It truly is a small, small world, and James Marsden and Olivia Munn are just another set of celebrities that prove it. It was announced that the Paradise actor will be joining Season 2 of Munn’s Apple TV+ show, Your Friends And Neighbors, which is currently releasing its first season on the 2025 TV schedule. However, the upcoming production of Season 2 won’t be the first introduction for the seasoned actors, and the story of how they reconnected later in life is so cute.
One might assume these two Hollywood vets first met on a shared film set, but they actually are from the same hometown in Oklahoma. Marsden revealed to People that he actually met the Predator actress before she was booking gigs, and only shortly after he had found some success himself:
About four or five years after I moved to L.A., I found some success. I was on a TV show. And I was kind of known around town back home as someone who had moved to LA and, you know, made it or whatever. So, I went back home to see my sister, and she was like, ‘You mind coming to dinner with me and some of my girlfriends from school?’ I was like, ‘Yeah, sure, sure, sure,’ you know, you go and take some pictures or whatever. Olivia [Munn] was one of those girls.
Every time a celebrity reveals they knew another celebrity before they got famous, an angel gets its wings. Never forget high school sweethearts Jack Antonoff and Scarlett Johansson, who took it one step further and were each other’s prom dates in high school.
I mean, what are the chances that Munn happened to be besties with Marsden’s sister? They attended the same high school, but were not there at the same time, as the Enchanted actor is seven years older than his future co-star. Even growing up in the same town, they might still have never met. The story could have ended there. Marsden’s success could have fizzled after Party of Five, and Munn could have never made it to Hollywood.
Clearly, that didn’t happen, and thank goodness for that. They both are way too talented and attractive not to be famous actors, in my opinion. After both individually finding fame in Hollywood, the Best of Me actor says the two reconnected, and I can’t get over the New Girl actress’ sweet reaction to seeing him again:
Olivia ran up to me at a GQ party in LA years later, and she said, ‘I’m friends with Jenny, your sister, we went to Applebee’s back in the day!’ And I was like, ‘Wait, what, I would have remembered you!’ It’s just so funny. And now we’re doing this show together, it’s crazy.
I’m sure when they had dinner at Applebee’s all those years ago, neither one of them could have predicted the X-Men: Apocalypse actress would be one half of a celebrity couple, married with two kids to comic John Mulaney. Or that Marsden would be Golden Globe-nominated for a reality sitcom about jury duty. Yet that’s where these two stand as they head into filming their first official project together.
Even though Apple TV+ subscription holders are still awaiting new episodes of Your Friends And Neighbors Season 1, Season 2 has already been renewed, with pre-production in full swing. Hopefully, this means we will meet Marsden’s character later this year on the popular streaming service. It’s rare for a TV show to be picked up for a second season this quickly. In addition to the A-list cast, it’s only further evidence to show this Jon Hamm-led crime dramedy is set to become one of the best shows on Apple TV+.
So, I couldn’t be happier that these two actors from the same hometown are reuniting on such a successful project! Season 2 can’t come fast enough.
