Did Olivia Munn Lie About Doing Her Own Stunts?
Olivia Munn took playing the role of Psylocke in "X-Men: Apocalypse" very seriously. However, in addition to the film's poor reviews and performance at the box office, the experience of making the movie didn't sit well with her either. Speaking to GQ, via The Playlist, Munn revealed that disgraced director Bryan Singer and screenwriter Simon Kinberg didn't know the first thing about her evil mutant character — the villain she had worshipped since childhood. "When I was doing 'X-Men,' I was actually surprised that the director and the writer didn't even know that Psylocke had a twin brother," the actress revealed.
She added, "I had to talk to them about a lot of different things about Psylocke and some other parts of the world that they didn't even know, and that, as a fan, was very frustrating." Her co-star Sophie Turner, who played Jean Grey, admitted to Rolling Stone that working with Singer was less than enjoyable. "Our time together was unpleasant," she said.
Still, despite the inherent difficulty of bringing Psylocke to life and the negative reaction to the movie overall, Munn enjoyed playing the character. However, in sharing her enthusiasm over becoming a part of the "X-Men" franchise, the actress may have spoken out of turn about her level of involvement.
Olivia Munn had a dedicated stunt double in X-Men: Apocalypse
While chatting to ET about her role in "X-Men: Apocalypse," Olivia Munn gushed over the number of complicated stunts she completed herself. After training for 6-7 hours a day to prepare, mastering Tae Kwon Do, sword fighting, and wirework, Munn said she felt ready to take on the intense stunts, telling the outlet, "When I showed up on set I was like, 'Oh wait, I can do this! Throw me onto a wire, give me a sword — I'm good!'"
As the actress explained, "Psylocke is such a powerful, lethal character. It was important to me that I was able to do all of the stunts because the more believable it is, the better it is for the audience — and the only way to make it believable is for me to actually do it." However, as Golden Lasso points out, Munn had a dedicated stunt double.
IMDb confirms that Julia Rekaikyna worked as Munn's stunt double — the duo even posed for a photo together on set while both were wearing Psylocke's costume. As a result, it seems that Munn wasn't handling most of the complicated stunt work on "Apocalypse." Although even diehard movie fans don't typically know stunt performers' names, the fact that Munn essentially took credit for another woman's work is highly suspect. Especially at a time when stunt workers are fighting to get their due in Hollywood, her comments have many fans seeing red.