Olivia Munn has opened up about a moment on set when a male co-star objected to her character saving his during a scene.
Munn touched upon the incident during a recent appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show, where the actress revealed that it was while filming an action sequence where both characters were fighting enemies in a bunker.
“There have been a few times where I’ve been filming something, and my character was either like CIA, or a cop, or something, and there’s been scenes where my character has been the one to save the other character,” she began.
In this particular project as well, her character was meant to shoot an attacker who was about to shoot her co-star from behind.
“If you read the script,” she continued, “it was that he was guarding his side, I was guarding my side, then we switch sides and then there’s a guy that was coming for him [who] was gonna shoot him in the back, so I shoot him.”
However, she said the actor interrupted filming, insisting, “Wait, wait, wait. Hold on. She can’t save me. No, no. She can’t save me.” Munn said that she guessed “he didn’t read the script”.
Munn recalled that production paused for around 45 minutes as the situation escalated, with the actor becoming “combative with the director.” She added that he had no issue voicing his objection openly on set.
“There was no insecurity about being obnoxious and everyone hearing this and being like, ‘She can’t save me! We’re not doing this,'” the actress remarked before adding that she was the one who then offered a slight adjustment to the scene, doing the “saving” in another context.
“Nothing changed. It’s just what he thought. I was doing the exact same thing,” she noted after having suggested that their characters switch positions so the moment appeared different. The co-star agreed to the adjustment, not realising that the outcome remained the same.
Munn also spoke about her approach to roles, saying she avoids projects where female characters exist only to support male storylines. She explained that she looks for roles where her character would still have a purpose even without a male lead.
She currently stars in the Apple TV+ series Your Friends & Neighbors alongside Jon Hamm and Amanda Peet.
