Marion Cotillard was terrified when a whale "kind of went mad" while she was filming a scene for her new movie.

The French actress plays killer whale trainer Stephanie in the drama Rust & Bone. Marion spent a lot of time in the water with the large marine mammals and admits they didn't always react kindly to her.

"One of the whales kind of went mad at me. She screamed at me with her jaws wide open," Marion told Empire magazine. "It was the only time I was really scared."

In the movie, Marion's character loses her legs following a stage malfunction. She has explained how the special effects team made this scenario believable.

"I just acted and then they took my legs off," she explained.

Marion can soon be seen playing Miranda Tate in the hotly-anticipated movie The Dark Knight Rises. She is remaining coy about reports of Miranda enjoying romance with Batman.

"I cannot say much, but I kiss him you saw it," she smiled. "Chris [Nolan] is the only director I've worked with twice. His set is like a family. Which is weird when you talk about Batman, but it's true."