At the young age of 15, British-born Rachel Hurd-Wood has already been in several major films. She made her acting debut in P.J. Hogan’s “Peter Pan” in 2000 and she will soon be seen in “Perfume: The Story of a Murderer”, co-starring with Dustin Hoffman and Alan Rickman. Currently, she is going up against Hollywood heavyweights Donald Sutherland and Sissy Spacek in Courtney Solomon’s chilling “An American Haunting” where she portrays Betsy Bell, the principle target of the entity terrorizing the Bell family in early 19th-century Tennessee.

BD: Hello Rachel and thanks for talking to Bloody-Disgusting.

RH-W: You’re very welcome.

BD: How did you first get into acting? I read you really want to be a marine biologist because you love dolphins.

RH-W: (laughs) I do love dolphins but now I plan to study art therapy because I want to work with autistic children. I got into acting when I went to an open call for ‘Peter Pan’. I still want to continue acting until I have enough money for university.

BD: Do you attend acting school as well as regular school?

RH-W: I have never taken acting classes. I go to a regular British school – we’re actually in the middle of exams right now.

BD: How did you become involved in “An American Haunting”?

RH-W: My agent sent me the script, which I thought was incredible and I called them back and said I really wanted the part of Betsy Bell. I went to 3 or 4 auditions as well as doing a screentest. I was so nervous and when I get nervous I get very hungry. I ate tons of pasta before I did my screentest (laughs).

BD: Did you do much research on the Bell Witch or Betsy Bell?

RH-W: I read Brent Monohan’s book. I really only had one week after I got the part before we went to Romania so that was the extent of my research. Plus, Betsy didn’t know what was happening to her so I didn’t want to know that much either.

BD: What was it like working with Donald Sutherland and Sissy Spacek?

RH-W: They were both very funny and down-to-earth. Donald was quite a presence and Sissy was very maternal, like my own mum. She would tell me to put a jumper (sweater) on. And we talked about “Carrie” too.

BD: What was Romania like?

RH-W: It’s a beautiful country but it was sad to see so much poverty. I will say the food was… interesting. And we shot the exteriors in a beautiful area – Curtea de Arges. The interiors were done in a studio in Bucharest. When I had some time off, my family took day trips to Bran Castle, where the real Dracula lived, and the real, but ruined, Castle Dracula.

BD: I heard you never used a stand-in for the attack sequences. That director Courtney Solomon actually dragged you around. Did you ever get hurt doing any of those scenes?

RH-W: We did have a stuntwoman there to advise us but I did do my own stunts. I got the odd bruise and when I was dragged across the floor, digging my fingernails into the floorboards, even though the floor was balsa, it was still quite painful. For when I was dragged up the stairs, I had a back plate on.

BD: Do you think the Bell Witch legend it true?

RH-W: Definitely. And I heard they teach the legend in Tennessee schools – that’s insane! But I will be going to Tennessee later this month (April).

BD: In your next film, “Perfume”, you play Laure Richis. What was it like working with Dustin Hoffman and Alan Rickman?

RH-W: I didn’t have any scenes with Dustin but I did meet him and he was very funny and sweet. Alan plays my father and he was very supportive. Plus he has a wonderful voice! In the book, my character has a small part but in the film, she is now the ultimate conquest/victim/possession for the main character. The film is set to open in the UK in September.

BD: What are some of your favorite horror movies?

RH-W: Hmm…let me look at my collection here… “The Exorcist”, “The Shining”, “Battle Royale” which was brilliant, “Carrie” and the “Scary Movie” films, although the latest one hasn’t opened here in the UK yet.

I thought the “Texas Chainsaw” remake was horrible and I hated “The Grudge” with Sarah Michelle Gellar.

BD: Do you read any horror fiction?

RH-W: Most of my reading right now is schoolbooks (laughs). I do like scary short stories. I haven’t read Stephen King yet because my parents won’t let me but I did read the “Goosebumps” series.

BD: What is one thing no one knows about Rachel Hurd-Wood that you think they should?

RH-W: I have a tiny birthmark where my face meets my left ear (laughs). Not many people know about that. I also have the coolest boyfriend in the world – Mattis, who lives in Norway.

Oh, and on the IMDb, it says that my next film is something called “Tekken”. I don’t know anything about that and I would never do such a physical film anyway. It’s got all this martial arts in it.