Olivia Munn: She wanted to give up acting

Olivia Munn (44) inspires in the Apple TV+series “Your Friends & Neighbors” alongside Jon Hamm (54). However, she almost didn’t accept the role. She had made the “fixed decision” to stop acting in order to concentrate on her health and family,

The wife of comedian John Mulaney (42) has had a difficult time. After the birth of son Malcolm 2021, Munich developed an anxiety disorder, in 2023 she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Several operations, including a double mastectomy, and further treatments followed. In September 2024, Mulaney and Munn were able to look forward to the birth of their second child. Her daughter Méi was born by a surrogate mother.

“I love acting, but John loves the performances more,” explains Olivia Munn in the “People” magazine. “Nothing that I had worked on in the past five or six years was worth it that I took time for my family,” said the 44-year-old. For the first time, she thought about switching behind the camera, “not that it would not be hard work, but put me in front of the camera, felt much more vulnerable”.

The script and the team of “Your Friends & Neighbors” finally changed their opinion: “That was exactly what I needed to motivate myself,” she says. “When I said John that I was accepting it, he was just happy. I had another operation in front of me, and at that time we knew that Méi was on the way. I just felt ready to let go of the fears and worries I had.”

And she is also happy privately. It was “so crazy” that two years after her cancer diagnosis, she was “two wonderful babies,” said Munn. “I’m just so happy and grateful, and I’m really proud of what I could do. I didn’t know how much strength I had in me.”