Miranda McKeon on Cancer Hair Loss: ‘It Was Brutal’
Actress Miranda McKeon was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer at age 19, discovering the life-shaking news from a biopsy of a jelly-bean-size lump in her right breast just out of her freshman year of college.
As she was going through various forms of treatments, including eight rounds of chemotherapy and 25 sessions of radiation on top of three surgeries, one of which was a sensation-preserving double mastectomy, the looming inevitability of hair loss during it all took a toll.
That girl from Anne with an E once pictured herself only with long blonde hair. Yet, as treatment went on, that image faded further away. Losing it hurt deeply, turning each day into something raw and heavy. Kind words promising better days ahead barely made sense through the ache. A new haircut, nothing familiar, stung worse than expected.
Miranda McKeon: Hair Loss Hit Harder Than Mortality Fears
Back then, thoughts about dying weren’t on my mind,” she says to PEOPLE. Hair has always meant something personal, ever since childhood. As a small child, only I could touch it; anyone else reaching for the brush would send me into a panic. The idea of shedding it? That alone made my gut twist with dread.
Most folks aren’t aware that hair loss can feel downright awkward. McKeon brings this up while mentioning how fake hair, such as wigs or added strands, didn’t help much when she was exploring her feminine side.
Even though it didn’t make sense to her, McKeon felt the shift in her body like a quiet storm. What stood out most was how real it all was—no escaping it. During those years when everything shaped who she’d become, the transformation just kept moving forward.
Miranda, 19, Remembers Being Alone While Treating Cancer in College
That feeling stuck with them, they said in 2024 while speaking to others – wearing a wig back at USC made class feel miles away from belonging. Still, it wasn’t the hair causing distance; it was how silence built up around pretending.
From where she stands now, those days involved wrestling with confusion—figuring things out mid-stride, adjusting to life reshaped by change.
“[College] is the time in your life where you figure out how you want to present yourself to the world, how you want to show up,” she says, adding, “I felt like I was missing out on that precious time of…showing up in the world in the way that I wanted to.”
Before her last chemotherapy session, McKeon tried cold capping—a method meant to reduce hair loss by slowing blood supply to the scalp so less chemo reaches the hair roots, says the American Cancer Society. When it failed, she chose instead to cut every strand short, even though hesitation clung tight. Shaving came just days prior, a quiet step taken despite doubt.
She Found Strength in Shaving Her Head for Cancer
“I was resisting because I did not want to have a haircut, which is not my choice. That made me feel very suffocated, ” she first explains, and then adds, “I did not feel that was my identity or the way I would choose to present myself.” Still, once she admitted a buzz cut had to happen, I answered, “Alright, let’s do it now.” .
Shaving my head brought some calm, almost like stepping into something true. Then again, McKeon wrote online: beauty shows up not just in looks but how I speak, how I laugh, how I stay present for others – it lives in what I give without measuring. My physical beauty is the least interesting thing about me.”
Miranda Says Life Is ‘Beautiful’ Four Years After Cancer Treatment
Dark curls started to show, though she missed her usual straight blonde look. Still, every time she used bleach and heat, the fresh growth looked weaker. Then something shifted—healing from surgery had taught her to care differently. Out of healing grew a new way to care for her hair. First things first—wellness took priority, so some routines had to fade away.
Now based in New York, McKeon is 24 and has stayed clear of cancer since the start of 2022. With her energy? Totally back. She says she feels incredible
“That doesn’t mean that I don’t have anxiety [over her cancer reoccurring]…” she adds, noting that she also lives with the symptoms of induced menopause. “That said, at the time of active treatment, I did not think that my life could be as full and beautiful and confident and radiant. I didn’t think life could be this good, and it is.”
