Liv Morgan Was Shocked WWE Let Her Star In Bad Lieutenant: Tokyo

On a recent episode of her podcast, “What’s Your Story? With Stephanie McMahon,”  Liv Morgan discussed being off WWE TV in May 2025 while filming Bad Lieutenant: Tokyo in Japan. It was announced in April that Morgan will have a co-starring role in the film from Japanese director Takashi Miike.

Morgan teased that she does some shocking things in the movie and was shocked WWE let her do it. Here are the highlights:

On the Movie:

“Something came across my table. It was the third installment of Bad Lieutenant… directed by Takashi Miike. He is a legendary Japanese director. He has the scariest films ever. And I love horror. But like, I watched his movie Audition, and I had to look away. I’m not squeamish, visually I could watch it all. But this movie, I was like, ‘Whew!’ He has a way of making you so uncomfortable.”

On Getting the Script:

“I get the script and I read it. And I’m like, I love it, but I was like, ‘There is no way WWE is letting me do this. There is no way.’ I auditioned for it anyway and I get the part. And I’m like, ‘Oh s**t.’ I didn’t even know if I was really committed right now, because of all it entails. To my surprise, WWE is like, ‘Go get em.’ And so, when I tell you the role and what it entails, it’ll make sense.”

On Filming the Movie:

“But I went to Japan for 17 days and filmed this movie with Lily James and Shun Oguri, and Sam Pressman. And got to play this character that is so different than anything I’ve ever done. The WWE Universe is going to see me in a way that I don’t think they’ve ever expected to see me. It was such an amazing experience. It reminded me so much of WWE. We get so much prep at work that I don’t think we realize until we’re in this scenario. Filming a movie felt like I was doing backstages. Most of our stuff is live in the ring with one take.

“So having that training and going into a film where you can’t get as many takes as you want, but you can get multiple takes. It’s okay to mess up because you have another try. I was so prepared and ready to take this on. I had an amazing time. You know, we ended up doing everything in one take anyway. He had such a vision. And so I feel like anything after one take is acting instead of reacting. We kept everything one take, which is a little vulnerable for me, because I feel I could have done better. It was such a cool experience. I feel so much better off because of it. I did some things… Even if I don’t book another movie for the rest of my life, this is the one.”

On WWE Letting Her Do the Movie:

“I was shocked that WWE let me… I remember asking Hunter, ‘Do you like this for me?’ He was like, ‘If I didn’t think it would be good, I wouldn’t let you do it.’ And I was just like, ‘Okay.’ And he gave me some advice because he had done films. He was like, ‘Just go for it.’ ‘Yes sir.’ And then I was on my way to Japan, and I went for it.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit the What’s Your Story? With Stephanie McMahon podcast with an h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.