Malin Akerman

Malin Maria Åkerman (born May 12, 1978) is a Swedish Canadian actress, model and singer. She was born in Stockholm, Sweden and moved to Canada at the age of two. As a child, she appeared in several television commercials before going on to win a modelling contract at age sixteen. Åkerman's acting career began with her debut on the Canadian television series Earth: Final Conflict in 1997, after which she made appearances on several other Canadian productions. In the early 2000s, she had many television and film parts, including The Utopian Society (2003) and Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle (2004). Following a supporting role on the short-lived comedy series The Comeback (2005), Åkerman gained her first starring roles in the feature films The Heartbreak Kid (2007) and 27 Dresses (2008). Åkerman was cast as Silk Spectre II in the 2009 superhero film Watchmen, a role for which she was nominated for a Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress. The same year, she had supporting and starring roles in both The Proposal and Couples Retreat, two commercial hits that garnered mixed to negative reviews. In 2010, she became part of the main cast on the comedy series Childrens Hospital. She starred in four feature films in 2012, including the musical film Rock of Ages. Apart from acting and occasional modelling, Åkerman has had a brief music career as the lead vocalist for alternative rock band The Petalstones, but eventually left to focus on her acting career. She has been married to the band's drummer Roberto Zincone since 2007. --- Åkerman was born in Stockholm, Sweden to aerobics teacher and part-time model Pia (néeSundström) and insurance broker Magnus Åkerman. When she was two, the family moved to Canada when her father was offered a job. Four years later, her parents divorced, with her father moving back to Sweden. Both of her parents remarried, giving Åkerman one half-brother and two half-sisters. After her mother remarried, they moved to Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario. Later in her teenage years, her mother divorced again. Åkerman attended many different schools, including Sir Winston Churchill Secondary School in St. Catharines, Ontario. She once attended a Catholic school, though she was raised as a Buddhist. She has recalled some portions of her childhood as "painful", explaining that "I loved my father very much and I only got to see him during the school holidays. But I think it was an advantage that they split up when I was very young, so I could get used to it." She visited her father in Falsterbo, Sweden during school breaks and talked to him regularly over the phone. She cites her parents as "supportive, positive influences" in her life. As a child, Åkerman had no plans to become an actress. Her mother introduced her to modelling while she was still in primary school, and she later landed several advertising campaign deals, but she decided to quit at age twelve. However, four years later she returned to modelling after being discovered by Ford Models in a shopping mall in St. Catharines. She was signed to the agency and later won a contract with skincare company Noxzema. She soon moved to Toronto while attending North Toronto Collegiate Institute. At the age of eighteen, inspired by the "helplessness" she sometimes felt during her childhood, she decided to become a child psychologist. She supported her education by modelling for television commercials and catalogue layouts. While studying for a year at York University in Toronto, she was simultaneously offered guest roles on television as a result of her exposure in commercials. She saw the acting gigs as further opportunities to pay for her education, but found herself enjoying it and decided to drop out of school to become an actress. She moved to Los Angeles, California in 2001 to pursue her acting career full-time. --- Åkerman made her acting debut on the Canadian science fiction series Earth: Final Conflict in 1997, in a smaller role as a robot. She originally landed a role on an MTV pilot with Rachel McAdams, but the project was never picked up by the network. In 2000, she guest starred on Relic Hunter and had a smaller role in the American film The Skulls. The following year, she made appearances on the Canada-based series Doc and Twice in a Lifetime. In 2001, she moved to Los Angeles, California in hopes of pursuing a broader acting career. At first, she worked as a waitress and stayed at a friend's house. In 2002, she received smaller role in the film The Utopian Society. The film was edited by Francesco Sondelli, the guitarist for alternative rock band Ozono. Sondelli asked Åkerman to help the band with song lyrics and later asked her to sing. Åkerman subsequently became the band's singer, and they changed their name to The Petalstones. The band's debut album, Stung, was released in August 2005, but Åkerman eventually left to focus on her acting career, admitting that she "actually can't sing". She described her singing as "sort of a self-made, self-taught, if-you-can't-hit-the-note-scream-it kind of thing". In 2004, she got a small role in the film Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, but considered moving back to Canada as most of her auditions failed. She was then cast in a supporting role as Juna on the short-lived HBO television series The Comeback, with Lisa Kudrow in the main role. Kudrow played a former sitcom star who tried to restart her career. Åkerman's appearance on the show garnered media attention and resulted in her being offered more roles. --- In 2008, she made her first appearance on AskMen.com's "99 Most Desirable Women" list at number 60. The same year, men's magazine Maxim placed her at number 59 in their annual "Hot 100" rankings. The following year, the magazine ranked her at number four. Although admitting that sex appeal is one of the "best assets", Åkerman considers being beautiful both "a blessing and a curse", stating, "I tend to get a lot of scripts in which people want me to play the trophy wife, which is frustrating because I want the interesting, meaty roles."