NEED TO KNOW
- Olivia Munn shared that she felt “comforted” by comments from Kate Middleton about the phase after cancer treatment
- The actress, 45, admitted during a Nov. 19 appearance on Today that “I wasn’t able to put the words in myself”
- The princess had previously said, “The phase afterwards is really, really difficult”
Olivia Munn said recent comments from Kate Middleton about the royal’s own cancer journey helped articulate what the actress had been feeling following her treatment for breast cancer.
The Princess of Wales, 43, who shared that she was undergoing chemotherapy for an undisclosed type of cancer in March 2024, described life after treatment as a period where, “You put on a sort of brave face, stoicism through treatment, treatments done, then it’s like, ‘I can crack on, get back to normal,’ but actually the phase afterwards is really, really difficult.”
Olivia Munn shared her feelings about her breast cancer journey with Jenna Bush Hager on Nov. 19.
NBC
Those words echoed a sentiment Munn, 45, had been feeling, as she told host Jenna Bush Hager during a Nov. 19 appearance on Today. “It was so great to hear her say it because I wasn’t able to put the words in myself, and I’ve been talking so much about breast cancer,” she said. The first part is hard, but a lot of people don’t talk about how hard the second part is. I actually didn’t know how to articulate it, and then I heard her say recently that, ‘Oh, it’s hard, but this other part is really tough. The part after the surgeries and stuff like that.’ “
Munn continued: “It really made me feel so comforted that someone in her position was talking about it, because I needed to hear that. I needed someone to articulate that.”
As the royal had previously said, “You’re not necessarily under the clinical team any longer, but you’re not able to function normally at home as you perhaps once used to … You have to find your new normal and that takes time…and it’s a roller coaster, it’s not smooth, like you expect it to be. But the reality is you go through hard times.”
In January of this year, Princess Kate shared that she was in remission and resumed a fuller schedule of public duties.
John Mulaney and Olivia Munn on the day of her double mastectomy.
Olivia Munn/Instagram
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In 2024, Munn shared that she’d been diagnosed with bilateral breast cancer, which she wrote at the time was “very aggressive, fast-moving” and required the Your Friends & Neighbors star to undergo five surgeries, including a double mastectomy in May 2023, reconstruction, a lymph node dissection and a a hysterectomy with oophorectomy, where her uterus, fallopian tubes and ovaries were removed. Post-surgery, she and partner John Mulaney welcomed a second child via surrogate.
She’s since become a tireless advocate for those with breast cancer, raising awareness for the importance of early detection. In September, Munn was honored with the Excellence in Cancer Awareness Award at the 32nd Annual Action for Cancer Awareness Awards luncheon on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.
