Leo Ate Raw Bison Liver For 'The Revenant,' A 'Living Hell' Of A Production

Multiple sources say the film started to spin out of control early on, as a major battle scene was shot over two weeks. Originally it was going to involve about 30 trappers and about as many Native Americans, but it expanded to 200 players. Leaving little time for the crew to prepare, Inarritu decided that a naked character should be dragged along the ground. The director remembers being concerned about the actor's genitals and laying down plastic sheeting to protect him. "I asked him several times, 'Are you fine?'" says Inarritu. Each time he asked, he says the actor replied that he was prepared to try another take. "I was super considerate because he was a nice, 22-year-old guy," says Inarritu. While crewmembers say the actor was in pain, Inarritu dismisses that as "a lie."

"I just want to set the record straight," DiCaprio says over several glasses of wine during a 75-minute interview at the Beverly Hills Four Seasons, with Inarritu by his side. "There's been a lot said about the movie and the difficulties making it, and how meticulous Alejandro is with his vision. But to me, that's the shit that should be praised. I don't want to work with somebody who isn't thinking of every possible aspect of what's up on the screen. I think there's a hunger for audiences to see something completely extreme and difficult."

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

The scene was shot over several days in November last year, in a torrential rainstorm, which created added hardships, given that the fight is choreographed in one take, with rigs of makeup blood exploding over DiCaprio's face. Inarritu had studied bear attacks on YouTube, and the special effects team had created an elaborate dance with the help of harnesses, ropes and stunt men who tackled DiCaprio as stand-ins for the beast. The bear itself is CGI.

The cast set up shop overnight in small villages, and would drive for up to two hours each day to the uncovered set. "It was bizarre, because we were making a big movie with a small camera team," says Lubezki, who wore six layers of thermal clothes to keep warm. "We didn't have normal gear. We didn't have lights." The lack of a cellphone signal meant that crew members had to relay messages via snowmobiles.

The first few months were plagued by nonstop storms and threats of frostbite. But despite the harsh weather, DiCaprio insists he was never injured. He did, however, get sick repeatedly. "I got the flu quite a few times," he allows. In one scene, where the other men in his troop carry him up a hill on a stretcher, Glass lets out a guttural cough. That's not, in fact, acting, but DiCaprio spewing out phlegm.

The director admits he was a stickler for details. When he discovered there were no ants on the snow-trodden grounds of Calgary, he had them imported from British Columbia for a scene where they crawl over DiCaprio. "We had to fly the ants in," Inarritu says. "Two flights, because some of them died in the first flight. They were panicked by the altitude. They fly first-class!"

He even made sure the character's footwear looked authentic while keeping the actors from losing their toes from the cold. "We had to build special moccasins that had protection and warmth," Inarritu says. Adds DiCaprio: "And a grip. To give us a little traction, so we weren't like a bunch of happy gnomes, sliding all over the ice."