Frances O’connor

Peggy Hodgson in The Conjuring 2

How did you approach playing a real-life character?

The Peggy in the script is quite different from the real Peggy. When you hear her in interviews, she’s very level-headed and seems like she was never scared, so that didn’t serve the story well!

What scares you?

The dark! Sometimes I’ll be in the shower and my son will turn the lights off as a joke – I hate that!

Ever had a supernatural experience?

I did this road trip with my husband once, and we stopped at Oxford, Mississippi. There was just one dodgy hotel, so we stayed there. When I walked into the room I got a horrible feeling. We went to sleep and I dreamed there was this guy in a Confederate uniform. He was reading my tarot cards and was all smiley, and I got the worst feeling… I woke up and I could feel my husband behind me, but I opened my eyes and he was on the opposite side of the bed. I woke my husband and said, “There’s someone in the bed!’’ So we turned the lights on and there was nothing. Next morning we went for a walk and a plaque outside said it was built on the site of a Civil War battle…