Billy Cobham

How 'bout tasting a snake?

The 33-year-old Christian Bale (Empire of the Sun, American Psycho, The Prestige, Batman Begins) 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 do you feel about eating a live snake?'"It was a curious conversation, with more and more crazy questions. I thought, 'This sounds like an 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."
Rescue Dawn tells the real-life story of American Navy pilot Lt Dieter Dengler, who was captured by Laotian soldiers during the Vietnam War. Dengler was one of two survivors to have escaped from a Pathet Lao prison camp in Laos. He was rescued by the US military after 23 days on the run in the jungle, in which he watched his close friend being decapitated. The film was shot in remote parts of Thailand's North and South. It was shot backwards, meaning the final scenes of the movie where Bale had to look his thinnest after surviving the ordeal were shot first.