Press junkets are weird.  First, you walk into a room in a fancy hotel where you come upon a complete stranger whose face you know well, and on whom you have been given a dossier.  Then, you sit down and for about four minutes this person is basically contractually obligated to answer your questions.  You talk, but it’s not really a conversation because both your questions and, generally speaking, his or her answers are scripted riffs.  This situation is even more strange if you initially knew this stranger’s face from a talk show where you saw her conducting interviews of her own.

This is the situation I found myself in when I sat down with actress Olivia Munn to discuss her role in director Scott Derrickson’s new, semi-fact-based religious thriller Deliver Us From Evil.  The Jerry Bruckheimer production, which also stars Eric Bana, Edgar Ramirez, and Joel McHale unfolds as a mix between Serpico and The Exorcist and is now playing in theaters nationwide.  During our discussion, Munn was forthcoming and seemingly unscripted. We talked about Jon Stewart taking a chance on her for The Daily Show, the shocking twist ending of The Newsroom, how her geek knowledge could have helped out during the action scenes, working with Johnny Depp and mustache fetishes for the upcoming Mortdecai, and more.  Hit the jump to watch the full interview, and be sure to check out our previous Deliver Us from Evil interviews with Derrickson, Bruckheimer, Ramirez, and real-life counterpart Ralph Sarchie.

This interview was fun and Munn gives some unique insight into the long and winding road that makes up a career and tells a few good jokes.  But first, here's what she had to say about Mortdecai.

Olivia Munn:  Thats such a fun movie.  Its an art heist comedy with Johnny [Depp] and Gwyneth Paltrow and Ewan McGregor.  Working with Johnny is so much fun because he is so much this character and it is so much fun to play opposite him.  My character and his character, we both have very big characters who have very big ways of living their lives.  And my character has some mustache fetishes and things that come with that.  But it was fun because, when youre playing against somebody who plays such big characters, but in a very real way, thats the most fun.  These characters are very extreme, but to them theyre just living life.  And it was fun to just be allowed to play with that caliber of movie star.  Ive definitely often times felt like I won a raffle at the grocery store. Its like, Hey you guys. I have to be here, you have to let me be here because I got the ticket. So you cant make me go home.

Here's what Munn talked about during the interview:

  • Do you feel a Kinship with Joel McHale and Scott Derrickson as three people who came from unlikely paths to starring in July 4th wide release movies?
  • What happens next season on The Newsroom?
  • Using your geek knowledge, how could you have helped the boys out during the action scenes?
  • Do you believe in the supernatural? Have you ever seen a ghost?
  • What can you tell us about Mortdecai?

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