Olivia Munn recently opened up about a distressing incident that occurred on set, where a male co-star vehemently objected to her character saving his during a pivotal scene. During an appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show, the actress recounted the incident, which took place during an action sequence where both characters were engaged in a fight against enemies in a bunker.
"There have been several instances where I've been filming something, and my character was either a CIA agent, a cop, or something similar, and there have been scenes where my character was the one to save the other character," she began. In this particular project, 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 there's a guy that's coming for him who's going to shoot him in the back, so I shoot him." However, the actor interrupted filming, insisting, "Wait, wait, wait. Hold on. She can't save me. No, no. She can't save me."
Munn suggested that the actor "didn't read the script." The situation escalated, with production pausing for around 45 minutes as the actor became "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. She 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 suggesting that their characters switch positions so the moment appeared different. The co-star agreed to the adjustment without realizing 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.
