George Clooney imposes "don't hit the director" rule on set

Washington, Mar 17 : American actor George Clooney imposed a "don't hit the director" rule on the set of his new football movie 'Leatherheads' after he was flattened by an extra.

Clooney, who directs and stars in the 1920s sports comedy opposite Renee Zellweger, thought that he would be able to handle the roughness of the shoot if he hired actors who were leaner and smaller than him.

However after a game, which left him gasping for air, he realized that he had taken on too much.

"I was going to make this 10 years ago and when this one finally got going, I realized that when I got on the football field that I actually had to play football," Contactmusic quoted him as saying.

"So I hired all the football players to be my height or below, and, believe it or not, it's not so easy to do anymore because actors are giants," he said.

"The first kid that hit me was 21-years-old. I went running with the football down the middle (of the field) and he just thumped me, knocked me back and I couldn't catch my breath," he stated.

"I forgot about that part of it, so I made rules like, 'Don't hit the director!'" he added.

ANI