Olivia Munn revealed how a director on the former HBO show The Newsroom tried to “ruin” her career and chances to land future roles.
On a June 30 episode of Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard, the Your Friends and Neighbors actor said one of the directors from the HBO series tried to sabotage her career by claiming she was challenging to work with.
Olivia starred as economist Sloan Sabbith across all three seasons of Aaron Sorkin’s 2012 political drama.
She explained that when Season 2 started, she noticed that certain directors focused on her. “What are you fucking with me for?” she recalled, before singling out one director she seemingly butted heads with.
“There was a storyline where my character and Tom Sadoski’s character are dating and falling in love,” Olivia said. “[The director] kept trying to force me to carry that storyline only on my side. 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.'”
Tom Sadoski portrayed Don Keefer, a former executive producer of the series’ main News Night show, who has a developing relationship with Olivia’s character on the show.
In the podcast, Olivia didn’t name the director, but she alleged that they were speaking negatively about her to other industry professionals in a way that could damage her reputation as an actor.
Olivia continued, “I was on the one-yard line for the 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.'”
Olivia was adamant that the claims were untrue, explaining that she was never late and that the conflict was embellished. “I lived seven minutes from [Sunset Grower Studios]. I was never late. 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,'” she said. “I still got the role. 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.”
“Obviously, when you start in this business, there is the hope of making your mark and getting to a certain place,” Olivia said. “But this kind of dynamic that I experienced for so long has really changed. The way I think about my career and what I want — I truly want to do great work that I’m happy with, and I want to live an easy, happy life.”
Watch Olivia’s interview on the podcast.