Olivia Munn reveals 'The Newsroom' director tried to ruin her career: 'He just was trying to bash me'
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Olivia Munn has come forward with serious allegations against a director from HBO’s 'The Newsroom', claiming he attempted to damage her career over creative disagreements.
The actress did not name the individual but said the tension extended beyond the show and impacted her professional opportunities.
Olivia Munn says director pressured her to only focus on love interest storyline
Olivia Munn, 44, opened up on the 'Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard' podcast, revealing that a director pushed her to portray her character’s romance one-sidedly.
“There was a storyline where my character and Tom Sadoski’s character are dating and falling in love. [The director] kept trying to force me to carry that storyline only on my side,” Olivia Munn said during the interview.
She described being asked repeatedly to divert from Sloan Sabbith’s professional arc to play into romantic gestures for Don Keefer, played by Sadoski.
“He’s like, ‘Can you look out at him and smile?’ And I’m like, ‘Why? She’s busy doing this.’ Or, ‘Can you stop and snuggle up to him or flirt with him?’ Or, ‘Can you give him a kiss?’ And I’m like, ‘This is in the middle of working,’” said Munn.
Olivia Munn says director damaged her reputation after 'The Newsroom'
Olivia Munn claimed that after the show ended, the same director tried to sabotage her chances at landing a film role by spreading false narratives about her behavior on set.
“I was on the one-yard-line for [a] movie, and my manager calls me and says, ‘Hey, you’re gonna get the role. But first, I guess there’s another director who they know, and he says that, on 'The Newsroom', you were late all the time and really combative,’” she recalled.
Olivia Munn pushed back against the claims. “I lived seven minutes from there. I was never late,” she said, adding, “And I was like, ‘I know who this is.’ He just was trying to bash me. And I told my reps, ‘Please tell the directors this.’”
Olivia Munn recalls how it didn’t stop her
Although the negative comments didn’t cost her the role, the actress said the experience stayed with her.
“But I will always remember that, just because of our conflicts of how we approached a role, he wanted to ruin my chances of getting anything else,” Munn said.
'The Newsroom', created by Aaron Sorkin, aired from 2012 to 2014.
The HBO series also starred Jeff Daniels, Dev Patel, Sam Waterston, Alison Pill, Emily Mortimer, and John Gallagher Jr, with directors including Alan Poul, Greg Mottola, Anthony Hemingway, Lesli Linka Glatter, Jeremy Podeswa, Alex Graves, and Paul Lieberstein. Munn did not specify which one she was referring to.
