Method acting: War Horse star Jeremy Irvine reveals he suffered trench foot during filming of World War One epic

By Paul Thompson

Last updated at 9:55 AM on 19th December 2011

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The star of the First World War epic War Horse has revealed how he ended up with an injury that affected thousands of soldiers who fought in the trenches while making the film.

Actor Jeremy Irvine said he spent so much time recreating the Battle of the Somme that he ended up with trench foot.

The condition is caused from lengthy contact with damp and cold conditions and affected hundreds of thousands of soldiers in the Great War.

Suffering for his art: Jeremy Irvine has revealed he suffered from trench foot during filming of WWI epic War Horse

Irvine, 20, in his first major role in Steven Spielberg's eagerly anticipated pds50m film, said he spent so much time filming in the trenches that he developed the medical condition.
Film insiders said Spielberg could not delay shooting and the actors had to perform in 'appalling weather.'
Irvine told The Hollywood Reporter : 'As soon as your big woolen uniform gets wet, the weight in unbelievable. 
'You'd be running across no man's land, right through the mud and dirt.

'Appalling conditions': The actor fell victim to a common affliction suffered by troops in Somme

'There would be sequences where explosions would take place next to me and three or four stuntmen would fly through the air - and then there'd be other scenes where you're just soaking wet.
'I got trench foot. The soldiers use to get it all the time.'
The battle scenes in War Horse, which is said to be Spielberg's best film since Schindler's List, were shot at a disused airfield in Surrey.
Teams of technicians created the warren of trenches from the Battle of the Somme and Spielberg filmed the scenesin pouring rain in October last year.

Dangerous set: Director Steven Spielberg has also revealed he fell into icy water during filming of his Golden Globe-nominated movie

War Horse, which is based on the bestselling children's book by author Michael Morpurgo, tells the story of a horse called Joey and raised by a farm boy, played by Irvine.
When the horse is sold to the British army Irvine's character follows him to the Western Front.
The film, which opens in the UK on January 12th, is expected to be a major contender for Oscars.
Critics who have seen an early screening of the film said the scenes depicting the Battle of the Somme are as frighteningly realistic as the opening of Spielberg’s D-Day movie Saving Private Ryan.
The famed Hollywood director went to great lengths to recreate the trenches with a team of 750 people involved and digging over 250 yards of trenches.

Realistic: A film insider said 'The trenches are about as realistic as you will ever see. The conditions were appalling'

Work on the trenches took six weeks, but typically British weather meant Irvine and the other actors had to film in pouring rain and trenches filled with water.
A film insider said: 'The trenches are about as realistic as you will ever see. The conditions were appalling.
Producer Kathleen Kennedy said: 'It was unbelievably rainy and cold. Even when you had your wellies on, sometimes you'd just take a step and one would be left stuck in the mud.
'It was freezing and raining.'
Spielberg even fell foul of the conditions when he fell into water filled trench.
He said: 'It was a hole dug for explosive charges, and a storm had washed away the warning cones and filled it up.
'I was totally under ice water. I threw my hands over my head and two big grips pulled me out.'
While most of the stars of War Horse are British, including Benedict Cumberbatch, the horse mostly featured in most of the film is American.
Spielberg had a chestnut coloured horse that starred in the film SeaBiscuit flown over for the production.