Brazilian actress Alice Braga first caught the attention of American film audiences for her head-turning role in the acclaimed City of God. Luckily for us (or at least those of us who get to interview the gorgeous star), Braga's appeared in a number of genre films in recent years, including I Am Legend, Repo Men, Predators, and this weekend's big horror release The Rite. Braga stars in The Rite as a journalist investigating the phenomenon of exorcism. Her character's work finds her drawn into the world of a skeptical young priest-in-training (played by newcomer Colin O'Donoghue) and his mentor, a veteran exorcist undergoing a crisis of faith (played by Anthony Hopkins). I recently spoke with Braga (who's even more stunning in person than in her on-screen appearances) about her work in the film, her love of genre movies, and her continuing fear of Predators.

Note: Be sure to read my interview with The Rite's director, Mikael Håfström.

You've worked on a lot of films recently that deal with the fantastic or the supernatural. Were you predisposed to these types of films when you were growing up in South America?

It was a coincidence that I ended up doing films in that vein. But I have so much fun, and it's so great to watch a film that takes you to somewhere else – that's not just normal reality – that having a chance to make them was great. It was a coincidence to make so many films in this manner. But I've always been scared by this type of film, because afterwards I have dreams. [Laughs.]  I don't want to be in a dark room. But it's great, because then you really believe in what you're saying. I like it. It's a lot of fun.

So have you enjoyed many horror films?

Kind of. Not much. I've seen a lot, but I need to watch with someone, my boyfriend of someone, because otherwise… [Laughs.] But I like that there's a quality that pulls you into it. And for an actor to make that he needs to lead you into the story. If the audience doesn't go with you, they won't get scared. They won't get pulled into it. So for an actor it's fun to make these films. And for an audience it's a journey.

In films of this sort, you're dealing with extreme and often fantastic circumstances. As an actor, how do you make that real? In the case of The Rite, few people have witnessed what your character witnesses, but some have. As opposed to, say, a Star Wars movie where no one's ever seen the things portrayed in it. Is it difficult to find the right balance to depict the things in this film? How do you approach that?

Yeah, it's definitely a subject where people never know if it's real or not. So it's interesting to create something that's real, to play a journalist. I know what you mean… I tried a lot to focus on the journalistic thing, because she's an investigative journalist. So I tried to go through the journey that she goes. Matt Baglio, who wrote the book, is a journalist; and everything started with him writing an article about exorcism; and then he decided to write the book, and now it's the film. So I tried to go on the journey of this girl who's investigating the subject. She's questioning herself and she wants to know the truth – is it real or not? So through that I tried to focus on her not believing. But not not believing because she doesn't believe, just because she's never seen it. And if you haven't seen it, until you see it or touch it, you don't believe it. And afterwards, when we get to the end, there is the whole chaos with Anthony's character, that's something that we tried to create in the moment. For me, I was very much trying to be very scared and pulled into saying, "Okay, now it's for real." Then comes that part that we were talking about, making people believe so they can actually be in that moment.

So I tried a lot to keep it real. And when it was the moment to bring it out, to bring out the reality of it, and make people question: "Do you believe it? Does this happen?" Because we talked a lot with different people, especially Colin and Anthony and everyone else, and Matt told us a lot of what he's seen with the research he did. So I tried to go a lot in that direction.

Like Colin and Anthony, did you watch an actual exorcist during one of his assignments (or "blessings" as the Catholic Church calls them)?

I didn't. Because my character's trying to go, but she doesn't get too much of a chance. I would have loved to go, but with what happened with the schedule the opportunity wasn't there. But Colin saw a couple of things, and he said it was very interesting.

Coming from Brazil, do you have any Catholicism in your background?

Yeah, I was raised Catholic.

I'm a recovering Catholic myself.

[Laughs.] I don't go to church. I did my first Communion and was baptized and all that. But I never go to church. That's something that's my grandmom's thing. [Laughs.] It's part of your life, but for me, it's just there. I'm not into it.

Did you find your history gave you an appreciation for the universe in which the film is set, or the sense of mystery in Catholicism?

I don't know if it gave me an appreciation, but definitely the mystery of it. Religion always has its own mystery and its own secrets. So having the chance to play with it in the sense of living in that world for three or four months of your life… And of course being raised as a Catholic you start thinking about the religion in which you were born and raised and what this religion brings. Of course I never talked about exorcism and we don't have much  exorcism in Brazil, but just by talking about the Church and being in Rome and going to the Vatican, all of that, it's very, very interesting.

In real life, what's your greatest fear?

Airplanes. [Laughs.] I travel a lot. No, it's a great question… Snakes. The unknown maybe. Maybe exorcism? [Laughs.] I'm kidding. The first thing is airplanes, because I arrived here after a twelve hour flight and it was very bumpy. Turbulence freaks me out… And a Predator!

So a plane crash in a jungle filled with snakes and Predators would be bad news for you?

Exactly! That's the best answer. [Laughs.]