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[title]Not familiar with Olivia Munn? Take note: She's "part Chinese, part Vietnamese, part Air Force brat and all geek, all the time," according to her new autobiographical book, Suck It, Wonder Woman. As host of Attack of the Show on the G4 network, the 29-year-old ex-model has spent four years chatting about viral videos, breaking gamer news and, on one notable occasion, giving an iPhone a tongue bath. She's even been known to dress up like Sailor Moon and dance with a robot to get a laugh. This spring, Munn joined The Daily Show's roster of faux correspondents, bringing her goofy sarcasm to an audience beyond the Comic Con faithful. She also stars in the upcoming sitcom Perfect Couples, slated to premiere midseason on NBC. Has she ever considered keeping it to, say, two or three careers at a time? "Shut your mouth. Blasphemy," says Munn, before telling us about Jon Stewart's hiring practices and what pirates have to do with Playboy.
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Are you worried about getting an angry call from Lynda Carter for calling your book Suck It, Wonder Woman?
I'm hoping to get a call from Lynda Carter! Actually, all my books are going to be titled Suck It, Blank, for whoever I want to meet.
Like Suck It, Hillary Clinton?
Yeah, it'd be like, Suck It, Michael J. Fox! Suck It, Obama and Michelle—she likes me to call her Michelle. Suck It, Meryl Streep, we should be best friends and braid hair!
Speaking of new friends, you ended up as a senior Asian correspondent on The Daily Show without even being a junior one first. Is there title inflation over there?
Basically, all the extracurricular stuff I did in high school paid off. I don't want to brag, but I do believe I am the first person to go straight to senior Asian correspondent. Jon [Stewart] brought me in and said, "Do you like sweet and sour sauce?" I said yes. "Are you a fan of Rod Stewart?" Yes. "Do you yell when you talk?" Yes.
Who would've guessed that's the right answer to the Rod Stewart question.
My family loves all white-people stuff. Rod Stewart is kind of the epitome of white stuff.
And that's what constitutes an interview at The Daily Show?
Uh, yeah. Your tone of voice implies there's something wrong, something not professional about that. I am offended.
At least there's no casting couch.
Look, this isn't 1992 anymore. Now we just racially profile.
What does your mom think of your status as a sex symbol?
My mom, she's so excited about everything. "Oh man, you number eight, number eight in Maxim!" It's what the Asians do, we claim it.
On that Maxim Hot 100 list, you were ranked in the 90s for a couple years, and then you suddenly became number eight this year—did you get a lot hotter or did the rest of the world get a lot less hot?
I have no idea how that stuff works. I did this morning talk show in L.A., and they started off saying, "Maxim's Hot 100—how does it feel to be reduced to a number?" I'm giving answers like, "Oh, it's great, because that way I know exactly how much better I am at life than you."
You're one of the few people to appear on the cover of Playboy and not pose naked for the magazine. That's like being the only person to go to Disneyland and not ride the Pirates of the Caribbean.
Well, yeah. But when I got to the shoot, I'm like, "I don't want to ride Pirates of the Caribbean," and they say, "That's cool, we'll do all the other rides!" I'm like, "Seriously, guys, I'm going to sign a contract that says that I don't like pirates." But then you get sleazy people at the shoot who are not from the magazine—they're like, "Hey, Olivia, want to come see my pirates?" And I'm like, "No! I don't want to see your pirates!"
I think I've seen this after-school special. We're still talking about nudity, right?
I had thought, I'm going to go to Disneyland and there's going to be no pirates, and it's going to be awesome! I'm going to go on the Peter Pan ride and eat churros and it's going to be dope! Then I get there and it's Pirate Day.
But you made it out unscathed.
Ish. Emotionally scarred, but my vagina was safe.
You win some, you lose some.
Yeah, right. I lost my integrity, but I kept my vagina.
Suck It, Wonder Woman: The Misadventures of a Hollywood Geek will be released Tue 6. Munn will sign books at Borders Columbus Circle Wed 7 at 7:30pm.
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Read our review of Suck It, Wonder Woman: The Misadventures of a Hollywood Geek here
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