Olivia Munn opens up about director who tried to “ruin” her career over creative differences

Olivia Munn recently opened up about clashing with a certain director with whom she had worked on the series, The Newsroom. According to People Magazine, Olivia Munn, during her appearance on the Armchair Expert hosted by Dax Shepard, talked about the creative differences that ensued between her and the unnamed director, stating that he even attempted to ruin her career.

She said,

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"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."

Olivia Munn played the character of Sloan Sabbith, a Senior Financial Reporter for the fictional News program, News Night, in the HBO series The Newsroom, which ran for three seasons from 2012 to 2014.

More from Olivia Munn's interview, as the actress opens up about an unnamed director who tried to ruin her career over creative differences

During her conversation with Max Shepard, Olivia Munn, while appearing on Armchair Expert on 30 June, spoke about the difficult period where she had to work with a certain director during her time on The Newsroom, adding that said director attempted to make her love story central to her character.

She said :

"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. 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'."

She also recalled another instance of unwelcome criticism, where she stood her ground and abided by her convictions. After having arguments about her character with the said director, the atmosphere on the set was tense. However, Munn reiterated that in retrospect, she is "happy" to have stood up for herself.

She stated:

"I just fought back so much. It got to this place where there was one scene, and I was like, 'No. I'm not doing [that]."

She further added that the said unnamed director would later allegedly even spread false rumors about her, labelling her someone difficult to work with.

She said:

"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.

Although Munn secured the role, she had to clarify that she lived merely seven minutes from the location of the set. She stated:

I lived seven minutes from there. 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.’ And then 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.”

Olivia Munn is currently starring in the Apple TV+ series, Your Friends & Neighbors, where she plays the character of Sam Levitt, alongside John Hamm, Amanda Peet, and Mark Tallman, among others.

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