Olivia Munn is answering fans’ burning questions about her breast cancer journey.

The 46-year-old actress just launched a new social media series (using Instagram’s newest feature, “Series”) to share the unfiltered details of her diagnosis and recovery. In her first video, she captured the bittersweet feeling of finding support through illness: “Welcome to the worst club with the best members.”

How a Routine Risk Assessment Saved Her Life

Munn announced her diagnosis in March 2024 via an Instagram post after doctors found an aggressive, fast-moving form of cancer known as Luminal B. According to the Cleveland Clinic, Luminal B breast cancer affects 15–20% of all breast cancer cases. 


Even though her initial mammograms and genetic tests showed no signs of illness, her OB-GYN calculated her breast cancer risk assessment score to evaluate her personal and family health history. Munn credited that decision with saving her life.

“She discovered that my lifetime risk was 37%,” Munn wrote. “Because of that score, I was sent to get an MRI, which led to an ultrasound, which led to a biopsy. The biopsy showed I had luminal B cancer in both breasts. Luminal B is an aggressive, fast-moving cancer.”

Thirty days later, Munn had a double mastectomy to remove both breasts.

“I’m lucky,” she wrote. “We caught it with enough time that I had options. I want the same for any woman who might have to face this one day. Ask your doctor to calculate your breast cancer risk assessment score.”

Finding Hope in the ‘Sisterhood’

In those scary early days before going public, Munn said she felt lost. Seeing other women share their personal health battles online gave her a reason to keep going.

Now she wants to pass that same support forward. She joked that she waited to film her first video until she didn’t look exhausted. She then talked about the amazing group of women she met during treatment.

“The sisterhood I’ve found of women who have battled/are currently battling the same fight are the most incredible, generous, supportive people I’ve ever met,” she wrote in the caption.

The Road to Recovery

While Munn shared that she’s currently doing “really good,” she was quick to admit that recovery isn’t a straight line. Some days feel great, while others are still a real struggle.

“Most people who are going through any type of cancer can tell you that every day is different,” she explained in her video. “And sometimes you feel like you’re really on an upswing, and then there are other times when you’re like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is so difficult. How is this still so hard?’”

A huge part of that struggle was dealing with the sudden onset of medically induced menopause. Luminal B cancer depends on estrogen to grow, so Munn had a big decision to make: take heavy hormone-suppressing drugs for years or have her uterus, fallopian tubes, and ovaries surgically removed. She chose the full hysterectomy. 

The “medications are very difficult. It’s the stuff we have to do after the big hurdles that are kind of like, there’s big hurdles, and there’s long hurdles, and I’m in the long hurdle right now,” she continued. 

On top of managing her health, Munn is also balancing life as a working mom. She shares four-year-old Malcolm and nearly two-year-old Méi with her partner, John Mulaney, calling her kids “the best things in the whole world.” 

Keeping up with two toddlers while recovering is a “balancing act,” but she hopes talking through these messy, post-surgery details helps other families feel less alone.





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