Jamie Dornan's face swelled up after he kissed a horse.

The 41-year-old actor was thrilled to land the role of Count Axel Fersen in the 2006 movie opposite Kirsten Dunst but things quickly went wrong when he discovered most of his filming would take place with horses.

Speaking on 'The Graham Norton Show' Jamie said: "I like them as a species, I just can't get close. My character [Count Axel Fersen] pretty much has to spend the whole movie on a horse. And I forgot I hadn't been around horses for a long time.

"So I'm trotting around this place … and in the back, one of the runner's faces just looked [shocked]. I was itchy, and my whole face had become a giant hive. I had to get EpiPens. Then they almost couldn't insure me to do the movie. So if you see me on a horse, I'm very heavily medicated."

However, Jamie didn't learn his lesson and his face swelled up again after he kissed a horse on the set of 2012 historical drama 'New Worlds'.

He said: "I really liked the horse I had. And I thought, 'It's the final day. You know what? I love this horse.' So I gave her a kiss on the lips."

Graham quipped: "What medication were you on?"

Jamie continued: "I went, 'You know what, we're nearly over. I have half a day left.' The horse was picture wrapped. So I gave it a kiss.

"And then my lips absolutely blew up. And we couldn't shoot the rest of the day."