Ruth Wilson swam with great whites to conquer fear of sharks

Ruth Wilson tried to face her fear of sharks by diving with great whites.

The Affair actress stars in new Netflix horror film I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House as Lily, a young nurse who cares for an elderly author in her haunted house. During an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Halloween (31Oct16) Ruth discussed her own real-life fears.

"I get scared by a few things, the dark sometimes scares me, creaky sounds, sharks. Sharks are scary. Real things scare me," she explained, admitting Steven Spielberg's Jaws put her off the creatures as a youngster.

"I have done shark diving. I tried to face my fear, it didn't work. Even every time I go in a swimming pool I think a shark might enter through one of those flaps. Great whites in South Africa. It was exhilarating, I like being scared. I was in that cage and it was gnawing on the side of the cage. It was very scary."

Halloween doesn't frighten the British beauty as she and her family have always been "cynical" towards the spooky holiday. You wouldn't have found her trick-or-treating, with Ruth revealing she and her siblings were the ones watching from the outside.

"We used to play tricks on the trick-or-treaters before - we got to them first," she grinned. "So me and my three brothers, once we pulled a hose up to the top window of our house, turned on the garden hose and every time they came we'd spray them with freezing cold water. It was mean!"

Along with I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House, fans can currently see Ruth, 34, in the season three of The Affair, and next rom-com How to Talk to Girls at Parties and drama Dark River, both due out in 2017.