Brad Pitt has been nicknamed Snake Charmer by his castmates.

The Hollywood hunk has been shooting his new film Twelve Years a Slave recently, along with Michael Fassbender and Paul Giamatti. The movie set is in Louisiana and a nearby swamp is inhabited by snakes. Although most of the cast are terrified by the reptiles, Brad can't get enough of them.

"Brad's cast mates, who are all petrified of slithery reptiles, have nicknamed him Snake Charmer' because he's captured three of the water snakes," a source told National Enquirer.

Although Brad always lets the creatures go unharmed, he has some fun with them too. He likes to wave them in his co-stars' faces until they can't take it any more.

"Brad says he learnt how to bag snakes using a special pole and a burlap bag during the months he spent helping to reconstruct New Orleans houses after Hurricane Katrina and that's when he came face to face with dozens of the scaly creatures," the insider added.