Eddie Redmayne almost killed himself while riding a horse on a TV series after pretending he was an expert just to get the part.

The 'Theory of Everything' star pretended he was an equine enthusiast while auditioning for TV miniseries 'Elizabeth I' but he regretted his decision when it came to him having to ride one of the beasts during filming for the 2005 project when the animal bolted off at ''100 miles-per-hour'' nearly resulting in tragedy.

When asked what the biggest lie he's ever told to land a role is, he said: ''Gosh, I think there are millions of them. But there was a thing about 10 years ago, Tom Hooper, who directed 'Les Miserables', was auditioning for a thing about Queen Elizabeth. I had my audition and just as I was leaving the room, he said, 'Oh, one more thing, Eddie, have you ever been on a horse?' And I said '... Yes' and walked out of the room, having only been on a horse aged four and just kind of led around a paddock.

''I gave the impression that I was a bit of a horse aficionado. Cut to three weeks later and we're in Lithuania. They've built a huge Elizabethan street, I'm on a gigantic stallion, with about 40 Lithuanian horse stuntmen behind me.

''Helen Mirren is at the end of this street, she's dressed in this Elizabethan gown. They're attaching a spur to my feet and I'm wondering, at what point do I admit that I have basically never been on a horse in my life?

''They called action and I basically went furiously down at 100 miles an hour, almost killed myself - and almost killed half of the crew.

''Tom Hooper, the director, from behind Helen Mirren with a huge loudspeaker goes, 'You're a f***ing liar, Redmayne!' ''

But Tom managed to get his own back on Eddie as he made him ride one of the beasts once again when he starred in 2012 musical film 'Les Miserables'.

Speaking on 'Conan', he added: ''I was sent to Horse Camp - and actually in 'Les Miserables', a film I did with him a few years later, there's a scene where he had my character ride a horse, purely to get back at me for those years of lying.''

Catch 'Conan' Monday to Thursday at 11pm on truTV in the UK, freeview channel 68.