In Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, humans and magical creatures go to battle against each other when relations between Maleficent and the Queen of Alstead crumble under the pressure of Aurora and Prince Phillip's engagement. In real life a real war may break out between Angelina Jolie and Michelle Pfeiffer over a ping-pong tournament that took place over the filming of the anticipated sequel. “Michelle is upset because she wasn't invited to play,” explained Jolie during the press conference for their new movie before a fit of giggles took over. “We just knew you would beat us so that's why we didn't ask you,” continued the Oscar Winner with a sly smile while Pfeiffer playfully pretended to be offended asking all the other cast members, which include Chiwetel Ejiofor, Sam Riley and Ed Skrein, if they had been invited to play.

A bit later when Jolie was describing how she enjoyed “the back and forth between all the actors” during the filming of a crucial scene where Maleficent meets Queen Ingrith, Pfeiffer interrupted her with “yes, it was almost like a very intense ping pong game.” To which Jolie replied, “Oh you are so definitely on right now. This game is happening since you can't let this go.”

All kidding aside, while their new film hinges on their characters going to war, during the press conference the actresses displayed a genuine mutual admiration. Michelle Pfeiffer insisted what excited her the most about doing the film was getting to share the screen with Angelina and Elle (Fanning). While Angelina cited Pfeiffer's performance as Catwoman in Batman Returns as “one of her favorite villains and a source of inspiration.”

For Pfeiffer, the role in the Maleficent sequel is an opportunity to top her villainous turns in Hairspray and Stardust but the three time Oscar nominated actress insist she “doesn't look at a part that way.” She signed up on the promise of working with Jolie and Fanning and then “reading the script was pleasantly surprised to see that there was a great and interesting part to play. She is brilliant and she is diabolical but I would not call her very wise. I like how that ties to the conflict and the themes of the movie.”

For Jolie it was precisely the themes of the new chapter that drew her back to playing Maleficent. “She’s great fun because she’s just completely mad and wild. But I did respond to the fact that the film is about many things. It is about family. Aurora and Maleficent were first brought together and became a family; they weren't really expecting it. The love a child, certainly in my life, was something that transformed me and it's the same for Maleficent. But in this movie we are viewed as different creatures. There are many metaphors in the film and I don't want to get too cerebral or heavy about it. But I think any good film for young people should have these messages. The conflict of the film pulls our characters apart when people tell us that because we are not the same you are not family. Because you are not exactly like her you are not her mother. And that's something that certainly strikes a chord with me.”

See Maleficent: Mistress of Evil in theaters October 18.