There's been lots of talk in the trades recently about the brutal conditions -- and alleged manic whims of director Alejandro G. Inarritu -- that cast and crew had to suffer through while shooting "The Revenant," the ambitious new project starring Leonardo DiCaprio. But according to the actor, things got even weirder (and grosser) than the public had previously heard.

In an interview with Yahoo! Movies, DiCaprio discussed the infamous shooting conditions, and while he held back on blaming Inarritu or crew members for any reported difficulties during the production, he did share some graphic details about his own process on the film. The actor revealed that shooting scenes like the intense bear attack near the flick's opening gave him the biggest challenges of his career -- and that was nothing compared to all the stuff involving dead animals.

"I can name 30 or 40 sequences that were some of the most difficult things I've ever had to do," DiCaprio told Yahoo!. "Whether it's going in and out of frozen rivers, or sleeping in animal carcasses, or what I ate on set. [I was] enduring freezing cold and possible hypothermia constantly."

And just what, exactly, did he eat, you may wonder? Hold on to your breakfast.

"I certainly don't eat raw bison liver on a regular basis," the actor said. "When you see the movie, you'll see my reaction to it, because Alejandro kept it in. It says it all. It was an instinctive reaction."

We can only imagine.

Despite that disgusting dedication to his art, DiCaprio said he's proud to stand behind the film, and have audiences finally see it for themselves.

"It's epic poetry, an existential journey through nature, and this man finding a will to live against all odds," the actor explained. "Yet he changes, nature changes him and I think those elements changed him while we were doing the movie."

"The Revenant" is due in theaters on December 25.

[via: Yahoo! Movies]

Photo credit: Kimberley French/Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation