Olivia Munn.
Credit: Reuters Photo
Los Angeles: Hollywood star Olivia Munn has revealed that she was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent a double mastectomy.
Munn, best known for playing the flamboyant journalist Sloan Sabbith in Aaron Sorkin's HBO series The Newsroom, shared the news with her followers on Instagram, along with a series of photos from a hospital.
The 43-year-old actor said she took a genetic test that checks for 90 different cancer genes in February 2023.
"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," she wrote.
Munn, who has also featured in movies such as Magic Mike, X-Men: Apocalypse and The Predator, said she underwent four surgeries in 10 months, including a double mastectomy performed 30 days after her biopsy.
"Surprisingly, I've only cried twice. I guess I haven't felt like there was time to cry. My focus narrowed and I tabled any emotions that I felt would interfere with my ability to stay clearheaded."
"I've kept the diagnosis and the worry and the recovery and the pain medicine and the paper gowns private. I needed to catch my breath and get through some of the hardest parts before sharing," she said.
Munn said she is 'lucky' because her cancer was caught early enough for her to have options. 'I want the same for any woman who might face this one day,' she added.
The actor thanked her doctors, friends and family for their support, including her partner John Mulaney with whom she shares a two-year-old son, Malcolm.
"I'm so thankful to John for the nights he spent researching what every operation and medication meant and what side effects and recovery I could expect. 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."
"Thank you to the friends who've had breast cancer and the friends who connected me to friends who've had breast cancer for guiding me through some of my most uncertain moments," Munn said.