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Christian Bale's maggot meal

Jun 26, 2007, 7:00 GMT

Christian Bale was forced to eat live maggots for his new film.

The 33-year-old actor stars as Dieter Dengler, the only American ever to escape from a POW (Prisoner Of War) camp in Laos, in new movie 'Rescue Dawn'.

In one scene, Bale gagged after he was asked to eat a bowl of live maggots given to Dengler by his captors.

Director Werner Herzog insisted Bale really chew on the disgusting fly larvae because he didn't want the scene to be faked.

Herzog said: "There are too many computer effects in movies these days. I wanted audiences to start believing their own eyes again."

Dengler was a German-American Navy pilot who flew in the Vietnam War. When his plane was shot down, he became a POW in the brutal jungle of the Southeast Asian country.

The pilot, who refused to sign a document denouncing the US, successfully executed a daring plan to break out of the camp.

(C) BANG Media International