With her confident comedic skills and girl-next-door charm, actress Malin Akerman emerged as a strong film player in romantic comedies, beginning with her co-starring role opposite Ben Stiller in the blockbuster “The Heartbreak Kid”.   Malin began her career in Canada, where an early start in modeling eventually gave way to a number of television guest appearances in sci-fi and adventure offerings, but her supporting role on HBO’s inside-Hollywood comedic series “The Comeback”  truly launched her comedy career. From there, Akerman enjoyed supporting roles in the blockbuster “27 Dresses” and the ensemble romantic comedy “Couples Retreat” , with a butt-kicking role in the dark actioner “Watchmen” suggesting that Hollywood’s up-and-coming funny blonde had a lot more surprises yet in store for moviegoers.

Born in Stockholm, Sweden, on May 12, 1978, Akerman’s family moved to Toronto, Canada, when she was two years old. The blonde tot began modeling and appearing in television commercials at age five and by high school, Akerman was balancing class work with summers spent modeling in Europe. She was the winner of the Ford Supermodel of Canada Search when she was 17, spending the next several years in print and television commercial modeling before deciding to parlay her experience into acting. She landed a guest spot on the Canadian sci-fi series “Earth: Final Conflict” (CTV, 1997-99; The New Net, 1999-2002) and appeared in other television projects including “Relic Hunter” before a flurry of auditions led to a move to Los Angeles in 2001. Small film appearances in “The Utopian Society” and the cult comedy “Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle” led to Akerman’s first big break in the HBO series “The Comeback,” a show-within-a-show in which she was cast as an ingénue starlet sharing the spotlight with a neurotic, washed-up actress (Lisa Kudrow). When “Comeback” failed to find an audience and was cancelled after only 13 episodes, Akerman made a pair of guest appearances on the show’s former lead-in, “Entourage” and rebounded with a high profile role opposite Ben Stiller in the Farrelly Brothers comedy, “The Heartbreak Kid” . Critics slammed the remake of the 1972 Neil Simon classic, but Akerman’s performance as a whirlwind bride who turns out to be an abysmal match for the straight-laced Stiller led to another blockbuster comedy, “27 Dresses” , where she played the sister of an “always” bridesmaid (Katherine Heigl) who is set to wed her sister’s secret crush – her boss.

From her comic success, Akerman turned around to give a surprising performance as one of a team of vigilante superheroes in the dark comic book adaptation “Watchmen” . Unrecognizable in a black wig and mask, the actress returned to the blonde, romantic comedy fold in two more films in 2009, beginning with “Couples Retreat,” where she played opposite Vince Vaughn as one of four married couples attending a hybrid island vacation/therapy retreat. Akerman revisited wedding hijinks with “The Proposal” , an out-of-control little-white-lie comedy starring Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds.

• Also Credited As:
  Malin Maria Akerman
• Born:
  Malin Maria Akerman on May 12, 1978 in Stockholm, Sweden
• Job Titles:
  Actress, Model, Musician, Singer

Significant Others

• Husband: Roberto Zincone. Italian; married June 20, 2007

Education

• York University, Toronto, Ontario, psychology
• Sir Winston Churchill Secondary School, St. Catharines, Ontario
• North Toronto Collegiate Institute, Toronto, Ontario

Milestones

• 1997 Landed first major role on the syndicated series, “Earth: Final Conflict”
• 2000 Had a small role in the Canadian feature, “The Skulls”
• 2001 Relocated to Los Angeles
• 2003 Cast in “The Utopian Society” with Sam Doumit and Austin Nichols
• 2004 Appeared in the cult comedy “Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle” as a Freakshow s hot wife
• 2005 Breakthrough role, playing Juna in the HBO series, “The Comeback”
• 2006 Appeared in two episodes of the HBO series, “Entourage” as Sloan’s friend Tori
• 2007 Played Ben Stiler’s wife Lila in the Farrelly Brothers movie, “The Heartbreak Kid”
• 2008 Played Katherine Heigl s sister in the comedy, 27 Dresses
• 2009 Cast as Silk Spectre II in the film adaptation of Watchmen
• At age 17, won the Ford Supermodel of Canada search
• Began modeling and appearing in commercials by age five