An American Haunting, (opening May 5th) starring Rachel Hurd-Wood, Donald Sutherland, and Sissy Spacek, is based on the legend of the Bell Witch; actually, based on a book about the Bell Witch entitled The Bell Witch: An American Haunting by Brent Monahan. It’s set in 1818-ish in Tennessee, and has that great old “American” horror feel that can only come with something like the writings of Washington Irving or H.P. Lovecraft. More frightening than the story of The Amityville Horror, the legend of the Bell Witch is a much-argued story of poltergeist activity, witchcraft, and early American superstition that still baffles historians to this day. Was it all a hoax? Was it a demon? A curse from a local witch named Kate Bats? Betsy Bell, played by Rachel Hurd-Wood (she played Wendy in 2003’s Peter Pan) is a young woman beset by troubles. Completely opposite of Rachel herself, who is a well-adjusted and polite young woman who kind of “fell” into acting accidentally. Now she has co-starred opposite Jeremy Sumpter (yummy, in a pedophilia-way), Sissy Spacek, Donald Sutherland, and has a new thriller coming out later this year with Alan Rickman and Dustin Hoffman. Can we get started yet? Ok… let’s talk to Rachel.

Before we interview Rachel, actually, I’d like to point out a major flaw in the film that has been bothering me ever since I saw it: No, I don’t mean a continuity error, liberty with the story, or some other kind of regular flaw that films suffer from; I am talking about history, pure and simple. The story takes place in 1818, when photography was not common, available, or even patented in the United States. Yet, there is a photograph taken of Rachel’s character Betsy Bell that is used periodically in the film as a reference for one of the characters in “our” time. Now, lets talk about that for a second… It wasn’t until 1853 that Felix Toumachon opened his portrait studio in Paris, and it wasn’t even until 1837 that Louis Daguerre created images on silver-plated copper, coated with silver iodide and "developed" with warmed mercury. Daguerre was awarded a state pension by the French government in exchange for publication of methods and the rights by other French citizens to use the Daguerreotype process. But 1818? Just to point out, Andrew Jackson, president of the US in 1825, never even had his picture taken with a camera. It’s highly unlikely that the Bell family, living in a “wild” territory like Tennessee in the early 1820’s, would have had their picture taken. Ever. At least not until the 1850’s. Anyway. Moving along.

Rachel Hurd-Wood is really something. She’s 16 years old and she’s already starred opposite some truly amazing actors and actresses. She has no formal acting training (which just goes to show you; you don’t really need any. Unless you’re Madonna) and accidentally found herself playing the part of Wendy in PJ Hogan’s Peter Pan, with Jeremy Sumpter. She was in the period mystery Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Silk Stocking for British television, and An American Haunting is out now.

“No, I don’t believe in ghosts. I mean, no I have never had any experience with the supernatural of any kind”.

The movie version shows just one of the many possibilities played out in over 20 books on the subject. Some say it was a hoax, some say that a witch put a curse on the family; some say that demons plagued them. What does Rachel think really happened?

“I believe that what our movie shows is what really happens. Does that make any sense? I believe our interpretation is the most real.” I can’t give away the secrets of the plot, and neither can Rachel.

In trying to discover the real truth of the Bell story, did Rachel herself do any special research into her character? Did she look into how victims of such activity might really feel and act?

“I didn’t want to do any research because I wanted it to be my reactions to what was happening around me. I thought that would make it seem more real.”

Make no mistake; An American Haunting isn’t a lighthearted romp through horror land. There are some really disturbing issues in the film, some of which are delicately glossed over and may shock some people. What does this film mean to Rachel, and what does she want the women who watch it to come away thinking?

No you’re supposed to say what YOU wanna say, Rachel. (Studios always want their talent to give really boring interviews)

Rachel Loves horror. She really does. Her favorite genre is horror and she has some classically good favorite horror films. She would love to be in another horror film.

“Horror films are my favorite genre; so I would love to do a horror film. I love the classics; "The Shining", "The Exorcist", but my favorite favorite horror film ever has got to be "Battle Royale".”

Rachel’s got a period thriller coming out later this year called Perfume: The Story of a Murderer. She plays a girl named Laure Richis, the daughter of Antoine Richis (played by Alan Rickman). Dustin Hoffman is also part of the ensemble cast. It has to do with perfume and murder and France etc. and the whole time everyone wears cool costumes.

“I play the daughter of Alan Rickman, so that was a really cool experience. I play Laure the daughter of Antoine Richis, and she’s really vivacious and bubbly. She’s like a butterfly, flitting about.”

So, let’s see… she’s done Peter Pan (set in 1904), she’s done a Sherlock Holmes film (circa 1888), An American Haunting (1818) and Perfume, set somewhere in the 19th Century. Do we see a pattern? She gets to wear those cool dresses and awesome hair extensions.

“Of course I would love to do something contemporary; and it is fun to come home and get back into my jeans… But there’s something about wearing a costume and getting into a corset that’s so fun. It’s a fantasy world, it’s like playing dress-up”

In Perfume, you’ll notice that Rachel’s’ normally honey blonde hair was dyed auburn. Hair is fun to talk about with girls.

“They dyed my hair this bright red color, it was Bright red. It was really fun, and then afterwards, they tried really hard to get the color out as much as possible, but it still remained ginger for a while afterwards.”

So what about going platinum like Paris?

“My hair isn’t really brown nor blond… But I would never go platinum. Ever. No way. I prefer something more natural.”

Rachel got the job as Wendy in Peter Pan on a whim. Her grandmother saw an ad on television advertising the casting. Rachel, who had never acted up until that point, gave it a whirl and got the part. The rest is history.

Even though Rachel’s Boyfriend was right next to her, when pressed for info on which young Hollywood hottie is her favorite she had an answer...

“Hmmm. That’s a tough one. Josh Hartnett”

Josh is pretty yummy. And Rachel has some pretty hot horror co-stars in An American Haunting: check out James D’Arcy and Thom Fell