Former journalist, Lisa Olivia Munn, better known as Olivia Munn, is an American television and movie actor, and model. While she co-hosted the Attack of the Show between 2006 and 2010, she went on to star in HBO’s political drama The Newsroom in the lead role. She was seen in movies such as Big Stan, Iron Man 2, Ride Along 2, and X-Men: Apocalypse. Apart from being an actor, Munn is an active supporter of PETA and has fronted few of their campaigns, working towards the betterment of animals across the globe.
Early Life
Born to Kimberly Schmid and Winston Berrett on the 3rd of July, 1980 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Munn’s parents divorced when she was only but two years old. Her mother remarried a member of the United States Air Force. Given her stepfather’s transferrable job, the family had to keep relocating, however, Munn spent most of her childhood in Yokota Air Base near Tachikawa in Tokyo, Japan. While in Tokyo, she became a part of various theater productions and soon entered the Japan fashion industry as model. After her mother divorced her stepfather, she moved back to Oklahoma where she attended the Putnam City North High School for her junior and senior years. Following this, she studied at the University of Oklahoma where she majored in journalism and minored in Japanese and dramatic arts.
After having graduated with a degree in journalism, Munn interned at KJRH-TV, an NBC affiliate in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In 2004, she interned at FOX Sports Networks, where she covered college football and women’s basketball. She then moved to Los Angeles in 2004 to pursue her career in acting.
Personal Life
Olivia Munn was reportedly seeing actor Bryan Greenberg in 2008. The two are said to have dated for a year before splitting in 2009, however, nothing about their romance was ever confirmed by either of them. She was rumored to have dated many other actors such as Chris Pine, Matthew Morrison, and Brad Richards. She was dating Swedish actor Joel Kinnaman in 2012, and the two dated for two years before calling it quits, owing to their busy schedules and not being able to give as much time to their relationship. Three months after her split from Kinnaman, she began dating NFL star Aaron Rodgers, the Green Bay Packers Quarterback. As of 2016, the two are still together, however, have still not planned on getting married or engaged.
Movie Career
Soon upon moving to LA, Munn was cast in a rather small role in the direct-to-video horror TV movie Scarecrow Gone Wild, the third installment in the Scarecrow series, in 2004. In 2007, the actor was seen in the prison comedy Big Stan starring Rob Schneider, Jennifer Morrison, Scott Wilson, and David Carradine. She was seen playing the role of Scheider’s character’s secretary, Maria, in the movie. Despite starting her career with two insignificant roles, Munn was seen playing the role of a nurse trying to find her way out of an asylum in the 2008 direct-to-video horror thriller Insanitarium alongside Jesse Metcalfe, Kiele Sanchez, Kevin Sussman, Carla Gallo,andPeter Stormare.
She was next seen in the 2010 comedy Date Night starring Steve CarellandTina Fey, and in the superhero film Iron Man 2 starring Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Scarlett Johansson, and Samuel L. Jackson. Although both the movie saw her in minor roles, Robert Downey Jr. praised her ability to improvise her performance. In 2012, she was seen in a lead role opposite Paul Schneider in the comedy The Babymakers, which largely opened to negative reviews with critics rating it a 1 out of 5. The same year, she was seen in the comedy-drama Magic Mike, starring Channing Tatum, Alex Pettyfer, Matt Bomer, Joe Manganiello, and Matthew McConaughey, where she played the role of Joanna, the on-and-off lover of Mike, played by Channing Tatum. The movie based on the life of a 19-year-old Adam, who enters the world of stripping, went on to receive positive reviews from the critics and was a box-office success.
In 2014, the actor was seen in the supernatural horror Deliver Us From Evil, where she was cast alongside Eric Bana, Édgar Ramírez, Sean Harris, and Joel McHale. While the movie opened to negative reviews, it went on to become a box-office success. Next, she was seen in the action comedy Mortdecai, based on the novel Don’t Point That Thing At Me, and was cast alongside Gwyneth Paltrow and Johnny Depp. The movie bombed at the box-office and was also battered by the critics. Following her previous box-office failure, Munn was cast in the 2016 action comedy Ride Along 2 alongside Ice Cube and Kevin Hart. The movie, although grossed lesser than its predecessor, was declared a commercial hit, however, it was trashed by the critics. Cast in the ninth installment of the X-Men series, Munn was seen in the 2016 superhero film X-Men: Apocalypse alongside James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Oscar Isaac, Nicholas Hoult, Rose Byrne, Tye Sheridan, Sophie Turner, and Lucas Till. Following the commercial success of the superhero movie, Munn was seen in the 2016 Christmas comedy film Office Christmas Party opposite Jason Bateman, Kate McKinnon, and Jennifer Aniston.
Television Career
After having made her movie debut in 2004, Munn went on to co-host the television show Attack of the Show between 2006 and 2010. While on the show, Munn was seen hosting segments such as ‘In Your Pants’, which was based on the audience’s questions on sex and relationships, along with journalist Anna David, ‘Formula D’, a segment for drift racing, and an online podcast called The Daily Nut, now known as Around the Net, for G4.
She simultaneously was seen in the American drama Beyond the Break in 2006 and appeared in nine of its episodes, playing the role of Mily Acuna. While she appeared in four episodes of the show Greek, she was cast in single episodes of Accidently on Purpose, Chuck, and Paulilu Mixtape. In 2010, she was cast in Comedy Central’s news satire and talk show program The Daily Show as a correspondent, where she appeared in a total of sixteen episodes. Playing one of the lead roles, Munn was seen in the American comedy series Perfect Couples in 2010, which aired only its first season while the second season remains unreleased. However, her most prominent roles on television is that of Sloan Sabbith in the American political drama The Newsroom. A part of the lead cast, Munn’s character was seen in all the three seasons of the show, where she was a part of 25 episodes.
Social and Humanitarian Work
Munn has been associated with PETA and has been the face of two of their campaigns; one to free a sick elephant from a touring circus, and the other to prohibit the use of fur in clothing. She led a campaign to show the brutality shown towards animals in Chinese fur farms.
The actor teamed up with DoSomething.org and became the face of their campaign Green Your School in 2011. The campaign focussed on recycling waste and also increasing greenery in the school campuses. She also set out the challenge for the various schools that participated and was a part of the judges panel.