Olivia Munn is sharing the darkest parts of her cancer journey, revealing how her husband John Mulaney helped her face the “possibility of death.”
“There’s no better person in the world to me than my husband,” Munn, 45, said during a Sunday, March 29, appearance on CBS News Sunday Morning. “He is — I mean, you’ve met him. He wanted to come to every single doctor’s appointment.”
The Newsroom star explained that when she was “faced with the possibility of death and not being here,” her husband would lighten the load — both physically and emotionally. (The pair, who said “I do” in July 2024, share two kids, Malcolm and Méi.)
“He’s got his notebook that he writes all of his ideas for jokes and anything that comes to him through the day,” she said. “You know, having the humor to go through it and having someone who is so funny, it really — it just lightens everything.”
In March 2024, Mulaney revealed she had been diagnosed with bilateral breast cancer.
“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 via Instagram at the time. “I tested negative for all, including BRCA (the most well-known cancer gene). My sister Sara [Potts] 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 after the negative results, Munn tested positive for cancer and subsequently underwent treatment.
“Surprisingly, I’ve only cried twice,” she added. “I guess I haven’t felt like there was time to cry. My focus narrows and I tabled any emotions that I felt would interfere with my ability to stay clearheaded.”
Munn’s treatment included numerous operations, including a double mastectomy, lymph node dissection, reconstructive surgery, a nipple delay procedure, an oophorectomy and a partial hysterectomy.
While she once considered quitting acting, in addition to the support of her husband Munn says getting back in front of the camera actually aided in her recovery.
“I was really nervous about doing any sex scenes because I have a lot of scars,” Munn told The Los Angeles Times in an April 2025 interview of her Your Friends & Neighbors character, Sam. “Scars that can be seen in clothing and scared that you wouldn’t know unless I was completely nude.”
With the help of an intimacy coordinator, Munn was able to get through the scenes with her costar, Jon Hamm.
“I did feel insecure, but each time I did it, I felt better,” she explained at the time. “I’m so grateful for my body because it got me through this.”
