Actress Olivia Munn talks about her approach to her latest film, a gorier Predator edition, with Team Viva

The Predator sees writer/director Shane Black returning to a world he first experienced back in 1987 as an actor. In this new film, he’s expanding and exploring the story of the alien hunters and the human beings that must face the threat of extinction. With the government attempting to cover up the extent of predator incursions on Earth, a rag-tag group of military veterans must figure out what is going on and how to save the world – or at least themselves – as the battle spreads from the depths of outer space to once-safe suburbia.

Olivia Munn is a talented actress who began working on television and has successfully segued into cinematic work. She’s known for movies including X-Men: Apocalypse, Magic Mike and Office Christmas Party. In The Predator, she’s scientist Casey Bracket, dragged into an adventure she might not be quite ready for, but will bring all of her skills to help with. Munn talks about getting the part, her own history with the series and the sheer number of spines being ripped out in the film.

How does your character fit in the scope of the film?

She’s an evolutionary scientist and biologist. In this movie, we have two storylines that merge into one. We’ve got Trevante Rhodes, Boyd Holbrook and Thomas Jane and that group of guys — the soldiers — and their interactions with the Predator. And on the other side, my character has been brought in by the CIA because of her expertise in evolutionary biology to get a better understanding of what they have found. She’s only called in if there is a higher life that’s found, and here there is definitely some alien activity.

How did you get involved?

Initially, I was not interested because typically in a big movie like this, the female role is usually delegated to just being the love interest. But Shane just wanted to meet me.  I’m a huge fan of his work and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is one of my all-time favourites. I really trusted him as a director. He’s a filmmaker who is really collaborative and actually allows you to bring what you want to the character. I read the script and then had another meeting with Shane about some of my thoughts. He was really receptive to it and I was in.

Your character definitely doesn’t come across as a damsel in distress…

When you’re fighting for your life, you have to shoot, even though nobody wants to be in a position where they have to fight for their life. The guys —they’re soldiers — but I approached this character as a scientist. I grew up in a military family so I knew how to shoot guns. Making this movie was not about us finding moments for her to not be a damsel in distress. It just wasn’t on the page; it’s not what we were doing.

Was there extensive training or preparation for the role?

She’s not a trained athlete or assassin but I think she’s healthy and physically active. We trained with guns and that was really fun. And I loved being able to do that with the guys, learning how to shoot together. Every time we did that, I learnt different techniques, tools and skills. But then I tried to incorporate what my character would do and put a little bit of shakiness into it.

In this movie, there’s something really big going on, which is fascinating for her. This is something that she’s waited her entire life for — especially as an evolutionary scientist.  And yet when this is happening right before her eyes, there is shock and awe. While everyone else is running away from the Predator, she’s running towards the aliens, because she’s fascinated.

Does working on real sets and location help your performance?

It’s very intimidating and visceral. And it really puts you in that space. But that being said, there’s still so much stuff that is put in later with CG and the VFX and everything that really amps it up for the audience at home. We get enough that we can allow our performances to be even more real. A movie like this really takes advantage of how great technology is and where we’ve come from, and what we can do with it and how realistic things are. Especially when it comes to like the blood, guts, the destruction and death.

Shane has said the film won’t shy away from the violence…

I’m really big on it. I think we’ve gotten so politically correct that we lose the fun of going to the movies sometimes. For me, the more bloody spines being ripped out, the better.

What is your relationship with the original Predator? How old were you when you first saw it and how cool is it to now be in a Predator film?

I actually hadn’t watched it. I didn’t see it until a few months before shooting. I knew of it and maybe I knew some of the catchphrases and lines but I had never seen it until I signed up for this movie. While this is technically a sequel, it’s not picking up right where the other movies left off.

At the same time, its acknowledging all the previous ones. And it’s interesting because we have some throwbacks from the very first Predator, which I love. For me, it wasn’t imperative to have watched that film before I signed on because I knew it would be its own beast. After watching it, I kept saying to Shane, “Can we not have a scene where someone has to hide in the mud? Can I go hide in the mud?” Because that’s a genius way to not be discovered by aliens.

Predator will release in India on September 13, a day before the US.