Jason Bateman - Jason Bateman Risked His Life For Axed Snake Scene

Funnyman Jason Bateman put his life at risk with a killer snake for a scene in new comedy Identity Thief only for the risky shoot to be cut from the finished film.

The actor spent hours lying next to a seven-foot king snake - but director Seth Gordon eventually opted to go with a computer generated reptile.

And Bateman is still sore - he tells Wenn, "We shot it with a real one and the real one wasn't as good as what they could do with Cgi (computer-generated imagery). I had to endure a full night with a seven-foot king snake. One that wrapped itself around my neck. One that crawled up the leg of my pants while I tried to pretend to be sleeping on the dirt.

"It basically got all the way up to my kneecap before they yelled cut! It was horrific and none of it's in the movie. We have the snake travelling towards my body but that's about it."