Shannen Doherty never gave up the fight — and she didn’t want Olivia Munn to either!
Aside from being actresses, the women connected on a deep level after they were both diagnosed with cancer. As Perezcious readers know, the Beverly Hills, 90210 star dealt with cancer several times over the years. Her final diagnosis with breast cancer came in 2019, and it metastasized to her bones and brain. She sadly passed away in 2024.
Olivia, on the other hand, announced she was diagnosed with Luminal B breast cancer in April 2023 and spent several years getting five surgeries during treatment, including a double mastectomy. They both faced their own unique and difficult health battles! And for Olivia, Shannen played a big role in her journey.
Related: Dolly Parton Shares Health Update Months After Revealing Medical Concerns!
At the Los Angeles Magazine’s The L.A. Woman Luncheon on Friday, where the 45-year-old was honored as the Woman of The Year, the actress shared the best advice she got from Shannen, revealing, per Page Six:
“She said to me having gone through this … she said just be so aggressive.”
Having faced cancer several times, the Charmed lead knew what she was talking about!
Understanding how lucky she is to have had the “opportunity to fight” when many women don’t, John Mulaney‘s wife expressed:
“I don’t look at cancer like, ‘I can’t believe I went through this, it’s really unfair.’ There’s no place in my mind and my energy to think about how things are unfair. I just think thank God I’m one of the lucky ones.”
After detailing her own cancer journey, she said:
“I used to be really tough and I felt like any fight that came my way I would take it. I would not shy away from confrontation. … What I realized since having cancer is that, I have this armor on. I think a lot of women, we need to protect ourselves with this big heavy armor and I looked at this mountain that I had to climb and I was like, I cannot climb a mountain this high holding all this extra weight, so I had to drop it.”
She continued:
“I’m so much stronger the more vulnerable I am and I’m able to carry that with me every day. … We really don’t know our courage and bravery until it’s put to test and now I know that I have it in me. I know I can take on anything.”
What a powerful lesson learned through this difficult battle.
Olivia is now working with Senator Mark Kelly to get legislation passed to make the Tyrer-Cuzick breast cancer risk assessment test, which calculates a woman’s 5-year and lifetime risk of developing the disease, part of standard care for women. It’s the very test that ultimately led to her own diagnosis after other methods of assessment failed to show any signs of cancer. She urged:
“I don’t feel that it’s fair for women to always have to know about the things they need to ask their doctors to do.”
A woman on a very important mission! Shannen would be SO proud! How special to hear more insight about their friendship and the advice Shannen had for the younger star.
Thoughts? Let us know (below).
[Image via Olivia Munn/Instagram & MEGA/WENN]
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