Lisa Olivia Munn (born July 3, 1980) is an American actress, model, television personality and author. She began her career being credited as Lisa Munn. Since 2006, she has been using the name Olivia Munn personally and professionally.
Born in Oklahoma City, Munn spent her childhood in Tokyo and Oklahoma City among other places and graduated from the University of Oklahoma. Munn began her professional career in television journalism before becoming an actress. In 2006, Munn starred as Mily Acuna in the series Beyond the Break. She co-hosted Attack of the Show! from 2006 to 2010 and was a correspondent on The Daily Show from 2010 to 2011. Munn has also had supporting roles in various films and television series since 2004. In 2015, she co-starred in the film Mortdecai, opposite Johnny Depp.
Early life
Munn was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Her mother, Kim Schmid, was born and raised in Vietnam, of Chinese descent, and fled to Oklahoma after the Vietnam War ended in 1975. After college, Kim married Winston Munn, Olivia's biological father, who is an American, of English, Irish, and German ancestry. When Munn was age two, her mother married her second husband, a member of the United States Air Force. Although the family relocated many times, Munn was predominantly raised in Tokyo, Japan, where the military stationed her stepfather. During this time, she appeared in a number of local theater productions, and later became a model within the Japanese fashion industry. Her mother and stepfather divorced and she moved back to Oklahoma, where she attended Putnam City North High School for her junior and senior years and where she was a contemporary with Hinder bassist Mike Rodden, future Oklahoma state senator David Holt and author Aaron Goldfarb. Munn also attended the University of Oklahoma, majoring in journalism and minoring in Japanese and dramatic arts.
After Munn graduated from college, she became an intern at the NBC affiliate in Tulsa, and later moved to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career.
In 2004, Munn interned at Fox Sports Net and worked as a sideline reporter for college football and women's basketball. She has gone on to say that she disliked the experience, explaining "I was trying to be something I wasn't, and that made me really uncomfortable on live TV."
Career
Soon after she moved to Los Angeles, Munn was cast in a small role in the straight to video horror film Scarecrow Gone Wild. She appeared in rock band Zebrahead's video for their song "Hello Tomorrow" as the love interest of the lead singer Justin Mauriello.
Munn also appeared in National Lampoon's Strip Poker, which was filmed at the Hedonism II nudist resort in Negril, Jamaica, with Kato Kaelin. The films aired on DirecTV and InDemand Pay Per View.
In late 2005, Munn began her role as Mily Acuna, a teen surfer, over two seasons of the TV drama Beyond the Break on The N network. She enjoys surfing and continues to practice the sport. She originally auditioned for the part of Kai, but the producers wanted a "local girl". She also appeared in the film The Road to Canyon Lake.
In 2006, Munn moved on to the G4 network, where she began co-hosting Attack of the Show! with Kevin Pereira on April 10. She replaced departing host Sarah Lane. The network, devoted to the world of video games and the video game lifestyle, was at first hesitant to hire Munn. Although she admits video games were her "weak point", she was confident in her technical knowledge. On the show, Munn was featured with journalist Anna David in a segment called "In Your Pants", which deals with sex and relationship questions from viewers. While working on Attack of the Show!, Munn hosted Formula D, a now defunct program about American drift racing, and an online podcast called Around the Net (formerly known as The Daily Nut), for G4. Munn left Attack of the Show! in December 2010 and was replaced by Candace Bailey.
Munn appeared in the Rob Schneider film Big Stan (2007). She played Schneider's character's receptionist Maria. Munn had a significant role in the horror film Insanitarium in which she played a nurse at an insane asylum. She had roles in the films Date Night (2010) and Iron Man 2 (2010). Robert Downey, Jr. praised Munn for her improvisation skills and led the crew in a round of applause. Munn hosted Microsoft's Bing-a-thon, an advertisement on Hulu for the Microsoft search-engine Bing, on June 8, 2009, alongside Jason Sudeikis. Munn appeared in ABC Family's Greek, portraying Cappie's love interest, Lana. In May 2010, NBC announced that Munn would star in the upcoming television series Perfect Couples. The half-hour romantic comedy premiered on January 20, 2011. The show was cancelled before it completed its first season run.
On June 3, 2010, Munn debuted in her new role as a correspondent on Comedy Central's The Daily Show. Her hiring prompted criticism from Irin Carmon of Jezebel, who questioned Munn's credentials and accused the show's production of sexism in hiring Munn, whom Carmon characterized as a sex symbol. Carmon saw Munn's hiring as a perpetuation of the show production office's history as a male-dominated atmosphere marginalizing and alienating to women. A group of thirty-two female Daily Show production staff members condemned Carmon's piece as inaccurate and misinformed, as did Munn herself in an interview, in which she stated that Carmon's assertion was an insult both to her and to the rest of the Daily Show staff. She went on to appear in 16 more episodes, the last coming on September 2, 2011.
In 2010, Munn guest-starred in NBC's Chuck as a CIA agent. In 2011, Munn appeared in the comedy film I Don't Know How She Does It (2011) as Momo. In 2012, Munn had a leading role in The Babymakers, she appeared in Magic Mike, directed by Steven Soderbergh. She plays Sloan Sabbith on HBO's The Newsroom. She also appeared as Angie, Nick's stripper girlfriend, in three episodes of FOX's New Girl Season 2 Episodes 10-13.
Munn served as a correspondent in "True Colors", the May 12, 2014 episode of the Showtime documentary TV series Years of Living Dangerously, in which she interviewed Washington State Governor Jay Inslee about his efforts to reduce CO2 emissions in his home state. As of June 2014 Munn has been hired as the main promoter of Proactive acne cleanser products starring in several commercials and one informercial for the product. The commercials show Munn experiencing acne herself.
In print
Munn has booked modeling campaigns for Nike, Pepsi and Neutrogena. She appeared on the Fall 2006 cover of Foam magazine in September, in Men's Edge magazine in August, and was featured in a pictorial in Complex in November 2006, where she later became a columnist. In February 2007, she appeared as "Babe of the Month" in a non-nude pictorial in Playboy magazine. She discusses this shoot in her book Suck it, Wonder Woman.
Munn also appeared in the July/August 2007 issue of Men's Health. In September 2007, she was featured in the Italian Vanity Fair for their "Hot Young Hollywood" Issue. Munn appeared in the Winter/Spring 2009 issue of Men's Health Living. She was featured as the cover girl for the July/August 2009 issue of Playboy, and later on the cover of the January 2010 and February 2011 U.S.Maxim. Munn appears on the cover of FHM Magazine's January 2012 issue. She was voted #2 by readers on Maxim '​s list of their 2012 Hot 100.
Munn's book Suck It, Wonder Woman: The Misadventures of a Hollywood Geek (ISBN 0-312-59105-5) was released on July 6, 2010. One critic said it offers glimpses into Munn's life but does not go into depth.
Charity work
In 2011, Munn teamed up with Dosomething.org's Green Your School Challenge. She was a spokesperson for the campaign by filming a PSA regarding the challenge, and sat on the panel of judges that evaluated the entries.
Munn helped PETA with a campaign that ultimately freed a sick elephant from a touring circus. Her blog for The Huffington Post was credited with encouraging fans to contact the USDA on the elephant's behalf. Munn posed for PETA's "I'd Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur" campaign in April 2010, and again in January 2012. In February 2013, Munn fronted a PETA release of new footage showing cruelty to animals in Chinese fur farms.
Personal life
Munn lives in Los Angeles, California and New York City.
Munn dated Swedish actor Joel Kinnaman from March 2012 until April 2014. She is currently dating Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
In regards to her faith and work in Deliver Us from Evil, Munn has stated that "I didn't believe in the supernatural before this movie"; however, the viewing of "actual footage from the New York Police Department of real-life exorcisms changed the actress' mind", and she has stated that "I'm a full believer [now]."
Filmography
Magazine rankings
References
External links
- Olivia Munn on Twitter
- Olivia Munn on Facebook
- Olivia Munn on Myspace
- Olivia Munn at the Internet Movie Database
- Olivia Munn at Playboy Online
