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"I read the comments... That began my trichotillomania," Munn recalled.
Olivia Munn is getting real about a personal struggle that's impacted her for over a decade.
Munn appeared on Monday's episode of Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard, where she revisited her battle with trichotillomania -- a compulsive hair-pulling disorder. And according to Munn, it all traces back to one moment during her short-lived romance with Star Trek star Chris Pine.
"There's a sensation. It's probably not even real," Munn shared on the podcast. "But I'll feel like, 'Oh, this eyelash feels like it's gonna come out,' even though it's not. And then when you pull it, there's a quick second of pain. And then there's a satisfaction… and then immediate regret."
Defined by the Mayo Clinic as a mental health disorder involving "repeated, irresistible urges to pull out hair from your scalp, eyebrows or other areas of your body."
Trichotillomania showed up in Munn's life in the form of eyelash pulling. The actress, who first went public with her diagnosis back in 2012, says the behavior started more than ten years ago, around the time she was dating Pine.
"So there was a paparazzi shot of he and I, and it was the first time I was in the tabloids," she recalled of that time during her romance with Pine, which ran from late 2009 into early 2010.
The photos showed Munn leaving Pine's house in a quirky vintage blue prom dress, one she said borrowed straight from The Daily Show's wardrobe department.
"I asked for the ugliest dress they had," Munn joked. "They found this blue old prom dress with big pom-poms on the side. I thought, 'Let's see if I can make it onto the worst best-dressed list.' And then I did! I couldn't believe it worked."
Though she's able to laugh about the outfit now, the backlash at the time left a lasting mark.
"I read the comments. And they were like, 'I think she set this up. Who's carrying a clutch during the day?'" Munn shared. "That began my trichotillomania."
While Munn didn't get into detail about how she's currently managing the disorder, she did share that there's no bad blood between her and Pine. In fact, they recently bumped into each other at the SNL 50th anniversary celebration.
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View Story"He is amazing," she said. "We were in the airport lounge together afterward, and it was so great to catch up. He's just the best."
Munn has since shifted her focus to motherhood, raising two children with comedian husband John Mulaney: 3-year-old son Malcolm and 9-month-old daughter Méi, and balancing her career. As for Pine, the longtime Hollywood heartthrob was last linked to actress Annabelle Wallis before their reported split in 2022, but his current relationship status is unknown.
