Olivia Munn Says She Contemplated Stepping Away From Acting Before Being Offered ‘Your Friends & Neighbors’ Role

Prior to appearing in Apple TV+‘s newest dramedy Your Friends and Neighbors, Olivia Munn revealed she almost left behind her acting career for good.

In a recent interview with the Los Angeles Times, Munn recalled the time ahead of filming the series, also starring Jon Hamm and Amanda Peet, as a tumultuous one, in which her career was put on pause due to the pandemic, becoming a new mother and experiencing postpartum anxiety. At that point, the outlet reported, she found her on-screen life unfulfilling and was contemplating a career transition into writing, producing or directing.

“I called my agents and my manager and said, ‘I’m done being in front of the camera — don’t put me up for anything,’” she explained.

However, being offered a role in the author Jonathan Tropper-created show changed her mind. The series, which received an early Season 2 renewal, centers on Andrew “Coop” Cooper (Hamm), a newly minted divorcée reeling from an abrupt firing as a hedge fund manager who resorts to stealing from his own affluent neighborhood. Munn portrays a divorced character on the show who becomes sexually entangled with Coop. The Newsroom alumna said she was drawn to the show for its scathing critique on the ultra wealthy.

“There’s a carelessness with which they live their life. They feel impervious to the world and it’s so fascinating to watch these people crumble,” she explained, adding that her character Samantha is “a survivor — she’s going to do anything to maintain her place and take care of her children.”

Munn, who was undergoing procedures, surgeries and further treatment for breast cancer for months ahead of filming (she is now in remission), will return in Season 2, Tropper said. “We had originally planned for that character as a one-season character, but after working with her for a little while, I think we had consensus across the board, we wanted her.”