The actress is pregnant with her first child with boyfriend John Mulaney.
Olivia Munn is very much looking forward to being a mom. ET's Matt Cohen spoke to the pregnant 41-year-old actress about her new film, Violet, and she talked about getting ready to welcome her first child with her boyfriend, John Mulaney.
Munn plays the title character in the film, who must fight her inner fears. Her inner voice, which expresses all her fears and self-doubts, is narrated by Justin Theroux, and Luke Bracey plays her childhood friend, Red. Munn told ET that Justine Bateman, who makes her directorial debut with the critically acclaimed film, is definitely one of her favorite directors she's ever worked with.
"There's an expression in sports like a player’s coach, and she's definitely an actor's director," Munn explains. "She came in with a strong vision which you really need for this film, and especially for me, there was so much heavy stuff to go through and I really needed her support through it. There was times when my mind was just bogged down with so many emotions and feelings and I had to say to her, 'I don't know how to do this scene anymore and I feel like I have it then don't,' and then Justine being such an amazing actress herself, was able to just step aside and be away from where everyone's about to start filming and we would, you know, go do it all over again. So, she was everything I needed and more for that."
Their close working relationship has also spilled into their personal lives. When asked what she's most looking forward to about motherhood, Munn told ET that she and Bateman, who has two children, have talked about it.
"Justine and I had a long conversation about this the other day, honestly, I'm just excited about meeting whoever it is, and bringing a little person into this world," she says.
Over the weekend, Munn and Mulaney's names were trending on social media after rumors that the two have split. However, ET has learned that that reports of a split are not true.
Meanwhile, Munn said she could definitely relate to her character in the film, and acknowledged some of her own struggles when it comes to self-doubts.
"I think we've all dealt with it but it's really difficult when anything from the outside world starts to get into your subconscious and you start to make all these fear-based decisions," she says. "And like Violet, you know, you present well, you appear well, but it's tearing you up inside and in the process of pretending that things don't bother you, you make these decisions to try to combat those things that aren't true to who you are."
"You know, for me, I try to play things off or be sarcastic or laugh it off or just keep going forward or not try to fall into those traps too much," she continues. "I’ve thought to myself, 'If I could just look like this, if I could just have this makeup artist, if I could just wear this outfit, if I could just get this designer then maybe, maybe I’ll then fit in,' and I think that that was something really powerful in the script that I felt in my own life."
Bateman also spoke to ET about the film's incredible cast, specifically, Theroux giving life to Violet's self-destructive inner voice.
"And he's great at that, he's a great actor, great writer," Bateman says of Theroux. "And I just wanted the voice to be as different from Olivia's as possible because for me, when I was making a lot of fear-based decisions years ago, what really helped me is trying to think about these fear-based, or these critical thoughts, these negative thoughts, as if somebody else was saying them to me. And then I could see them objectively and go, 'Oh, well, that's not true,' you know? But if I just continued to treat them as if they're my own thoughts -- which they are -- then I continue to give them validity."
"So, I wanted to give that to the viewer, you know?" she continues. "Try to think of these thoughts as if somebody, as if Justin Theroux's saying them to you, then maybe you won't believe them, you know maybe you'll look at it objectively."
Violet his theaters Oct. 29 and will be available at home on demand on Nov. 9.
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