VIDEO: An Evening With…'War Horse'

Steven Spielberg's latest epic, "War Horse," was screened for an audience of Back Stage readers and SAG members at the Pacific Design Center on Dec. 11. Afterward, actor Jeremy Irvine told the crowd how he booked the lead role of Albert, a boy who enlists in World War I to find his beloved horse, Joey.

"It was a long process of auditions, but I understand," Irvine said. "They couldn't just hand the role over to someone who had never done a movie before." There were 14 horses who played Joey, he added, including one he met in an early audition: "I was trying to connect with this animal, and he stepped on my foot! There were tears streaming down my face, so I just used it in the scene. Maybe he was trying to help me." The film hits theaters on Christmas Day.