Two Years After Her Cancer Diagnosis, Olivia Munn Is “Recalibrating” Her Priorities

“I’m going to say something controversial right out the gate,” says Olivia Munn. “As soon as Halloween is over, my tree goes up.” The actor, 45, is Zooming in from Chicago, where she’s currently holed up with her husband, comedian John Mulaney, and their two kids. And she’s very excited to explain—really, defend—her stance on breaking out the holiday decor so early. “It’s festive and makes everything so much more fun,” she tells L’OFFICIEL. “This way, it’s up for the whole holiday season, but instead of keeping it up into February as I did last year, I can respectfully take it down after New Year’s.” 

Between her family life and her successful career—boosted by a critically-acclaimed turn as Sam Levitt, the complex and desperate queen of suburbia, opposite Jon Hamm in AppleTV+’s Your Friends & Neighbors last spring—Munn has plenty to be grateful for as 2025 comes to an end. She has, after all, had a life-changing couple of years: In April 2023, two years after welcoming her first child, son Malcolm Hiệp, she was diagnosed with aggressive stage one breast cancer. As she underwent a series of surgeries including a double mastectomy, hysterectomy, and ovariectomy, Munn kept her medical ordeal quiet. But in March 2024, she shared her reality with the public, opening up about her ongoing treatment and becoming a tireless advocate for early detection. Her hope is that others will calculate their own Breast Cancer Risk Assessment Score, a test that first saved her life, and would go on to save the life of her mother, Kim, who was also diagnosed this past July. “I’ve had to tackle two sides of the cancer coin in the span of just two years,” says Munn. “It was dizzying at some points.”

As far as her own healing journey goes, Munn is making strides. After four-plus years of skipping her usual workouts due to pregnancy, postpartum anxiety, and cancer treatment, she’s made her triumphant return to the gym. And she’s marking the milestone by starring in Athleta’s “Celebrate the Wins” Holiday 2025 campaign, the core message of which resonates with Munn now more than ever. “When I think about where I am in my life now—as a mother, a wife, and an actor who’s worked really hard to have a career for the last 20-something years—I think about all the times that I didn’t sit with the wins,” she says. “I was always trying to achieve the next goal. Looking back now, I know how important it is to sit in those smaller moments of joy. Because when you only celebrate the really big wins, you fail to see all the tiny wins throughout the day—I know I did.” 

For Munn, it’s the little things that matter most now. “Just last night, my husband and I were putting our [1-year-old] daughter, [Méi June] to bed, and she grabbed her little dolls and gave them a kiss goodnight, which is something she’s never done before,” she says. “[John and I] just looked at each other—we were trying not to scream, and to just act cool and normal—but that is such a win for us as parents, because we have mirrored that [behavior] to her in the way we kiss her and her brother goodnight. It’s all about those little wins. And that’s something that, yesterday, I never would have known would happen.” 

Munn has an expression for such unexpectedly pivotal events, both good and bad. “I came up with it years ago, when my grandmother passed away in the middle of the week,” she says. “It was a really sunny and beautiful summer day—the kind where you wake up and think nothing could go wrong. Ever since then, I’ve said, Life happens on a Tuesday. Because it’s not the big celebrations like the Christmases or the birthdays or the New Years that you remember. The biggest moments happen out of nowhere, like the day I found out I was pregnant with my son. There was no way I could have predicted how that day would become a marker in my life.” 

These days, she’s “actually seeing every moment, feeling it, and remembering it.” So far, the approach is working. “It fills my heart up so much more when, instead of looking too far down the road at the next goal, I’m able to just be present,” she says. Ahead, read our full interview with Munn about the highs and lows of her year, her approach to the holidays, and her plans to prioritize herself—and her health—in 2026.

L’OFFICIEL: What’s your approach to the holidays and, of course, holiday shopping? 

OLIVIA MUNN: That is the question of the year for me, every year. I’ve always been forgetful when it comes to holiday and birthday shopping—especially since becoming a mom. It’s like, the dates come up on me so fast. I have friends who are sending me their Christmas cards already and everyone has gifts, and I’m like, Oh my gosh, people are really prepared. I’m so impressed. But this year, I am determined—and I’m really trying to organize my brain. I got family stationery so that we can write holiday cards together, and I’ve got a list of lots of different people who I want to give gifts to, people who are going to be here with us. 

L’O: How do you decide what to get for your kids?

OM: I’m a theme shopper. For my children, I theme-dress them—which makes shopping really easy. My son’s theme is little old Japanese man. Instead of wondering, Would he like this?, I just think, Would a little old Japanese man wear it? If it’s a yes, then I get it. And then for my daughter, her theme is Anne of Green Gables. So I think, If Anne of Green Gables was around, would she wear this? 

L’O: Do you have a theme when it comes to gift-shopping for adults, too?

OM: For the holidays, my whole theme has been cozy, comfortable, warm, and snuggly. That’s my focus, and having this partnership with Athleta made everything so much easier. My one girlfriend works from home, works out a ton, and loves to layer, so I’m gifting her some joggers and bralettes from the Tranquil Waffle collection. A few people in my life—the ones who are hard to shop for—are getting the All About Sherpa Mini Crescent Bag, because I know it’s an easy and cute bag that anyone can throw on and love. Everyone is going to be getting the Cloud Scrunch Socks, because you can never go wrong with cozy socks; I’m actually wearing them right now. And then a few of my mom friends are getting the In the Clouds Jacket, which is like wrapping yourself in a big hug. You’re basically wearing a fashionable duvet out into the street. I wore it just now to take my son to school.

L’O: Ah, so you’re already in full winter mode then. 

OM: We’re in Chicago right now, and it’s gotten really old. I put my daughter in her carrier—I wear the ErgoBaby carrier. A lot of moms ask me which one I wear, and the Ergo one is my favorite. It has so much good back support; it goes around your waist and your back at the same time. And my little girl is 26 lbs. now, so I really need the best carrier. But then I zip this jacket right over it and around her, too. I definitely look like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, but it’s just the cutest thing, with her little face peeking out of the collar of my coat. 

L’O: Your daughter just turned one, and as 2025 comes to an end, are you thinking back on the past year a lot? What was the biggest challenge for you? 

OM: There were a few things. My mother was diagnosed with breast cancer after I was diagnosed; the free online tests that saved my life would then go on to save her life. And I’m incredibly proud of my mother and myself for the way that we both approached it. It’s incredibly scary when you get the diagnosis of breast cancer for yourself, and then for me, to have it flipped on its head where now it’s my mother… So I’m now in the caregiver position. But it really proved to both of us how strong we are and how brave we could be. And that’s a huge, huge win. Also having my second child, my daughter, this past year brought the challenge of, How do I show up for both my children at the same time? But I’m really proud of the work that we did to figure that out. Because, oh my gosh, having a toddler and a newborn is not for the faint of heart.

L’O: How did you navigate that?

OM: It’s wild. You have two little people who need you so much, and who have completely different needs. It’s like having to carry a tiny bird in your hand at all times, and then wrestle a coyote. It’s insane. My son and my daughter love each other so much, and we only had a two-week period of real stress with them—mostly because my husband was on Broadway [starring in the play All In: Comedy About Love], so he was gone all day long and we were in New York, with a new baby. So there was a little bit of friction there. But I got some really great advice from people about bringing home a new baby without changing the older child’s identity. The other thing was that we say, When you compare, they compete. We’re never comparing one to the other, so hopefully there isn’t competition between the two of them.  

L’O: Are there any personal wins on your highlight reel this year? 

OM: Getting back to working out has been a personal thing for me—a huge, huge leap—and that’s a big win. To be honest with you, I got pregnant [in 2021] and stopped working out three months into my pregnancy, because I just stayed home the whole time. After that, I was in a deep postpartum anxiety; after that, I was diagnosed with breast cancer; and then after that, I had post-cancer treatment. And now here we are. So, if you do the math, June 2021 is the last time I actually worked out. Now I get up and move my body every day, and I also do Zoom workouts with one of my friends every other day. And I meditate at least five days a week, too.

L’O: It sounds like you’re fully back into it.

OM: Yes, and one of the biggest things that got me started working out was this Athleta campaign—and it was only because they sent me such cute clothes. And I mean that with 100 percent sincerity. It’s really hard for me to want to work out when I don’t feel put together, you know? I feel sloppy. It felt hard to go to the store and pick things out, but when you order clothes online, nothing feels good or the fabric is too tight. I needed something to feel cute in—and I know that isn’t something a lot of people probably need to motivate themselves to work out [laughs], but I did. It makes me push through a workout, no matter how badly I’m doing. Even when I’m like, This sucks, at least I feel put together and chic when I look in the mirror.

L’O: What are you most looking forward to in 2026? 

OM: I really look forward to starting to put myself first in a lot of ways. I feel that being diagnosed with breast cancer became my full time job. I had to be here for my children, I had to be here for my husband, I had to be here for myself, my mother, my sister, everybody. So that meant that I had to put all the focus onto me. When I got to a place of stability with all of my surgeries and treatment, I put myself being a priority to the back of the line again. Because, again, I wanted to be present for my children, my husband, and my work. Recalibrating is important to me now; I know that I have to put myself at least in the top three of my priority list. I see myself, halfway through 2026, looking back and being like, Wow, I have been consistently showing up for myself for the last year, putting energy into taking care of myself and my body. And just feeling stronger, and healthier, and happier.