3 Things You Don't Know About 'True Detective' 's Abigail Spencer

Abigail Spencer reveals her childhood nickname, her biggest fear, and her secret skill

Published on July 26, 2015 12:00 PM

Abigail Spencer seems to be everywhere this summer, starring on both True Detective (Sundays on HBO) and Rectify (Thursdays on SundanceTV), but how well do you really know the TV star?

Here are three things we bet you didn’t know about the 33-year-old Florida native.

1. Her nickname growing up was Gabby Abby.
“My brothers started it, and I hated it,” Spencer tells PEOPLE. “I was a pretty incessant talker as a child, and I had a really loud voice. Now I have a son [Roman, 6] who does the same thing, and I’m just like, ‘Oh my gosh!’ ”

2. Her biggest fear is tornadoes.
“I am terrified at the possibility,” admits the actress. “If a dark cloud gets a little spiral-y I’m like, ‘It’s a twister!’ I think I have Wizard of Oz syndrome. Ever since I saw that movie – the nightmares! I actually had been in Oklahoma during a tornado, and I will say it was terrifying. I just shut down completely. I just did not know what to do with myself.”

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3. She’s been surfing since she was 3.“I started surfing when I was 3, but that does not mean that I’m great at it by any means – it just means I’ve been doing it a long time,” says Spencer. “My dad was a professional surfer, so he introduced me to the sport at a very young age.”

For more fun facts about Spencer, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands now