Olivia Munn’s body is scarred with “divots and dents” after her breast cancer battle.
Olivia Munn’s body is scarred with ‘divots and dents’ after her breast cancer battle
The 43-year-old actress had been due to shoot a sci-fi film in Germany this time last year, but instead had to go under the knife for a double mastectomy after oncologists discovered she was suffering stage 1 invasive cancer in both her breasts.
She has now told People about being left with “battle wounds” from the gruelling operation: “I have some divots and dents on one side of my body near where the lymph nodes were, and they had to really dig out.
“And I’ve been wearing some dresses on the red carpet that made me a little stressed out at times.”
Olivia – who has son Malcolm, two, with her 41-year-old comedian partner John Mulaney – added her makeup artist Diane Buzzetta, “learned how to do tattoo-type makeup” ahead of appearances including this year’s Oscars, at which she wore a halter-style chrome gown.
She said about preparing for the ceremony: “We’re trying to really cheat where the dents are and how to make it really smooth and cover up everything, so that I could wear it.
“It’s not something I can do by myself, but knowing that there's that option for when I’m in front of the camera has made me feel a lot better about things.
“And then personally, the people in my life who see it don’t see them as imperfections. So, that’s a good feeling, too.”
Olivia also revealed she grew her hair to help conceal her surgery scars, adding: “Sometimes I look in the mirror and I think, ‘Oh, my hair is so long now and it’s because of (my cancer fight.)’
“And sometimes it makes me a little sad that I still want to hide certain aspects. But then I remind myself that those are battle wounds and I can show them what I want and I can hide them when I want.”
Olivia said about trying to take it easy on herself as she continues to recover from the trauma of her mastectomy: “I don’t beat myself up for anything I'm feeling on any given day, I just let myself feel it.
“There’s a really nice peace that comes with that.”
Tagged in Olivia Munn