The armorer on "Rust" got an earful from one Nicolas Cage when she was working on his movie earlier this year -- and it doesn't sound like he was confident in her abilities either.
The veteran actor reportedly got pissed and yelled at Hannah Gutierrez-Reed over the summer while shooting his newest flick, "The Old Way," down in Montana -- this after she apparently fired off weapons around the crew without warning, not once but TWICE.
According to The Wrap, the 24-year-old rookie was allegedly complained about a lot ... not just by Cage, but by other seasoned people who noticed -- she was out of her element.
As for the supposed NC blowup ... Sharon Waxman reports after the second time in 3 days of Gutierrez-Reed testing a weapon near everyone else unexpectedly, Cage yelled -- "Make an announcement, you just blew my f***ing eardrums out!" Then, he stormed off.
A key grip on 'TOW' claims Cage wasn't the only one who was frustrated -- he apparently told the assistant director the young armorer had to go, as he felt she was slipping up.
Now, for the record, a producer for "The Old Way" denies any such account ... while saying the accounts about Gutierrez-Reed on that set are being blown out of proportion. They went on to say she was working under a head prop master, and felt she was just fine.
Still, if any of this story is true ... it's pretty damning, and gets to what others have alleged about the armorer -- namely, that she was not nearly as buttoned-up as she needed to be while handling dangerous weapons ... and may not have done her duty before Halyna Hutchins was shot and killed.