Daily Mail that Idris Elba thought he had been shot whilst filming a scene for 2007's "American Gangster."
Elba starred in the Oscar-nominated crime movie alongside Denzel Washington. In one scene, Washington's character, Frank Lucas, shoots Tango (Elba) in the head for not paying his debt on time.
Scott, who directed the movie, told the Daily Mail that Elba dropped to the sidewalk during the filming of this scene, thinking he had been shot.
"What happened was, I said to Idris: 'Listen, when he puts the gun to your head lean on the gun' — because by the way, this is a gun with a solid barrel, there is no aperture, I would never risk it — but when you pull the trigger there's a recoil, there's no blank, nothing," Scott said. "[Washington] pulled the trigger and it goes, 'Bang.' Idris thought he'd been shot and dropped to the sidewalk and said: 'I've been shot!'"
Paul Biddiss, a firearms expert working with Scott, explained to the Mail that a solid barrel meant that the gun had been filled in so no bullet could pass through, but it could still have the recoil effect.
"[Scott] is very hot on safety," Biddiss added: "There's a lot of inexperienced armorers trying to get their foot in the door in the industry, unfortunately. No armorer should ever sign off a weapon with live bullets inside even if it's not being aimed directly at someone."
Last month, Alec Baldwin fatally shot "Rust" cinematographer Hutchins and injured the film's director Joel Souza with a Colt revolver while rehearsing a scene. Authorities say that live ammunition had been loaded into the gun. According to an affidavit seen by Insider, David Halls, the assistant director of the movie, did not know the gun contained live rounds when he handed it to Baldwin.