Christian Bale's snake dinner

Nov 20, 2007, 7:30 GMT

Christian Bale - © Chris Hatcher / Photorazzi

Christian Bale ate a live snake for his new film.

The 33-year-old actor, who stars as Dieter Dengler in new movie 'Rescue Dawn', agreed to the movie after being challenged to eat several live animals by the film's director Werner Herzog.

Christian said: "Werner said to me, 'How do you feel about swimming through a snake-infested river?' so I said, 'How do you feel about it Werner?' He said, 'I will do this if you will.' Then he asked, 'How you feel about eating a live snake?'

"It was a curious conversation, with more and more crazy questions. I thought, 'This sounds like and interesting endeavour.'"

In one scene, Christian - who lost 55lbs for the role - also had to eat live maggots, after the director insisted he wanted the scene to look real.

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

Dieter Dengler was a German-American Navy pilot who flew in the Vietnam War. When his plane was shot down, he became a POW (Prisoner Of War) in the brutal jungle of Laos, Southeast Asia.

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