Hayley Atwell is "scared" about being impregnated by a snake

She said: "I dreamt the other night that I had a baby and it was eaten by a snake and it was a bit weird. I have no idea what it means.

"I'm feeling maternal but I'm scared of not being able to make it survive?

"Snakes are pretty phallic, yes. I'm scared of being impregnated by a snake.

"Maybe biologically it's my body saying, 'You are going to be ready for a child soon.' "

As well as her disturbing serpent dream, the 32-year-old star also suffers from regular nightmares about doing exams at school that she hasn't prepared for.

When asked if she has any recurring dreams, she replied: "Yeah, I'm back doing my A levels and doing my English exams and I haven't revised and I have to do it all again. It's a boring one."

Hayley - who plays Chris Evans' character Captain America's former love interest Peggy Carter in 'Avengers: Age of Ultron' - admits her parents would often give her great advice when she was having "relationship problems" during her younger years.

She added to Metro newspaper: "I remember my mum saying something very important to me when I was having relationship problems.

"She said, 'Please be mindful of your heart.'

"I think what she was saying is that our emotions can sometimes deceive us and if decisions are made in emotional states, they can often be the wrong ones.

"Also, my dad would often say, 'You're so smart,' or, 'You're so lovely, people want to be your friend' rather than, 'You're beautiful,' and that made a huge difference to my sense of self-worth."