{"id":562633,"date":"2026-04-03T18:28:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T18:28:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/562633\/"},"modified":"2026-04-03T18:28:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T18:28:08","slug":"olivia-munn-on-your-friends-and-neighbors-and-almost-booking-30-rock","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/562633\/","title":{"rendered":"Olivia Munn on Your Friends and Neighbors and Almost Booking 30 Rock"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tOne of the greatest boons to Olivia Munn<\/a>\u2019s faith in her acting chops was from a job she didn\u2019t get.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tIn 2010, she auditioned for 30 Rock<\/a>. She recalls feeling the most prepared she\u2019d ever been for an audition. And though she initially booked the job, questions about how young she\u2019d appear acting opposite series star Alec Baldwin prompted them to change course and go with another actress. For most performers, this would be devastating blow. Munn found validation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThese people, iconic people \u2014 Tina Fey, Robert Carlock, Grace Wu at NBC casting\u00a0\u2014 they all thought that I was good enough to have gotten the offer,\u201d says Munn. \u201cThat\u2019s what I needed. Whether or not I got the job didn\u2019t affect my confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tToday, Munn appears confident in all of her professional decisions. After becoming disinterested with acting a few years back, she found herself pulled back in with Apple TV\u2019s Your Friends and Neighbors<\/a> \u2014 originally planned as one-season gig for the actress that turned into two. She returns, opposite Jon Hamm, in the dark comedy\u2019s second season that premiered Friday.<\/p>\n

Speaking during a recent episode of The Hollywood Reporter podcast I\u2019m Having an Episode (Spotify<\/a>, Amazon Music<\/a>, Apple<\/a>), Munn explained opened up about her flirtation with retirement, lessons learned from working with a vindictive director and the back and forth on the 30 Rock job that wasn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

\n\tBefore you took on this job, I\u2019m under the impression that you had called your agents and asked for them not to put you up for anything, that you only wanted to work off camera. What path were you considering?<\/p>\n

\n\tI wanted to start producing, invest in companies. I\u2019ve done that for a very long time, so I just thought that was the path. I just didn\u2019t want to be in front of the camera anymore. I didn\u2019t want to put myself out there. I\u2019ve been going through so many health issues that I felt like I needed to create a bit of a distance between myself and any kind of exposure in a way that would make me too vulnerable.<\/p>\n

\n\tAre you still feeling that pull?<\/p>\n

\n\tI am, but I\u2019m also feeling the pull to be acting again. I\u2019m really happy I didn\u2019t make one of those big announcements. I never understand when an actor makes an announcement that they\u2019re retiring. Guys, you don\u2019t play for the Dodgers. No one\u2019s expecting you to be there at 7 p.m. on the field. You don\u2019t need to announce it. I was just going to slowly step away. But [this show] is so much fun. Not every project is a lot of fun. So I\u2019m excited to work on this project. And I\u2019d be excited if there was another thing that came around that excited me, but I\u2019m not looking for the next thing. I don\u2019t want back into the hamster wheel of trying to find another project.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhen in your career do you feel like the hamster wheel was spinning most out of control?<\/p>\n

\n\t2010- 2011 was an incredible period of my life, career-wise. I was on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Soon after I was on The Newsroom<\/a>. At that point, there were all these opportunities. The first one that came around was Magic Mike. So there was this little trifecta of working with Jon Stewart, Aaron Sorkin and Steven Soderbergh. A lot of different offers were coming through and I started not knowing what I should take. A lot of rom-coms were coming through. The hamster wheel really affected my thinking process, because I was not able to get a grasp on it. I didn\u2019t know where to go next.<\/p>\n

\n\tWell, to that point, your career hasn\u2019t followed, like, a traditional path: Attack of the Show to The Daily Show to The Newsroom to X-Men and now this. Was that by accident or design?<\/p>\n

\n\tComplete accident. I just took advantage of the opportunities that were in front of me. And some didn\u2019t feel like the right thing. I would say no to some things that I probably should have said yes to. It does kind of feel like a buffet in a way. I\u2019m like, \u201cI\u2019ll take this one.\u201d I do wish that I was more curated. When I first got my first big opportunities, I wish I had sat down and made decisions for myself. A lot of times, the representatives or agents would bring you stuff, like, \u201cHey, do you want to do these things?\u201d There wasn\u2019t real guidance on \u201cWhat do you want to do with your career? What kind of work do I do? Let\u2019s aim for that.\u201d Because I think I would have really enjoyed that. I don\u2019t remember a lot of stuff I worked on. I remember a handful.\u00a0<\/p>\n

What do you remember the most?<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Newsroom. I never really had a significant acting job before. I had a sitcom on NBC, but this was a different level. I was the only one who wasn\u2019t a Broadway caliber actor. I just really wanted to nail it. For that character, I thought, \u201cI\u2019m gonna play it as if I was a man acting out this job.\u201d I\u2019m not going to fall into the tropes of being hysterical or being like apologetic or meek or bitchy or boss lady-ish. I just wanted to play it straight. And yes, women can play it that way. But, at the time, a lot of the references that you could pull from with women were just different. It felt like we had to be a caricature of what we thought women would be.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tYou\u2019ve told a story about a visiting Newsroom director who gave you some just objectively bad notes \u2014\u00a0 suggesting that your character be like a bit more like what you\u2019re talking about,\u00a0fawning over a men. You didn\u2019t take the notes and\u00a0later found out that he\u2019d bad-mouthed you to keep you from getting another job<\/a>. You still booked that job, but I\u2019m curious what the lesson of that experience was. Obviously, you should be able to disagree with any notes. But you don\u2019t know how people are going to respond to that. It just feels like an uneasy equation to me.<\/p>\n

\n\tI learned from watching other actors get notes that when they give you a note, you nod your head. You say, \u201cOK, got it.\u201d Then you just do what you want to do. They come to you with another note and you go, \u201cGot it!\u201d And then you just do what you want to do. Eventually they\u2019ll be like, \u201cI guess she she can\u2019t do it. The doesn\u2019t have the ability.\u201d It\u2019s playing the game a bit more. AndI should be able to speak up for myself and I should be able to like draw the line, but we cannot. I can\u2019t change the world and I cannot change like how women have been portrayed and received for however long we\u2019ve been on earth. So I\u2019ve realized that I\u2019m going to handle this situation in a way that is going to be the best outcome for me. I used to see so many other actors do it, and I\u2019d think, \u201cWhy are you not taking the note? I can\u2019t believe you\u2019re being so indignant.\u201d Then I realized it\u2019s a way to protect your art and your choices with a character.\u00a0I hope I have helped more actresses learn this.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tOlivia Munn in Your Friends and Neighbors<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tApple TV+<\/p>\n

\n\tAn undercurrent in Your Friends and Neighbors is this \u201ckeeping up with the Joneses\u201d mentality that seems to only amplify the more one has. Working in an industry that so often defaults to comparison, did you ever find yourself getting stuck in that rut? And how did you get out of it?\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tIt starts from the beginning of trying to make it in Hollywood. It\u2019s the audition. You go in and there\u2019s a million girls who look like you because that\u2019s what they\u2019re looking for. When you don\u2019t get it, you think, \u201cWhat did I do wrong?\u201d I had a really great acting teacher when I first got out here, her name\u2019s Sandy Marshall. She would always give this advice to all the students. She\u2019d say, \u201cIf you audition and the person who got it looks just like you, then you did something wrong.\u201d I thought that was really helpful. There is a way to do the character and there\u2019s a way that they\u2019re wanting and you are responsible for asking the questions, for figuring it out in the script. If you are an actor, you should be able to deliver any version of the thing that they\u2019re looking for. And so when I would watch the things I would audition for and not get it, I\u2019d see somebody get it. And if they looked like me, I would study what they did and realize what I was doing wrong. That comparison that I was doing, I just wanted it to help me and not hurt me. Jealousy and envy is a very natural feeling, but it can overtake you and become insidious. I wanted to try to mitigate how much those feelings would take over my personality.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhen did you get confident in auditions?\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tGrace Wu at NBC casting brought me in for 30 Rock. I was getting to this place where I was really understanding the audition process. Because when you go into audition, especially back then, it was so intimidating. You\u2019d sign in and then you\u2019d sit there waiting and there\u2019d be people coming in to try to intimidate each other. One person would walk out of the casting office being like, \u201cOk, great, so I\u2019ll see you Saturday!\u201d My God, they\u2019re friends? Or then somebody would walk out of the room crying and be like, \u201cHey guys, good luck!\u201d She cried? She was able to cry? There\u2019s all these things playing with your mind.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tSo going into [the 30 Rock] audition, I felt really good about everything. I dressed for the part, which I\u2019d never really done before. I signed in and I walked outside near the sound stages. Normally I\u2019d want to be right there. I\u2019d want them to see me. I just had this confidence like, \u201cThey\u2019ll come find me.\u201d I kept working on it until I got into the room. I just stayed in [the character]. I got the call that I booked the job, and I knew that I protected my psyche and kept myself from feeling envy and competition with the other women.<\/p>\n

But you weren\u2019t on 30 Rock, were you?\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tThe end of that story is that I got the job\u2026 and then two days later, they were like, \u201cAlec [Baldwin] thinks that you look too young to play his love interest.\u201d Another two days later, \u201cNo, no, no. They think you\u2019re perfect. You\u2019re going to fly out on Saturday.\u201d On Friday, \u201cNo, no, no. Alec thinks that you look too young and he\u2019s putting his foot down.\u201d Then Elizabeth Banks got that role.<\/p>\n

\n\tAs you were telling this story, I couldn\u2019t guess the role. Avery Jessup. Very Interesting.<\/p>\n

\n\tYeah. What was interesting is that I think back on that and it would have been such a big, big break for me. But I was not devastated. I only thought to myself, \u201cWow, look how far I got.\u201d I ended up not getting the job because of something I couldn\u2019t control. On my ability and my acting, I got it. It gave me so much confidence.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tI know you\u2019re not actively pursuing other acting jobs right now, but is there an acting itch you still really want to scratch?<\/p>\n

\n\tI would really love to do an amazing horror suspense movie. Like, something that really scares people to their core. Something people want to go back and watch that. Mine is The Strangers. It is so visceral. I remember actually screaming. I found out a lot about that movie. It was not testing well in the beginning, but then this editor really worked on it. I think editors are everything. If I could be anything in this business, I\u2019d be an editor. It takes a long time to get to that place, and I don\u2019t think I have that much time in my life left,\u00a0but editors make all the difference.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tIf you could trade jobs with anyone for the day, who would it be and why?<\/p>\n

\n\tI would love be to the Mayor of Los Angeles and get a lot of stuff done that needs to be done in this city to make it safer for everyone. I would make sure that all of the reservoirs are filled to the brim with water. I would do so many things and I would do it in a day. I have a list.<\/p>\n

\n\tAt the risk of ending on a real frivolous note, were you still in production on season two when that Jon Hamm dancing meme<\/a> blew up?<\/p>\n

\n\tNo, I wasn\u2019t! My gosh. It is so good. I want to meet the first person who started this whole thing.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One of the greatest boons to Olivia Munn\u2019s faith in her acting chops was from a job she…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":562634,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[249150,5896,236,88,179371,52980,82883,179372,209346],"class_list":["post-562633","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-30-rock","tag-apple-tv","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-im-having-an-episode","tag-olivia-munn","tag-the-newsroom","tag-thrs-original-podcasts","tag-your-friends-and-neighbors"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/562633","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=562633"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/562633\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/562634"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=562633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=562633"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=562633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}