Olivia Munn

Munn signing autographs for Attack of the Show! at the 2007 Comic-Con

She became an intern at the NBC affiliate in Tulsa,[16] and later moved to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career. In 2004, Munn interned at Fox Sports Networks 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."[10] Soon after she moved to Los Angeles, Munn was cast in a small role in the direct-to-video horror film Scarecrow Gone Wild. She appeared in rock band Zebrahead's music video for their song "Hello Tomorrow" as the love interest of the lead singer Justin Mauriello.[17] Munn also appeared in National Lampoon's Strip Poker, which was filmed at Hedonism II, a naturist resort in Negril, Jamaica, with Kato Kaelin. The films aired on DirecTV and In Demand pay-per-view.

In late 2005, Munn began her role as teen surfer Mily Acuna over two seasons of the television drama Beyond the Break on The N network.[18] She enjoys surfing and continues to practice the sport.[19] She originally auditioned for the role of Kai Kealoha, but the producers wanted a "local girl".[20] She also appeared in the film The Road to Canyon Lake.[21]

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 games lifestyle, was at first hesitant to hire Munn. Although she admits video games were her "weak point", she was confident in her technical knowledge.[22] 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.[23] Munn appeared in the Rob Schneider film Big Stan (2007). She played Schneider's character's receptionist Maria.[10] Munn had a significant role in the horror film Insanitarium in which she played a nurse at an insane asylum.

Munn at the 2013 Harper's Bazaar Women of the Year Awards

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.[24] Munn hosted Microsoft's Bing-a-thon, an advertisement on Hulu for the Microsoft search-engine Bing, on June 8, 2009, alongside Jason Sudeikis.[25] Munn appeared in ABC Family's Greek, portraying Cappie's love interest, Lana. In May 2010, NBC announced that Munn would star on the television series Perfect Couples. The half-hour romantic comedy premiered on January 20, 2011.[26] The series was cancelled before it completed its first season run.[27]

On June 3, 2010, Munn debuted in her new role as a correspondent on Comedy Central's The Daily Show.[28] Her hiring prompted criticism from Irin Carmon of Jezebel, who questioned Munn's credentials and said the show's production was sexist for hiring Munn, whom Carmon said was a sex symbol.[29] Carmon said Munn's hiring was a perpetuation of the show production office's history as a male-dominated atmosphere marginalizing and alienating to women.[30] A group of thirty-two female Daily Show production staff members said Carmon's piece was inaccurate and misinformed. Munn said that Carmon's assertion was an insult both to her and to the rest of the Daily Show staff.[31][32] She went on to appear in 16 more episodes as a correspondent, with TV Guide naming her signature segment "Tiger Mothering," in which she mocked the high expectations of Chinese mothers, in part by interviewing her own mother.[33] Her last episode as a correspondent aired September 2, 2011. She returned for a brief segment in host Jon Stewart's final show on August 6, 2015.

In 2010, Munn guest-starred on NBC's comedy-drama Chuck as a CIA agent.[34] 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, a minor role in Freeloaders, and appeared in Magic Mike, directed by Steven Soderbergh. She also appeared as Angie, Nick's stripper girlfriend, in three episodes in Season Two of FOX's sitcom New Girl.[35]

Munn gained prominence in a lead role in Aaron Sorkin's drama series The Newsroom on HBO. In the series, she played Sloan Sabbith, an economist who worked on the shows fictional news network, ACN, alongside lead anchor Will McAvoy (Jeff Daniels). The series ran for 3 seasons from 2012 to 2015.[36] Since then Munn has talked with Sorkin in her desire for the show to return.[37]

Munn served as a correspondent in "True Colors," the May 12, 2014 episode of the Showtime documentary 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 Proactiv acne cleanser products starring in several commercials and one infomercial for the product. The commercials show Munn experiencing acne herself. Since January 2015, she has been the voice of the character Phoebe Callisto on the Disney Junior animated series Miles from Tomorrowland. In 2016, Munn was cast as Elizabeth Braddock / Psylocke (one of Apocalypse's Four Horsemen) in X-Men: Apocalypse.

She also had a starring role in the television series Six as a CIA operative[38] and appeared on Season 13 of America's Got Talent as a guest judge in the season's second Judge Cuts episode.