James Marsden revealed that he met his Your Friends & Neighbors costar Olivia Munn years before they became household names, as they both went to the same high school
The actor exclusively tells PEOPLE that Munn was one of his sister Jenny’s close friends in high school, and they went to Applebee’s together once
He adds that he and costar Jon Hamm also have a connection — they’re members of the same Fantasy Football league
James Marsden, 51, and Olivia Munn, 44, may have just been cast as co-stars — but their shared history dates back before Hollywood.
The actors, who began filming season 2 of the Apple TV+ series Your Friends & Neighbors alongside Jon Hamm this month, have a sweet history from high school.
Related: James Marsden Is Proving He’s Not Just a ‘Snack,’ He’s a ‘Whole Meal’ In Heartthrob-Heavy Dunkin’ Campaign (Exclusive)
The two attended Putnam City North High School together in Oklahoma City, Okla. where Munn was “very good friends” with Marsden’s sister, Jenny. Marsden graduated in 1991, while Munn graduated years later in 1998.
In an exclusive interview tied to a new Summer 2025 campaign with Dunkin’, Marsden tells PEOPLE that the now-co-stars originally met during one of his visits back to Oklahoma after moving to Los Angeles to pursue acting full-time.
“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 and, you know, made it or whatever,” the Paradise star recalls. “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.”
Apple TV+
Olivia Munn and Amanda Peet in “Your Friends & Neighbors”
Flash forward years later, the two unexpectedly reunited at a Hollywood event
“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.”
Related: Olivia Munn Taps into Her Past Struggles for Your Friends and Neighbors Role: ‘I Was at the Bottom of the World’ (Exclusive)
Marsden also revealed that he and Hamm have a relationship outside of work — the two have actually been in the same Fantasy Football league for years.
20th Century Fox/Kobal/Shutterstock; 20th Century Fox.
James Marsden X-Men – The Last Stand; X-Men: Apocalypse Olivia Munn
Munn and Marsden are both part of the X-Men universe, though their characters never crossed paths in the same movie. Marsden starred as Scott Summers aka Cyclops in the original X-Men trilogy in 2000, 2003, and 2006 while Munn played the role of Psylocke in X-Men: Apocalypse in 2016.
The West World star will revive his role as Cyclops in the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday film, which is set to release May 2026, something the actor says has “been a long time talked about.”
Ian West/PA Images via Getty
James Marsden attending the Sonic the Hedgehog 3 photo call
“I’m gonna enjoy the good stuff while we’re firing on all cylinders, it’s been a lot of fun,” Marsden says. “It’s all good man, all good stuff.”
Read the original article on People
