Donald Glover reveals he halted filming on Atlanta due to gunfire

Donald Glover has opened up about shooting in "the hood" in Atlanta. Photo / Supplied

Donald Glover cancelled a night's filming on 'Atlanta' when he heard shots being fired.

The 34-year-old actor - who created the show - usually feels comfortable working on the show in Georgia but an evening in the city's Bankhead area was cut short when the unmistakable sound of guns being fired could be heard in the distance as they didn't want to get too close.

Donald said: "It felt like we could walk through the 'hood and people knew who we were...[Then one night] shots started popping off. Like, 'Pop, pop, pop, pop.'

"[We waited then heard return fire]. I wasn't hearing it hit the leaves yet. Sometimes you hear a gunshot where you know it's f***ing close."

And Donald thinks calling off the shoot was respectful to those living in the area.

He explained: "That's part of the respect. If you go in the ocean, you have to respect the ocean. You know that you can drown.

"I don't want people to think life is a f***ing Disneyland and we're working, like, 'Isn't it cool that people live this way?' It's not."

Donald was raised in Stone Mountain, Georgia, where there was a racial divide, and though his friends' parents were "very sweet" to his face, he knew they didn't want him getting too close to their children.

He told Esquire magazine: "If people saw how I grew up, they would be triggered. Confederate flags everywhere.

"I had friends who were white, whose parents were very sweet to me but were also like, 'Don't ever date him.'

"I saw that what was being offered on 'Sesame Street' didn't exist."

-Bang! Showbiz