Olivia Munn will try anything to get her 3-year-old son to stop throwing a temper tantrum — including creating an insane travel schedule.
Munn, 44, joked that she and husband John Mulaney are “under the ruling of an emperor” named Malcolm when discussing her role as a mom during the Tuesday, June 17, episode of the “Not Skinny But Not Fat” podcast.
“Here’s the problem,” she continued. “John spends a lot of time with Malcolm. We both do, but there’s this special bond that they have. When John started going to Broadway, the first two weeks were just rehearsals all the time and then previews and all that. I think it was hard for Malcolm to not have as much time with his dad. Even if it’s just for two weeks, it was too much.”
Then, Munn started filming the second season of her show, Your Friends & Neighbors, and took the kids with her. Mulaney was filming his Netflix live show “once a week for three months” at the same time. (Munn and Mulaney, who married in July 2024, are also the parents to 9-month-old daughter, Méi.)
“John would come in and out. Malcolm would just be throwing so many tantrums when John was gone, and it was all directed at me,” she continued. “Then, when John would come back, the first two days it would be Malcolm still throwing the biggest fits. After the second day, I think he realized, like, ‘Oh, dad’s here.’ Then he felt calm.”
Munn realized that “for some reason” Malcolm had to see Mulaney “every single day,” so to keep the tantrums at bay she adjusted her travel schedule to accommodate her son’s needs.
“I love that for both of them. So, I’m going to be the one flying in and out from New York. So, I’ll fly in and work for two days and then fly home and be there for like a day and a half then fly back,” she recalled. “I’m telling you — it was exhausting by the end.”
Munn recalled reaching out to a friend while Malcolm was going through this “tantrum phase,” as well as the wild response she received.
“I called one of my friends who has three children around the same ages, and I said, ‘What am I supposed to do?’ I was on the verge of tears. She says, ‘Oh, we didn’t really have that problem.’ I was so mad,” Munn said. “She’s like, ‘None of my kids have really thrown tantrums.’ Like, what are you talking about?”
