The treasure: Actor Malin Åkerman may have been born in Sweden, but she was raised in Ontario — complete with a very Canadian pro figure-skating career — so we’re delighted to claim her as our very own treasure. She’s become well-known in Hollywood, too, thanks to her roles in everything from big action spectacles (“Watchmen,” “Rampage”) to acclaimed TV comedies (“Childrens Hospital,” “The Comeback”).
The new thing: Now Åkerman is relishing one of the most fun genres yet: the juicy drama. She stars as horny small-town-Texas socialite Margo Banks in “The Hunting Wives,” a fun adaptation of May Cobb’s bestselling mystery thriller about a shy mom, Sophie (Brittany Snow), who gets into trouble when she starts hanging out with the titular swinging, hard-partying crew, led by the slightly menacing Margo. (Margo busts out her tatas as a power move during her very first scene, so you know she means business.)
The details: The eight-part series premieres Monday, July 21 on Crave and the USA network.
Margo’s a very brazen character. What did you take away from the experience of playing her?
Well, I didn’t bring any of that home, I’ll tell you that much (laughs). She is such a — the only way to really describe it is juicy. She’s everything that you want in a character. I get to really play, with who she is and where she goes. She has so many different dimensions and you’ll get even more as you go along in the show, with lots of great twists and turns, and we get to dive in even more into her past to get the explanation of why she is the way she is.
Margo is also a very sexually forward woman, and it’s actually very exciting to see someone around our age onscreen who’s very forward about her queerness and swinging, and being very present and living in the moment. Why was that intriguing to you as a performer?
Because I think lines should be blurred in that area. It’s just human, and I think we’ve been so conditioned to what relationships should look like. There are all these rules and definitions that, personally, I’ve always felt should be broken down, that should be between a couple or between two consenting adults of how they feel and what they do, and what they love and what they enjoy. And I think nobody should be judging that. And I love the freedom that Margo has with her body and with who and what she wants to be. Now hers has a little bit of manipulation added in there (laughs), but I do love the sexual freedom and I think that we can tear down the taboos a little bit more.
What was the strangest thing you learned about Texan culture while you were making this show?
“The higher the hair, the closer to God.”
What do you wish your younger self knew?
It’s OK to say no. I was such a people pleaser growing up, so just being able to stand up for what I wanted.
What is the worst advice you ever got?
“Wear this big padded push-up bra and you’ll get more jobs,” as a 17-year-old model. I was like, “Oh, that doesn’t sound like the right thing to say to 17-year-olds.”
What gives you hope these days?
My son, the next generation. There is a lot of hope. I meet wonderful people who are really doing great things and it is a lot of the younger generation. I think that I look to them for a lot of hope and I think I see it.
What sort of things do they do that really inspire you?
One is the emotional maturity that I’m seeing in — you know, I have a boy, he’s a 12-year-old boy who’s very in touch with his feelings, and I think I see that across the board with a lot of his friends. They’re very capable and open to talking about how they feel, what’s going on. They’re tuned in a different way than I was certainly at 12. A bit more of a world awareness.
What is the skill people may be surprised to discover you have?
I was a professional figure skater for many years; I competed nationally in Canada. So when I get on the ice every now and then, people get pretty shocked at the fact that I skate so well.
Living in Los Angeles now, when do you feel most Canadian when you’re down there?
When I first moved out there, there was definitely a Canadian accent that was very palpable. I’ve gotten rid of that, just for acting purposes, but I think the apologetic nature is still in me. If someone bumps into me, I say sorry.
And I didn’t used to have road rage! I’ve become more L.A.-ified at this point where I used to say sorry, give the sorry hand gesture. Now it’s a very different kind of hand gesture.
In the 1998 Japanese film “After Life,” when people die they get to pick a happy scene from their life that they get to live in forever. What scene from your life would you pick to live in forever?
The moment I first held my son in my arms — it’s really a wild experience to have a human come out of your body!
