HEALTHBusy Phillips Admits She Asked for a Temporal Brow Lift While Undergoing Brain Tumor Surgery
Busy Philipps asked her doctors for a cosmetic temporal brow lift during brain surgery, but they said they couldn't.
Oct. 16 2026, Published 9:17 a.m. ET
Busy Philipps had two questions for her doctors after learning she needed brain surgery, and one had nothing to do with her health.
"Can you give me a temporal brow lift at the same time?" the actress recalled asking during an October 14 appearance on Today with Jenna & Sheinelle.
Philipps Had a Major Concern After Her Diagnosis
Busy Philipps faced urgent brain tumor surgery just six weeks before she was set to start her dream filming job.
The Cougar Town alum was dealing with two life-changing developments at once. She had landed a role she had long wanted, but doctors also told her an operation was necessary.
"I had a brain tumor that had to come out of my head," Philipps explained when Jenna Bush Hager asked about the diagnosis. "It required surgery, and they weren't sure what was going on. They needed to get it out."
"I was like, 'Okay, two questions. First of all, I just got my dream job, and it starts filming in six weeks. How do we do this?'" recalled the 47-year-old.
Phillips then requested the brow lift.
She Thought the Brow Lift Should Have Been Possible
Doctors refused Busy Philipps' request, though she joked it felt rude since she had to undergo brain surgery anyway.
Philipps did not get the answer she wanted when she asked about combining the cosmetic procedure with her operation.
"They can't," revealed the This Will Only Hurt a Little memoirist.
She joked, "Although I think they should, anyway, it felt rude to me. Like, I have to go through brain surgery."
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Philipps Felt Protected by Her Late Friends
Busy Philipps disclosed feeling divinely protected, discovering her tumor the day after Dawson’s Creek costar James Van Der Beek passed away.
The conversation also turned to Philipps' late best friend Kate and her Dawson's Creek costar James Van Der Beek, who died in February after battling colorectal cancer.
When Sheinelle Jones asked if Philipps felt "divinely protected" by both friends, she answered emphatically.
"100 percent," the Critics' Choice Television Award winner said. "In fact, James passed away the day before I got the preventative medicine scan that—"
"Full body [scan]?" interjected Hager.
"Yes," Philipps clarified. "[They] found the tumor."
Her Ex-Husband Encouraged Her to Keep the Scan Appointment
Encouraged by her ex-husband Marc Silverstein, Busy Philipps took the preventative scan that she feels ultimately saved her life.
The White Chicks actress explained that a New York blizzard had disrupted her original plans, pushing the appointment to February 12. The morning of the scan, she was still processing Van Der Beek's death and did not feel ready to go ahead.
Her ex-husband, Marc Silverstein, called to check on her and ask how she was coping.
"I scheduled this thing. I don't know. I don't want to do it," Philipps remembered telling him.
Silverstein encouraged her to follow through, suggesting the appointment could be something she did in honor of her friends.
"He was like, 'You know, maybe it's the best thing you could do for your friends today,'" she recalled.
Looking back, Philipps believes the timing carried a deeper meaning. The results gave her doctors the chance to identify the problem and act.
"And so, yeah, I feel like it was, and that both of them, I think, you know, early detection is key with so many cancers," she said. "And in my case, that preventative medicine scan saved my life."
