In The Deep End

Olivia Munn – Actress and Activist – Reveals Why She Trains for Every Aspect of Her Life, the Power of Martial Arts and Her Unique Take on the Meaning of Strength. (Oh, and Don’t Forget Her Closetful of Alternative Therapies, Like Magnets, Tuning Forks and Crystal Healing Mats.) Come on, Dive in

- Kelsey McKinney

OLIVIA MUNN IS HOT.

Or maybe heated is a better word. For a little over two hours, the 39-year-old actress and I have been chatting while she feeds her small dog, Frankie, organic peanut butter from a tiny spoon in a hotel lobby in Norfolk, Virginia, in the US, where she’s wrapping up the filming of a movie.

It happens quickly, this transformation from banana-toast-eating starlet to passionate activist. Her tone changes, her posture straightens and she appears lit from within.

She wants the rest of Hollywood to realise that merely repeating “Time’s up” isn’t enough. She wants people to actually listen to those who’ve made accusations and suffered hardships. “It’s infuriating. We can’t tell stories about people and then not care about them,” she says, reflecting on the current reckoning in her industry. “You can pretend to be a real-life hero in movies and TV shows and on Instagram, but the real advocates are the ones who stand beside the people who make a difference in the world.”

Olivia happens to be both kinds of hero. She played telekinetic warrior Psylocke in 2016’s X-Men: Apocalypse and, in real life, she’s had to be what she calls a “silence breaker.” In 2017, she joined five other women in bringing accusations of sexual harassment and assault against director Brett Ratner. Then in 2018, she discovered one of her scenes in The Predator had featured an actor who was a registered sex offender and reported it to the studio. She was the one left to answer media questions about the decision to cut the scene.