'Violet' star Olivia Munn talks working through 'surround sound of self-doubt,' the best parenting advice

When Olivia Munn scanned the script for her latest film "Violet" – about a film executive paralyzed by self-doubt – she recognized someone.

Herself.

That fearful voice in your head? "I have struggled with that my whole life, and it was really interesting to see it on a page and to know that somebody else has been experiencing these same thoughts and feelings," Munn says over the phone from Los Angeles.

"Violet" (in theaters nationwide and on-demand now) puts a spin on what happens when you push back against fear and make better choices for yourself. The film previously screened at the Toronto Film Festival in September.

In the movie, film executive Violet Calder (Munn) hears a constant, critical voice in her head – a brazen and brash baritone voiced by Justin Theroux.

Theroux had – ironically enough – been an encouraging voice for Munn, 41, since they first met on Comedy Central's "The Daily Show."

"He would come in and give me such great advice all the time and always be very crystal clear about things," she says. His fatalistic inner monologue for Violet in the film, which he recorded separately from Munn, was "the exact opposite of the real (Theroux)."

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Her own self-doubts originated in childhood. Munn was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, though moved frequently with her mother and U.S. Air Force member stepfather. She spent much of her childhood in Tokyo. "You're constantly having this inner dialogue of self doubt, every time you go into a new school and making new friends," she says.

Those insecurities followed her into the public eye circa 2006 when she hosted G4's pop culture program "Attack of the Show!" It was the first time she'd been thrust into the spotlight, and people would post on the channel's internet forums saying whatever they wanted under the guise of anonymity.

"I have my own thoughts, my own self-doubt and criticism and self-hate, and then all of a sudden, there's this door that's been opened, where a lot of people are saying the same things you're feeling, and a lot of times worse. It just becomes this surround sound of self-doubt, self-hatred, and self-criticism," she says.

In the film, Violet overcomes her fears by speaking up for herself and doing the opposite of what's scaring her – including telling off her manipulative, misogynistic boss. That scene proved cathartic, but fear roiled and rumbled inside of her with each line of the script.

Much like her character, Munn – whose career has since been marked by starring turns in the HBO series "The Newsroom" and films like "X-Men: Apocalypse" and "The Predator" – reached a point where she realized she needed to stop living in a way that didn't make her feel good.

Of course, self-doubt creeps back in anyway. "You ride a wave for a little bit of feeling like, you've got things under control, you got the voice under control, you can deal with the outside pressures and the outside dialogue," she says. "And then it comes back up again. Where I'm at now is in a place where I have really great friends that I talk to about it."

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Like many of us, how Munn presents on the outside sometimes fails to match the inside.

"There was a time when my panic attacks were just like off the charts, and I was just having a really hard time," she says. "I'd be shooting, and then I have a meeting I have to go to, and I just have to get myself together and put on a smile, and then go back to set and do my work and it was a constant of just appearing that things are OK."

She'd skip dinners, events and parties to go lay in bed instead. "The image that you put out, it can be so exhausting," she adds.

The actress remains vocal about preventing Asian hate crimes, something she and her community knew had been pervasive before it made national news this past March after the Atlanta-area spa shootings which resulted in the deaths of six Asian women.

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The outpouring of support for Asian people at large has made her optimistic. "It's given me a lot of hope, that we are going to see the end of the cycle of hate," she says.

Today she's upbeat chatting about impending motherhood – Munn is expecting a baby with comedian John Mulaney.

The best parenting advice she's been given so far? Don't go overboard on baby stuff and just stock up on "a rocking chair, place for baby to sleep, a changing table," the basics. Still, Munn can't help but fixate on how many onesies, diapers and bottles she needs.

She also sought out moms on Instagram and Facebook for decor inspiration, because "I look into an empty room, and I'm like, 'I don't know, I think my baby's probably going to sleep on the dining room chair or something,' " she jokes.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Olivia Munn talks new movie 'Violet,' parenting advice and self-doubt