Malin Åkerman

The Psychology of Change

Malin Åkerman was born in Stockholm in 1978, but her real life took shape in Toronto from the age of two. She was studying psychology at York University when television commercials started paying better than any future in a clinic. She left the classroom for film sets without looking back.

And the gamble paid off.

In 2005, she landed a role in the HBO series The Comeback. She played a struggling young actress under the shadow of Lisa Kudrow. It was her first real contact with the Los Angeles industry and confirmation that her Nordic look fit the standards of American comedy.

The Farrelly brothers cast her in The Heartbreak Kid in 2007. She had to be the nightmare of Ben Stiller on a disastrous honeymoon. She got audiences to sympathize with a character designed to be hated, using physical gags and a total lack of vanity in front of the camera.

In 2008 she appeared in 27 Dresses. The film grossed more than $160 million worldwide. That figure put her in a privileged position with casting offices, because her name guaranteed box-office returns in the romance genre.

Latex and a Change of Pace

Zack Snyder broke away from her string of comedies in 2009 when she was cast as Laurie Jupiter in Watchmen. That adaptation of Alan Moore's comic demanded exhausting physical training and months of filming in an uncomfortable latex suit. Critics were harsh on the film, but Åkerman managed to break into the world of major action productions.

But studio films don't always offer the best scripts.

In 2012, she appeared in Rock of Ages alongside Tom Cruise. The film aimed to capture the nostalgia of eighties rock, but its box office results were mediocre. That commercial setback pushed her toward smaller projects where she would have more creative control over her characters.

She shot Cottage Country and The Numbers Station in 2013. These were independent productions that flew under the radar of the general public. But they gave her a chance to explore dark roles that Hollywood didn't let her touch in her usual big-budget projects.

The Coldness of Finance

Television gave her the space that film denied her in the mid-2000s. In 2016 she joined the cast of Billions as Lara Axelrod. Her role was that of a working-class woman who moved with ease through the world of New York's multimillionaires without losing the rawness of her roots.

She kept that dramatic pulse going for three full seasons.

In 2020, she decided to get involved in production with the film Chick Fight. She not only acted alongside Bella Thorne but also oversaw the project's development from the office. She wanted to ensure that stories about women in action movies had a less stereotyped and grittier tone.

Because control of the industry lies in the executive offices.

In May 2024, she hosted the Eurovision gala in Malmö alongside Petra Mede. It was a return to her Swedish roots in front of a global audience of millions. The event was marked by flawless technical production and an execution budget that exceeded €13 million.