"It was brutal": Olivia Munn looks at her life following the birth of her son

Actress Olivia Munn has been open about her experience with postpartum depression, saying that it was more challenging than fighting breast cancer. Munn, who gave birth to her son Malcolm in 2021 alongside comedian John Mulaney, revealed that the first few months of motherhood were a lonely and overwhelming time for her mental health.

Hormonal shift
Olivia, 44, discussed how the sudden end of breastfeeding caused a severe emotional and physical collapse in a cover story that appeared in Self magazine. “When you stop breastfeeding immediately, your hormones drop, and postpartum can come in like a tornado,” she explained. She also admitted that she did not speak to anyone about what she was going through at the time.

Physical pain and support

Describing her pain as “physical,” Munn shared how heavily she depended on Mulaney for even simple movements. “It felt like I had sprained my knee,” she recalled. “I was operating normally, but I was feeling very depressed.” The emotional distress worsened when she struggled to lose the baby weight and her clothes no longer fit. “It kicked into high gear when I hadn’t lost the baby weight, and nothing was fitting,” she said.

Social media pressure

Munn also spoke about the pressure she felt after seeing other new mothers on social media appearing to bounce back effortlessly. “I would see people on social media, people I knew had babies around the same time. I reached out to some of them,” she said. “And I’m like, ‘How are you in these Valentino shorts and this crop top just running around LA and having the energy to take all these beautiful pictures?’” She added, “I didn’t have the ability to fake anything they were faking.”

She thought about taking medicine at one point to control her anxiety and depression. She talked to Mulaney and her therapist about this, but she clarified that she had reached a point where she felt helpless. “I truly would have taken [medication], but by the time I was talking about it, I was so far gone that even if you put a pill in my hand, I wouldn’t have taken it,” she said. “When the depression or the anxiety takes over you so much, it’s almost like you won’t take the things that will help you.”

Challenges with breastfeeding

She also reflected on the anxiety caused by her inability to produce breast milk. “And I could not make any breast milk. I think [that] kicked off the anxiety,” Munn said. “I saw—I’m telling you—three lactation coaches. I did the vitamins, the water, the heating…. It would take me all day long to fill up just one bottle.”

In March 2024, Olivia publicly revealed her diagnosis of breast cancer. A double mastectomy, reconstructive surgery, oophorectomy, and partial hysterectomy were among the medical procedures she went through. Munn and Mulaney welcomed their second child, daughter Méi, via surrogate on September 14, 2024, despite having already finished three rounds of egg retrieval. She shared her sorrow as well as her happiness at the birth of her daughter. “It was devastating for me not to be able to carry [Méi]. I loved carrying my son,” she said. Still, she emphasized how challenging her postpartum experience with Malcolm had been. “It was brutal,” she said.