Olivia Munn Says Son Malcolm Changed John Mulaney’s Life (Exclusive)

While sitting down with PEOPLE on set of her cover shoot in Southern California in May, Olivia Munn recalls a piece of advice that’s stuck with her since she first became a mom three years ago: “The first child will look like whichever parent needed them the most.”

She found that to be exactly the case when she welcomed son Malcolm, 3, with now-husband John Mulaney in November 2021. Munn, 44, and the comedian, 42, had started dating earlier that year, amid Mulaney’s early sobriety following a stay in rehab for alcohol and cocaine addiction.

“I really had no idea what kind of a father he would be, what kind of a friend he would be to me … but the day Malcolm was born, John’s whole world just lit up,” Munn says. “And Malcolm looks just like John. He just changed his whole little life. Not to be too saccharine, but looking at John looking at Malcolm, I could see all that healing happening.”

After Malcolm’s arrival, “John put his health as a priority,” Munn says. “He started working out with trainers and eating really healthy. And gosh, I mean, the guy has protein powder in the house.”

“He talks about intermittent fasting, he’s got a sauna and a cold plunge,” she continues. “That little boy came into his life and just swept him off his feet. Now he’s doing everything he can to live the healthiest, best life.”

Along with looking alike, Mulaney and Malcolm share a “steep trap memory,” Munn says.

“John’s mom was talking about some birthday party that she went to for a friend years ago, and John was like, ‘Oh yeah, that was on a Wednesday in 1987,'” Munn says. “That kind of memory. Malcolm has it too. I was saying to John, ‘Because of his memory, we never know when we’re creating a core memory for him, so let’s just be thoughtful about how much time we’re away from him.'”

Munn adds that Mulaney — with whom she also shares daughter Méi, 8 months — “takes being a father so incredibly serious.”

“He knows how lucky he is to have these children in his life, and he know how lucky these children are to have him as their father,” she says. “He knows that he brings a lot to our family. He is my best friend, the most fun person and the person I want to vent to about everything, even if it’s about him. He’s just such a good human being, a good person.”

When the couple — who got married in July 2024 — welcomed Méi via surrogate last September, Munn says she got to experience a bit of what Mulaney experienced with Malcolm.

“She’s got this stick-straight hair that I had when I was baby,” she says. “I think because I wasn’t able to carry her, I really needed to see myself in her. I see myself in her so much.”

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Their appetites also match.

“The other day we were giving her pureed applesauce and sweet potatoes, and she pursed her lips because she saw us eating pancakes,” she says. “When I was a baby, if anybody was eating anything, I’d be calling out for it. Her favorite food is pad Thai, because she sees me eating and then she eats it. When I have those moments, I know what John was feeling when he saw Malcolm.”

Munn says they’re still deciding whether they want to pursue having another daughter. They have one remaining viable frozen female embryo from when she did IVF and an egg retrieval following her breast cancer diagnosis in April 2023.

“Two [kids] is a lot,” Munn says. “We’re still talking if we are done growing our family.”

For now, she’s proud of the life she’s built.

Two years out from her diagnosis, Munn — who went through a lymph node dissection, a nipple delay procedure, a double mastectomy, reconstructive surgery and a hysterectomy with oophorectomy as part of her treatment — says “it’s so crazy to think I’m sitting here with two amazing babies.”

“I’m just so happy and grateful, and I’m really proud of what I’ve been able to do,” she says. “I didn’t know how much strength I had inside me.”