Actors are expected to sacrifice for their art, and for actress Malin Akerman that meant losing her eyebrows for her indie-hit.

Akerman tells PopcornBiz she did the ultimate eyebrow sacrifice for her new film “HappyThankYouMorePlease.”

Akerman plays a woman suffering from the hair-loss disease alopecia as the lead in the buzzed-about Sundance film which has garnered an August release date. There was no getting around the actual buzz for the part.

“I couldn’t fake the eyebrows,” she says. “The part deserved that dedication.”

The decision to go bare brow was “exciting and nervewracking.”

“The makeup artist turned on the shaver and the buzz started and I was like ‘Oh my God,’ ” she says.

There were a lot of bright sides. First of all, the brows have grown back. The Swedish actress was looking her usual stunning and fully-browed self at the Haute and Bothered Season 2 Launch Party on Monday night.

Also her husband loved the look. “My husband looked at me and said, ‘Wow you look five years younger. Second of all, you look angelic,’ ” Akerman says.

Finally, she didn’t have to shave her head. “We did a bald cap and my character wore these amazing head scarves,” she adds.

Akerman adds quickly. “I will shave my head if called upon.”

From NBC Connecticut

Malin Akerman may have made the leap into blockbuster films, but she never forgets about the little people. (Indie movies being the little people in this case.) Her latest role is in the independent film “Happythankyoumoreplease,” directed by “How I Met Your Mother” star Josh Radnor, premieres this week at the Gen Art Film Festival in New York. Wonderwall had a chance to catch up with the starlet at the festival to talk all things indie.

Wonderwall: What makes Gen Art unique?

Malin Akerman: I think anything that supports and celebrates the arts is great. A lot of real moviegoers come to film festivals like these to watch films for what they are and not for what the box office tells them. So you feel like you get back to why we are in this business and that feels really great.

WW: How does working on a low-budget film compare to a studio movie like “Watchmen”?

MA: The thing I love about indie films is you sort of go, go, go, go, go. It’s like theater where you have a show every night. And it’s nice because you never lose touch with your character, you don’t lose touch with what you’re doing. and there’s not big breaks in between scenes.

WW: Is there a lot of bonding on set?

MA: I like being together and being crammed into small spaces, and everyone gets to know each other. You get to know who is holding your boom [mike] and, unlike on a bigger film, you know about his family, not just his name. Everyone just hangs out, which is really fun.”

WW: So we gotta ask … who’s your ideal leading man?

MA: I guess he’s become a big celebrity but I love Ryan Gosling, maybe because he’s Canadian. I think he’s phenomenal. I think anything he does is amazing.

We’ll be the first to agree with you on that one, Malin.

From Wonderwall

Hannover House has picked up the rights and will release happythankyoumoreplease, the Dramatic Audience Award Winner at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival on August 27 (via Variety). Written, directed and starring Josh Radnor (How I Met Your Mother) the romantic comedy follows a New York writer and his friends who begin caring for a foster child who gets lost on the subway.

The new distributor, which is best known for its home video market, reportedly paid $1 million for the film and will open it in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Dallas before expanding it to 20 more markets on Labor Day. happythankyoumoreplease, which feels like a cousin to (500) Days of Summer and Garden State, also stars Malin Akerman (Watchman), Zoe Kazan (Me and Orson Welles), Tony Hale (Arrested Development), Kate Mara (Shooter) and Pablo Schreiber (The Wire).

From Collider

Malin Akerman and “HappyThankYouMorePlease” director, Josh Radnor, were interviewed by MakingOf.com at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. Check out the video interview below!

Collider has posted 3 movie clips from “happythankyoumoreplease”, which you can watch below!

As if actors didn’t have enough to worry about — hitting their marks, appearing intimate with a co-star in front of a crew, getting older, dredging up memories of a dead pet to get themselves to cry — now they face the prospect of being replaced by computer programs.

That’s the talk when actors see the stratospheric box-office numbers for James Cameron’s “Avatar,” in which flesh-and-blood actors performed in motion-capture suits to add authentic movements to their computer-generated characters. (There’s even a long-shot campaign to get a Best Actress Oscar nomination for Zoe Saldana, who played Neytiri, one of the tall blue Na’vi.)

But in the offbeat and unique films of the independent world, like those playing at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival, actors have found a safe haven. They tear into meaty roles, showing facets of their talents that aren’t seen — or sought after — in mainstream movies.

This year, more so than in past Sundance festivals, the acting has been top-notch — sometimes in spite of the writing and the directing. Here are a few of the performances from Sundance 2010 that raised the bar:

Malin Akerman, “happythankyoumoreplease” — While writer-director-star Josh Radnor is getting the applause for this interlocking set of romantic scenarios, it’s Akerman who steals the show. Akerman — who is usually relegated to pretty supporting roles (“Couples Retreat,” “Watchmen”) — is the movie’s heart, as the sunny best friend who has lost her hair to alopecia. She even shaved her eyebrows for the part.

From the California Chronicle

amNewYork caught up with Malin Akerman and Kate Mara, two of the stars of the ensemble cast of “happythankyoumoreplease.”

Is this your first time at Sundance? How does it feel?
MA: I’ve been dying to come to Sundance since I started acting in LA. I’ve heard so much about it. It feels a little more relaxed. You can’t show up to the red carpet in a nice gown. I mean, it’s snowing outside.

KM: It’s not my first trip. I was here two years ago with a film I did called “Transsiberian.” All I ever do when I’m not working is see movies. I’m the biggest movie nerd.

What else do you like to do when you’re not working?
KM: I also love to shop, and I love to watch football (Kate’s grandfather was Giants founder Timothy Mara).

MA: I don’t do sports. I’m a foodie. That’s what I do. My husband is Italian, so that’s a big hobby of mine … cooking and finding new restaurants. I used to draw a lot. I do a lot of sketches of people, which I have to get back into.

Do you watch any Food Network shows?
MA: No, I really don’t. My husband has taught me a lot. He’s a fantastic cook. He’s Italian and a drummer, so there’s also a lot of music in our life. And that’s probably a big hobby, too. We go and see a lot of independent bands in LA.

Back to the film. Malin, you play Annie, who has alopecia. What did it feel like to be shown on camera without hair?
MA: Shaving off the eyebrows and wearing a bald cap was kind of freeing. It was the first time I looked in the mirror and saw somebody else. I felt like Annie became more of an interesting person because of her alopecia. It was more about finding that character than even the lack of hair.

Kate, you blew us away with your singing voice in the movie. Are you a trained singer? KM: When I was 9, I decided I wanted to be in musicals. My mom loves old films and musicals like “Oklahoma!” and every Judy Garland film you could watch, so that’s what I grew up watching. That was my dream. And, eventually, when I started doing films, there was never really an opportunity for me to sing. So I haven’t sung in such a long time that it felt like I was 14 again. It’s such a different thing to sing in a film than it is to act. For me, I had to be much more vulnerable.

From am New York