Ridley Scott says Idris Elba fell to the floor after thinking he’d been shot on American Gangster set

Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse Loughrey Get our The Life Cinematic email for free Get our The Life Cinematic email for free SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Ridley Scott has recalled the time actor Idris Elba thought he’d genuinely been shot on the set of his film American Gangster. Scott told MailOnline that the weapon used on the set had a solid filled-in barrel, with no bullets or blanks in it, for the scene where Frank Lucas, a mob boss’s right-hand man played by Washington, puts a gun against the forehead of Elba’s character Tango. Scott said: “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. Plan auto-renews until cancelled Try for free Scott’s anecdote comes after Alec Baldwin fired a gun on the set of his film Rust, killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and injuring director Joel Souza.