Scarlett Johansson was scared to death when she shot the infamous shower scene from Psycho for her new film Hitchcock, because of co-star Anthony Hopkins.

Scarlett, who plays actress Janet Leigh in the film, says that she didn’t mind stripping down and getting all wet to film the iconic scene — but she did have trouble getting Hopkins’ portrayal of cannibalistic Silence Of The Lambs serial killer Hannibal Lecter out of her head — something that actually helped her nail the scene.

“Hmm, how did I prepare? Well, I just prepared myself to get very, very wet,” she tells V Magazine. “We only had the luxury to shoot the scene for a day, and everybody was feeling very nervous because it involved water and nobody wants the actor to get wet. They were concerned with modesty and all these things — but I don’t care about any of that stuff and Janet Leigh never did either.

“You have got to be brave, get into the shower, and face Anthony Hopkins as Hitchcock jabbing you in the face with a 12-inch kitchen knife…” she adds. “But that’s what he does! As much as Anthony Hopkins is a pussycat, he’s terrifying. Maybe I watched Silence of the Lambs too many times when I was a kid. Maybe I was having some flashbacks. So I didn’t need too much preparation for the scene.”

Hitchcock, which focuses on the life of the legendary director and the behind-the-scenes happenings while he was filming his 1959 classic Psycho, opens November 23. Check out ScarJo’s full interview in the December issue of V Magazine and at V Magazine.com