Olivia Munn was diagnosed with breast cancer one year ago and underwent a double mastectomy.
Following three surgeries and reconstruction, the 43-year-old actress told People magazine that she’s learning to accept the “battle wounds” she sees every time she looks in the mirror.
When Munn stepped onto the red carpet for the Vanity Fair Oscars party in March, she had not yet revealed her diagnosis or recovery process.
OLIVIA MUNN SHARES SURPRISING TOOL THAT LED TO BREAST CANCER DIAGNOSIS DESPITE DOING ‘ALL THE TESTS’
Olivia Munn grew out her hair and used makeup techniques to disguise scars from cancer surgery. (Getty Images)
“I have some divots and dents on one side of my body near where the lymph nodes were, and they had to really dig out,” Munn said. “And I’ve been wearing some dresses on the red carpet that made me a little stressed out at times.”
Munn admitted that her makeup artist, Diane Buzzetta, “learned how to do tattoo-type makeup” prior to the Oscars party which she attended with John Mulaney. The couple have a two-year-old son named Malcolm.
Another technique that helped Munn conceal her scars? Growing out her hair.
OLIVIA MUNN DIAGNOSED WITH BREAST CANCER
“Sometimes I look in the mirror and I think, ‘Oh, my hair is so long now, and it’s because of this,’” she said. “And sometimes it makes me a little sad that I still want to hide certain aspects. But then I remind myself that those are battle wounds and I can show them what I want, and I can hide them when I want.”
Olivia Munn kept her breast cancer battle a secret from the public while walking Oscars red carpet in March with her partner, John Mulaney. (Getty Images)
“The Newsroom” star added, “I don’t beat myself up for anything I’m feeling on any given day, I just let myself feel it. There’s a really nice peace that comes with that.”
Despite facing new challenges when it comes to embracing a changing body, she’s still grateful she “got the opportunity to fight” and is “really happy with whatever it is I look like now.”
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“It’s different once you actually do the reconstruction, and it’s much better, but it’s not the same,” she said. “And that’s okay because I’m here, and I’m extremely happy that I had the option to have a double mastectomy.
“I’m extremely happy that I got the opportunity to fight. I was given that chance, and I know a lot of people in my situation don’t have that opportunity and don’t have that as an option.”
She changed into a white strapless Fendi dress for the Vanity Fair Oscars party. (Getty Images)
She’ll soon begin filming the AppleTV+ show “Your Friends and Neighbors” with Jon Hamm, and said she’s returning to work as a “different version” of herself following her cancer battle.
“I’m much more forgiving of myself,” she said. “And it’s really fun to go back to work without all of the doubt in your head … when you’re acting, you really need to be able to really be in the moment.”
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Munn added, “I think I was always able to do it, but it was harder to do because you really have to quiet all the outside noise. But I’m just a lot kinder to myself, which means every day is a lot easier to take on and manage.”
Olivia Munn revealed her cancer diagnosis last month, which she endured the year prior. (Instagram: Olivia Munn)
The “X-Men” actress revealed her diagnosis earlier this year, and explained in an Instagram post that she received an MRI after her doctor found her Breast Cancer Risk Assessment Score to be 37%. The MRI found Luminal B cancer, “an aggressive, fast moving cancer,” in both breasts.
“In February of 2023, in an effort to be proactive about my health, I took a genetic test that checks you for 90 different cancer genes,” Munn wrote. “I tested negative for all, including BRCA (the most well-known breast cancer gene). My sister Sara had just tested negative as well. We called each other and high-fived over the phone. That same winter I also had a normal mammogram.
“Two months later I was diagnosed with breast cancer.”
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