A cancer diagnosis is one of the most shocking things any person can receive, and in the days and months that follow, it’s hard not to think back over everything. When I received a breast cancer diagnosis two years ago, I kept thinking I would wake up and it was all just a bad dream. My brain was endlessly running through scenarios of how I could have caught it sooner; how I could have prevented it; how I could have possibly not known. It’s all part of the grieving process, and something that fellow cancer survivor Olivia Munn understands on a personal level. In a vulnerable new interview, she reflected on motherhood with son Malcolm, 3, who she shares with husband John Mulaney, before she went through breast cancer.
Munn, who was named one of Time’s Women of the Year, opened up about her cancer journey in an interview published today. After receiving a clear mammogram, Munn’s OB-GYN suggested she use the Tyrer-Cuzick Risk Assessment Calculator that gave Munn a 37% chance of developing breast cancer. Additional testing revealed she had a fast-growing cancer in both breasts in 2023. After a whirlwind of treatments, including a double mastectomy and surgery to remove her uterus, fallopian tubes, and ovaries, she is now living cancer-free.
Now, she’s reflecting on the before. “I look at videos of me laughing with my son, running around in the park, feeling and looking healthy—all the while having this really aggressive, fast-moving cancer spreading through my breasts,” she told TIME. Reading this makes me emotional, because I went through the same thing. I remember poring over videos of me with my kids (then just 5, 4, and 11 months) just a couple months before diagnosis, feeling like I was healthy and thriving. The cancer was moving through my breast, and I was completely clueless, which is hard to even process.
Feeling this way, Munn knew she wanted to help other women to pay attention to their bodies and encourage them to get tested to catch cancer early. “I thought, ‘Man, there’s so many women out there just like me,’” Munn said. “They might have no idea. And it may be too late by the time they find out.”
The Hit-Monkey star, who welcomed baby Méi via surrogate in September, added that she pays attention to her body and stress levels now. “The first thing I ask myself is, ‘If this stress feeds any cancer that could possibly be in my body, would it be worth it?’” Munn said. “The answer is always no.”
In October, Munn shared a sweet photo of her daughter, writing, “This time last year I was recovering from my fourth surgery and now I’m hanging with my baby girl. 🥹💕”
“To everyone who is battling or has battled cancer, in whatever form, I send you all my love. 🤍🤍🤍” she added.
Before you go, check out what these celebrity parents had to say about their privacy-free life with kids.
