'Last Exorcism' Star Ashley Bell Spills About Her All-Time Favorite Scary Movies

Ashley Bell's breakout role was as a possessed girl in 2010's The Last Exorcism, a portrayal so convincing that she landed a nomination at the MTV Movie Award for "Best Scared-As-S*** Performance." She'll reprise her role as the demented Nell Sweetzer in The Last Exorcism Part II, which opens today.

Though she's nothing less than terrifying on-screen, Ashley is impossibly sweet in real life. We chatted with the actress about her evil alter-ego, her upcoming rom-com roles, and her favorite horror flicks.

What's it like to play such a demented character?

"It's such a special character because I was able to build Nell and the demon Abalam. I actually had to go through an exorcism in the audition. What was really helpful for me is that I studied at NYU and also at Cambridge, and they're big about diving in and researching roles, so I read every book and watched every video I could find about exorcists."

Are you the kind of girl who enjoys watching scary movies?

"I always loved scary movies, which led to incredibly overactive imagine. I saw The Exorcist when I was eight. During the summer, my dad and I would watch Poltergeist and Psycho and Jaws. Growing up watching these movies, it was so fun to touch a blood pump on set and see how the special effects work."

Do you have plans to play any characters that aren't possessed?

"Yes! I'm in a movie called The Marine: Homefront. It's a straight-up action movie that we filmed on a cruise ship, which was really cool. I also have The Bounceback, which is a romantic comedy which will be premiering at SXSW, and it's a love triangle. A love hexagon, actually. I'm also going to be in Chasing Shakespeare, which is a romantic epic love story that also stars Danny Glover and a bunch of other people."

Click through to find out Ashley's top five scary movies!