Olivia Munn says she was cast on 30 Rock, the popular NBC sitcom, but series star Alec Baldwin reportedly objected. The actress shared the story in a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter. Her comments suggest that Baldwin’s objections were not personal but seemed driven by artistic considerations.
Alec Baldwin as Jack Donaghy – 30 Rock Official, YouTube
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Around the time Munn stepped away from hosting duties on G4’s Attack of the Show!, she auditioned for 30 Rock, then in its third season. The show was seeking a love interest for Baldwin’s character. Munn told THR that she felt “really good about everything” going into the audition, dressing for the part and staying in character throughout the process. She later received the call confirming she had landed the role.
Munn credited her success to focusing on her own performance rather than competing with the other actresses or letting envy creep in.
A Role That Almost Was
“The end of that story is that I got the job,” Munn said. However, a back-and-forth between her and NBC casting followed almost immediately. “Two days later, they were like, ‘Alec [Baldwin] thinks that you look too young to play his love interest.’ 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.'”
At the time, Baldwin was 52 and Munn was 30. Ultimately, the part of Avery Jessup went to Elizabeth Banks, who is only six years older than Munn. Notably, the role earned Banks two Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series.
Elizabeth Banks as Avery – 30 Rock Official, YouTube
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“I think back on that and it would have been such a big, big break for me. But I was not devastated,” Munn reflected. She said she encouraged herself with the thought, “Wow, look how far I got.” She added that while Baldwin kept her from landing the job on 30 Rock, it was a circumstance beyond her control.
Instead, Munn said she drew confidence from what she had accomplished. “On my ability and my acting, I got it. It gave me so much confidence.” It seems that, Baldwin aside, the affirmation of others was enough. “These people, iconic people—Tina Fey, Robert Carlock, Grace Wu at NBC casting—they all thought that I was good enough to have gotten the offer,” she said.
Turning a Near Miss Into Momentum
The same year Baldwin kept Munn off 30 Rock, she went on to appear in a string of major projects, including Iron Man 2, Steven Soderbergh’s Magic Mike, and a guest role on the television series Chuck, among others.
Olivia Munn as Psylocke – 20th Century Studios, YouTube
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By 2012, she had landed a prominent role on Aaron Sorkin’s HBO series The Newsroom, which ran for three seasons. She later took on the role of Psylocke in X-Men: Apocalypse in 2016. While health issues briefly took her off-camera, she is now starring in the Apple TV+ series Your Friends and Neighbors.
Rather than framing her 30 Rock rejection as a setback—or publicly holding a grudge against Baldwin—Munn has simply continued moving forward. In the end, the story serves as a reminder that the roles actors don’t get can be just as defining as the ones they do.
Why do you think Alec Baldwin fired Olivia Munn from 30 Rock? Let us know in the comments!
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