George Clooney defends Tom Cruise's rant about Covid-19 safety: 'He didn't overreact'

The actor did, however, say it wouldn't be his 'style' to react in such a way

George Clooney, pictured with wife Amal, has supported Tom Cruise for enforcing safety precautions on set. Getty Images

George Clooney has backed Tom Cruise's outburst about Covid-19 precautions on the set of Mission: Impossible 7, though reveals his own reaction would have been somewhat different.

Cruise, 58, was captured yelling at crew members about lapses of social distancing and other safety rules on the film's London set in an audio clip, leaked this week.

"Do you understand the responsibility that you have? Because I will deal with your reason. And if you can’t be reasonable and I can’t deal with your logic, you’re fired," the actor said, according to the tape.

Clooney, 59, defended Cruise's stance in an interview with radio host Howard Stern on Wednesday, saying the action star "didn't overreact because it is a problem".

Scroll through the gallery to see more photos from the 'Mission: Impossible 7' set in Rome, Italy:

"I understand why he did it. He's not wrong at all about that," he said. "I have a friend who's an assistant director on another TV show who just had the almost exact same thing happen with not quite as far out a response."

However, had the same incident occurred on his own film set, Clooney revealed his response wouldn't have been "that big".

"I wouldn't have, you know, pulled people out," The Midnight Sky actor said. "You do have a responsibility for everybody else and he's absolutely right about that. And, you know, if the production goes down, a lot of people lose their jobs. People have to understand that and have to be responsible. It's just not my style to, you know, to take everybody to task that way."

The seventh Mission: Impossible was one of the first films to shut down production because of the coronavirus when it abandoned filming in Venice, Italy, in February.

Production resumed in September, with filming in Italy, Norway and London. Cruise in July personally appealed to Norway's prime minister to shoot parts of the film in the country under modified quarantine rules.

The film industry has been hard hit by the pandemic, with numerous films delayed and cinemas shuttered across the world.

Clooney revealed his belief that the industry will bounce back, writing in a new first-person piece for Variety "there's always going to be a great space for cinema".

The Oscar-winning actor also petitioned for the US government to subsidise cinemas in a bid to "keep everyone afloat", though acknowledged the positive impact the pandemic has had on streaming platforms.

"What [streaming] has done is provide thousands and thousands of new jobs for actors, writers, directors and producers who are making some really interesting content," Clooney wrote. "It’s given new filmmakers, young people and minorities opportunities to work, so there’s nothing but good that comes out of this."