Why Does Evie On Tales Of The Walking Dead Look So Familiar?
"The Walking Dead" has grown from a single TV show inspired by a comic book into a sprawling media empire, featuring multiple shows and different timelines. By now, it goes without saying that between all the spin-offs already on the air, as well as the ones slated for the future (per Insider) the "Walking Dead" franchise is as resilient and relentless as the ravenous hordes of leering undead that the protagonists are tormented by. "Tales of the Walking Dead" is the latest spin-off show, and it features a twist to the usual zombie storyline tropes through its use of an anthology format.
This narrative design means that each episode is a self-contained story set in a world either already overtaken by zombies, or in the process of getting there. The first episode, titled "Evie / Joe" focuses on the attempts of doomsday preppers to reconvene with friends. Joe is played by Terry Crews, while Evie is Olivia Munn, an actress who should definitely look familiar.
Munn's first major appearance was on G4's Attack of the Show
The show that helped put Olivia Munn on the proverbial map was none other than the now defunct G4's "Attack of the Show!" The series followed technology news, reviews, short sketches, science stories, video games, and everything else that could be considered nerdy. Appearing on the show in 2006 alongside co-host Kevin Pereira, Munn had actually won her role through a contest that was open to the public.
In an interview with IGN in 2014, Munn said of her time on the show, "I miss doing 'Attack of the Show' on a daily basis. I love it. I truly loved it. I think Attack of the Show was the flagship show for G4. Kevin and I, I do believe it was lightning in the bottle with the two of us. I don't know if I will find another person that I meshed with as well. What we had and did together, it was lightning in a bottle."
Munn appeared on both the Daily Show and Perfect Couples at the same time
Although Olivia Munn appeared in several video shorts and a reoccurring role in "Beyond the Break," perhaps one of the more notable in Munn's earlier career was that of 2011's "Perfect Couples." In the series Munn appears in 14 episodes as the character of Leigh. Starring alongside Hayes MacArthur as Rex, this particular show featured three different sets of varied couples at different stages of their relationships. Leigh and Rex represent the seasoned veterans of relationships, and they offer sage like wisdom to their friends.
This NBC show unfortunately only ran for one season, but at the same time, Munn lent her skills as a correspondent with the Jon Stewart version of "The Daily Show." Speaking with Collider and how she planned on managing appearing on both shows, Munn said, "This is a dream that I didn't even think I was allowed to dream. To be able to get 'The Daily Show' and have an NBC show? I want to go back to the ten year old me and say, 'Dude, stop crying. It's all going to be good.' At least for one week, it's all going to be good."
Munn was a brilliant, but awkward, economist in The Newsroom
Olivia Munn's next major endeavor was the 2012 Aaron Sorkin television series on HBO, "The Newsroom."
This was show that famously opened up with Jeff Daniels' seasoned news reporter, Will McAvoy, addressing a room of college students, and in a moment of stinging clarity, McAvoy goes off on a tangent that points out the utter ridiculousness of many modern-day news tropes and political tribalism, which sets the pace for the rest of the series — which, from there, focuses on the inner workings of a news outlet. Munn plays the role of Sloan Sabbith, an incredibly intelligent economist with extensive knowledge about her subject and two doctorates to prove it. However, Sloan is underestimated due to her awkward social demeanor, and she tends to be inept at dealing with personal situations.
In an interview with Reuters, Munn spoke about some of the issues she faced while portraying the character. She said, "I speak very fast normally. My Asian mother is always telling me to slow down. The biggest challenge is doing justice to Sorkin's dialogue. It has a melody to it, and Sloan has a different cadence than I do. The challenge is learning the character so well that it becomes second nature."
Munn donned an iconic costume and weapon in X-Men: Apocalypse
One of Olivia Munn's most remembered turns was when she took on a Marvel role in 2016's "X-Men: Apocalypse." The major villain of this installment of the "X-Men" franchise is the famous tyrant En Sabah Nur, aka Apocalypse (Oscar Isaac, in an on-set experience he described as nightmarish) an ancient Egyptian mutant with devastating powers. Munn plays the character of Psylocke, a powerful martial artist with a psionic blade and immediately recognizable costume. Although Psylocke aids Apocalypse in his endeavors to reshape the world, even becoming one of his Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, she eventually escapes the ramifications of his defeat at the hands of X-Men and Jean Grey (Sophie Turner).
Psylocke was, at that point, one of the most iconic X-Men characters who had not yet appeared on film, and Munn clearly brought a lot of passion and dedication to her role — which left her disappointed with the final film, particularly since Psylocke's role was far smaller than fans had expected. During a question and answer with GQ, Munn expressed some of her issues with the director and writer of "X-Men: Apocalypse" by saying, "When I was doing 'X-Men,' I was actually surprised that the director and the writer didn't even know that Psylocke had a twin brother. And I had to talk to them about a lot of different things about Psylocke and some other parts of the world that they didn't even know, and that, as a fan, was very frustrating."
Munn faced off against aliens in The Predator
Of course, having spent time in roles that have seen her as a relationship guru, an adroit economist, and a mutant ninja, it makes perfect sense as to why Olivia Munn popped up in 2018's "The Predator" as scientist Casey Brackett. Directed by Shake Black, "The Predator" is about the titular aliens attempting to use human DNA in order to improve themselves, while at the same time, the government attempts to understand as much as possible about not only the aliens, but their technology. Brackett proves very important to these efforts.
Speaking with Impulse Gamer, Munn said that she originally turned down the role in "The Predator" because she assumed she was just going to be a love interest, but she clarified, "They asked me to take a meeting with Shane and I expressed that pretty bluntly to him. He said this is not that. He said the female lead is a scientist and very much part of this fight. These guys battling the Predator with brute and guns and need you just as much as you need them. You bring the science part to it. I was like, okay!"
Munn helped investigate superpowers in The Rook
2019 saw Olivia Munn travel across the pond that is the Atlantic Ocean to join the cast of the Starz series "The Rook." This show opens up with a character named Myfanwy Thomas (Emma Greenwell) surrounded by dead bodies and suffering from a rather intense case of amnesia. It is later revealed that she actually has superpowers and is from a clandestine government agency called the "Checguy," and she has the designation of a "Rook," which is taken from the chess piece of the same name.
Munn is Agent Monica Reed in "The Rook," and hails from the American version of the Checguy. She also possesses incredible strength. Munn appeared in all eight episodes of the series, and as reported by Decider, Munn said that she felt personally drawn to her character. "I saw her as just a classic fish out of water, but a fish out of water who has learned how to breathe on land," Munn explained. She is the only American in the story, and she's very different from the rest of them."