Olivia Munn Reveals How She Hid Mastectomy Scars Amid Breast Cancer Battle
Olivia Munn opened up about how she hid her double mastectomy scars amid her battle with breast cancer.
“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, 43, said in an interview with People published on Saturday, April 20. “And I’ve been wearing some dresses on the red carpet that made me a little stressed out at times.”
Munn was diagnosed with breast cancer in April 2023 and had a double mastectomy a month later as the first of three surgeries. Though she eventually underwent a reconstruction surgery, Munn had to figure out ways to adapt as she recovered from her procedures.
According to the actress, her makeup artist Diane Buzzetta “learned how to do tattoo-type makeup” ahead of red carpet appearances, such as the 81st Academy Awards in March, which she attended with her partner, comedian John Mulaney, who was presenting at the ceremony. (The two share a son, Malcolm, 2). Munn stunned in a metallic Fendi Couture halter gown with Bucherer Fine Jewellery diamond earrings at the Oscars, just three days before she publicly announced her diagnosis.
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“We’re trying to really cheat where the dents are and how to make it really smooth and cover up everything so that I could wear it,” Munn said of her Oscars gown. “It’s not something I can do by myself, but knowing that there’s that option for when I’m in front of the camera has made me feel a lot better about things. And then personally, the people in my life who see it don’t see them as imperfections. So, that’s a good feeling, too.”
In addition to the makeup tricks, Munn grew out her hair to better hide her scars as well.
“Sometimes I look in the mirror and I think, ‘Oh, my hair is so long now and it’s because of this,’” she shared. “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.”
She 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.”
While it was a struggle to adapt to her new body, Munn went on to say she was “grateful” to have had the “opportunity to fight” her illness, adding she was “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.”
Munn revealed her diagnosis last month via Instagram, nearly one year after she first learned she had breast cancer. The actress explained that she kept her diagnosis private in order “to get through some of the hardest parts before sharing,” which included her double mastectomy. “I went from feeling completely fine one day, to waking up in a hospital bed after a 10-hour surgery the next,” she added.
At the time, she also thanked her family and friends for “loving me through this” and gave a special shout-out to Mulaney, 41.
“I’m so thankful for the nights he spent researching what every operation and medication meant and what side effects and recovery I could expect,” she wrote. “For being there before I went into each surgery and being there when I woke up, always placing framed photos of our little boy Malcolm so it would be the first thing I saw when I opened my eyes.”
