Munn: Exorcism footage did damage

Olivia Munn says Eric Bana “couldn’t sleep for three weeks” after watching exorcism footage.

The pair star together in forthcoming horror Deliver Us from Evil, which follows a New York City police officer played by Eric who joins forces with a priest to combat possessions in the metropolis.

The film is based on true events, and according to Olivia, her co-star was terrified after watching real-life paranormal videos in preparation for the role.

“To me it got serious when Eric told me had seen the actual exorcism footage the NYPD took, and he couldn’t sleep for three weeks and he wasn’t even a believer,” she is quoted by the Daily Mail as saying while she sat on a panel at WonderCon in Anaheim, California over the weekend.

Eric’s character is based on former police officer Ralph Sarchie, who documented his experience expelling evil spirits in a book entitled Beware the Night.

And the 45-year-old Australian actor admits he was frightened by the paranormal evidence Ralph collected.

“[Director] Scott [Derrickson] scared the bejeezus out of me in pre-production. He had access to some materials that Ralph Sarchie had,” he detailed.

“He shared with me a bunch of things I immediately regretted seeing.”

But Eric says he can’t really identify what part of Ralph’s exorcism footage was the scariest, as the police officer’s professional conduct threw him off.

“There are shades of grey. It’s not as simple as someone’s not possessed and someone is possessed… There’s a point at which it doesn’t matter if it’s supernatural or not,” the star explained.

“Some of the source material we saw is fascinating because he’s literally a cop who’s interviewing someone who [claims to be possessed].

“So it’s actually a very analytical, very procedural point of view.”

Deliver Us from Evil hits theatres this summer.