Olivia Munn claims ‘The Newsroom' director tried to 'ruin' her career: 'He kept trying to force me to...'
opened up about troubling encounters with a recurring director during her time on HBO's 'The Newsroom,' which went on from 2012 to 2014. She explained that the disagreement centred on her portrayal of Sloan Sabbith, particularly in scenes meant to show romantic chemistry with Don Keefer's performance as Tom Sadoski.
Olivia Munn's words
On a recent episode of
Dax Shepard
's Armchair Expert podcast, Munn recalled, 'He kept trying to force me to carry that storyline only on my side… '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.''
Accusations of unprofessional behaviour
Tension escalated off-screen when Munn was on the verge of landing a new film role.
She received a call from her manager saying, 'Hey, you're gonna get the role. But… another director… says that, on The Newsroom, you were late all the time and really combative.'
Refuting the claims, Munn pointed out practical facts, quoting, 'I lived seven minutes from there. I was never late… He just was trying to bash me.'
Thankfully, Munn secured the part despite the director's alleged campaign against her. As she remarked, 'I still got the role.
But I will always remember that… he wanted to ruin my chances of getting anything else.'
A shift in perspective
The ordeal, she shared, led her to rethink her career trajectory. Speaking with The Daily Beast, she reflected, 'This kind of dynamic… has really changed the way that I think about my career and what I want… I truly just wanna do great work that I'm happy with. And I wanna live an easy, happy life. I don't need to get to the next echelon.'
Continued success and moving forward
Despite the hurdles, Munn remained resilient. Her post-Newsroom projects include 'Office Christmas Party,' 'Ocean's Eight,' and 'X‑Men: Apocalypse,' and she now headlines the dark comedy 'Your Friends & Neighbors' alongside Jon Hamm, which is on Apple TV+.
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