Watch: Why Olivia Munn Says She Lost 30 Rock Role as Alec Baldwin’s Love Interest
What a week Olivia Munn recalls having.
As the Newsroom alum revealed, in 2010 shewas cast on the NBC series 30 Rock and was set to play Alec Baldwin’s love interest Avery Jessup. But after several days of back and forth, Olivia ultimately missed out on the role, and Elizabeth Banks ended up taking on the part.
“I got the job … and then two days later, they were like, ‘Alec thinks that you look too young to play his love interest,’” Olivia shared with The Hollywood Reporter in an interview published April 3. “Another two days later, ‘No, no, no. They think you’re perfect. You’re going to fly out on Saturday.’ On Friday, ‘No, no, no. Alec thinks that you look too young and he’s putting his foot down.’”
E! News has reached out to reps for Alec and NBC for comment but has not heard back.
While Olivia, 45, was disappointed not to have booked the series—especially because looking back “it would have been such a big, big break” for her—she found that she “was not devastated.”
And ultimately, it came down to why she didn’t get the role.
“I only thought to myself, ‘Wow, look how far I got,” Olivia said. “I ended up not getting the job because of something I couldn’t control. On my ability and my acting, I got it. It gave me so much confidence.”
Dave Benett/Getty Images
It wasn’t just almost being on the show that helped shape her confidence, but also how Olivia—who shares kids Malcolm, 4, and Méi June, 18 months, with husband John Mulaney—approached the audition in the first place.
“I felt really good about everything. I dressed for the part, which I’d never really done before,” she remembered. “I signed in and I walked outside near the soundstages. Normally I’d want to be right there. I’d want them to see me. I just had this confidence like, ‘They’ll come find me.’”
She even tried to stay in character as Avery and when she got the call that she’d booked the role, “I knew that I protected my psyche and kept myself from feeling envy and competition with the other women.”
Dia Dipasupil/WireImage)
Despite not ending up on 30 Rock, Olivia found herself starring on NBC’s Perfect Couples, which ran for one season from 2010 to 2011 before being cast on The Newsroom, playing Sloan Sabbith on all three seasons.
‘I never really had a significant acting job before,” Olivia admitted of her role on the HBO show. “I had a sitcom on NBC, but this was a different level. I was the only one who wasn’t a Broadway-caliber actor. I just really wanted to nail it.”
For a look at more candid celebrity confessions, keep reading.
Perry Knotts / Contributor (Getty)
Francois Durand/Getty Images
Gotham/Getty Images
Stefanie Keenan/Getty Images for Kershaw’s Challenge
VALERIE MACON / AFP via Getty Images
Paul Bruinooge/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images
Nathan Congleton/NBC
Getty Images, Shutterstock
Getty Images
Todd Wawrychuk/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images
Rob Latour/Shutterstock
Andrew Chin/Getty Images
For the latest breaking news updates, click here to download the E! News App
