Leonardo DiCaprio ate raw bison for The Revenant

Leonardo DiCaprio ate a raw piece of bison's liver while filming 'The Revenant'.

The Hollywood actor asked to chow down on the real thing because he was worried the fake liver made by the props department from jelly wouldn't look right on the movie, but he didn't enjoy eating the uncooked meat.

He said: "The bad part is the membrane around it. It's like a balloon. When you bite into it, it bursts in your mouth."

Director Alejandro G. Inarritu was worried DiCaprio might get ill from consuming the raw liver, but he now thinks it added a lot to the 41-year-old star's performance.

He said: "Without it, he may not have gotten to the truth."

In the movie, DiCaprio portrays bearded fur trapper Hugh Glass, who sets out on a path of vengeance against his hunting team who left him for dead after a bear mauling.

The method actor has joked that the bushy beard he required for the role felt like a wife because he had it for so long.

He added to Variety: "I had that beard for a year and a half.

"It becomes like a spouse. You sleep with it. It was like shaving off dreads."

The production team on the film went to great lengths to make the film look just how director Inarritu wanted it, including transporting ants on a first class flight for 600 miles from British Columbia to Calgary for one scene where the insects crawl over DiCaprio.

Inarritu added: "We had to fly the ants in. Two flights, because some of them died in the first flight. They were panicked by the altitude. They fly first-class!"