Olivia Munn has shared details of a tense on-set moment in which a male co-star objected to how a scene was written and performed.
Appearing on The Drew Barrymore Show, the actor explained that filming ground to a halt for around 45 minutes because her scene partner wasn’t happy with what was about to happen.
While Munn didn’t identify the project or the person involved, she said the sequence featured the two characters fighting side by side in a bunker-like setting.
“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 explained.
It’s a familiar setup: two people under pressure, shifting positions to survive, and one person stepping in at the crucial moment—often changing the dynamic between them.
Munn described what was on the page, noting that the action was meant to unfold in a specific rhythm as each character covered their own area before swapping positions.
“If you read the script, 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.”
Everything seemed ready to go—until the final moments before filming, when she says her co-star suddenly reacted as if he’d only just realized how the scene ended.
She said: “And then we’re about to shoot and, somehow, I guess he didn’t read the script, and in that moment, he realized, ‘Wait, wait, wait. Hold on. She can’t save me. No, no. She can’t save me’.”
According to Munn, the disagreement escalated to the point that the actor halted production and became argumentative with the director.
She also quipped that while her co-star may have been uncomfortable with the optics of being rescued in the scene, he seemed perfectly comfortable making the complaint loudly enough for everyone to hear.
Ultimately, Munn said she offered an adjustment that kept the action moving without framing it as her character “saving” his.
She said: “Finally, after like 45 minutes of just stopping down, I said, ‘OK, how about instead of my character saving you, it’s just that we switch because it’s time for us to switch and so this is my guy to get’.”
Munn—known for roles in projects including X-Men: Apocalypse and The Lego Ninjago Movie—added that this change was enough to settle the situation and allow filming to continue.