Ever wonder what it would be like to have to live below the poverty line?
The folks over at Live Below the Line did — and, it got them thinking: why not get tons of people to gain a sense of awareness about poverty, while, at the same time, raising money for charity?
And so, the “Live Below the Line Challenge” was born.
The challenge gets folks to eat for a limited amount of money ($1.50) every day for five days. And, this year, were so glad to hear that several celebrities — think Hugh Jackman, Kevin Connolly, Malin Akerman, Nick Lachey, Josh Groban and Bette Midler — are all getting involved.
Given the line-up for the upcoming dating show parody Burning Love, I’m pretty sure it’s mathematically impossible that the web series won’t leave you clutching your sides from laughter. Along with star Ken Marino — of Wanderlust, Wet Hot American Summer, and “I wanna dip my balls in it!” fame — and producer/star Ben Stiller, the show features Michael Ian Black, Adam Scott, Ken Jeong, Kerri Kenney, Party Down‘s Ryan Hansen, Malin Akerman, Kristen Bell, and even a former Bachelor himself: Jake Pavelka.
Burning Love premieres on Yahoo! Screen’s Comedy Channel June 4. It will be online at screen.yahoo.com/burning-love/
Malin Akerman, Topher Grace and Rich Sommer star in The Giant Mechanical Man. The movie premiered at The Tribeca Film Festival in New York.
Malin Akerman realizes that there are critics of her performance of Silk Spectre II in “Watchmen,” Zack Snyder’s adaptation of Alan Moore’s graphic novel. To be honest, Akerman is so charming in person, I didn’t know quite how to delve into that subject — a subject that I’ve always wanted to discuss with the Swedish born actor. Admittedly, I was surprised when a fairly general question about “Watchmen” led Akerman into such an open critique about her performance. As Akerman acknowledges, she is her “own worst critic.”
Akerman is in New York City for the premiere of her Tribeca Film Festival offering, “The Giant Mechanical Man.” In the indie film, Akerman plays Jill, the overbearing younger sister of Janice (Jenna Fischer), an underachiever who falls for a local street performer.
Here, Akerman discusses why she enjoys indie films (even when she has to shave off her eyebrows), explains what it’s like to hang out with Nicolas Cage, and takes a introspective look back at “Watchmen.”
These seats are set up like Frost-Nixon. “You’re in trouble now, I’m going to get to the bottom of all of this and get the answers that America wants.”
“I’m sorry I did it, OK?”
These festival interviews happen so fast. I’m concerned that by the end of this we won’t get to the essence of Malin Akerman.
[Laughs] We’ll have to do that another day, where we spend the day trying to do that.
When you first saw the title, were you like, “Yeah, an action-robot movie — I’m in”? It sounds like it could be a “Transformers” hybrid.
It does! It totally does. I had no idea what it would be about. My agent called and said, “I have this great little film. It’s an indie called “The Giant Mechanical Man.” And I’m like, “What in the world is that about?” But I loved it. And I loved that it’s very character based.
You’ve played the sister role before. What did you like about this particular sister?
I don’t know. You know, it’s so funny because, honestly, when I first got this script, they were thinking of me more for Pauline — which Lucy Punch ended up playing. It’s a great role, but I was the one who was drawn to the sister role. Because she’s a little bit more crazy. I mean, there’s so many different levels to her and I guess I’m always drawn to that. And that usually ends up being the sister or the best friend. So I was actually the one who suggested to them that maybe they want to consider me for Jill. And they went, “Oh, OK, cool. Why not?”
Is that normal? Can you just show up and say that you want to play a different role?
No. No, that’s not normal.
Like, they brought you in to play Silk Spectre II and you told them, “No, I want to play Nite Owl.”
[Laughs] Right, then they were like, “You’re a little too feminine for it.” And I said, “What do you mean?” But, no, that’s not a normal thing. Of course not. It hadn’t been cast yet and I just felt like, Well, I might as well just offer the option. The worst that can happen is that they say, “No.”
How do you pick your roles? I feel they are fairly eclectic for someone not really known as being eclectic. Does that make sense?
It does make sense. And I think it’s more because most of the movies that people have seen have been the comedies.
A year and a half after it was announced she was taking over the role of former porn star-turned-women’s rights advocate Linda Lovelace from Lindsay Lohan, Malin Akerman says the film’s future is in doubt.
“I don’t know if that’s even going to go,” Akerman told The Hollywood Reporter in a sit-down chat in New York, where she is promoting her new dramedy The Giant Mechanical Man. “Last I heard, which was just before Christmas, we were supposed to start shooting in March, and now it’s April. It’s been one of those doomed films that I absolutely love and totally believe in, I love the script, I think it’s such a well-written script about the behind-the-scenes of a battered woman.”
The issue, she says, has largely been financing.
“It’s a big one to take a chance on because it’s really some heavy content. So I don’t know what’s been going on, I don’t know why it hasn’t gone yet. I would hope and love for it to go, but now this other movie is coming on that Amanda Seyfried did, and I kind of feel like, ‘Shit, we should have been on that, we should have done it,’ ” she said.
Lovelace is a cultural icon and playing her would require great preparation — which has proven to be another difficulty for Akerman amid all the uncertainty.
“I started a little bit, I read her book and started going on the internet, trying to find pictures and interviews with her, but honestly, after the first sort of let down of, ‘Oh, we’re going, now we’re not going.’ I said, ‘Okay, next time they say we’re going, I’ll wait until the money is in escrow and we’re ready to go and then I’ll start prepping,’ ” the actress explained. “I don’t want to wrap myself up again, and then it’s, again, you know it’d be going into a really dark place so I didn’t want to go there a million times and then get the plug pulled.”
At least she isn’t hurting for work.
Akerman already has a 2012 calendar filled with plane trips, premieres and shoots. The Swedish-Canadian actress has a total of eight films that have been or will be released and a TV pilot with Portia De Rossi in contention for a series order.
Wanderlust is available on Blu-ray Combo Pack
DVD & BLU-RAY BONUS FEATURES:
DELETED SCENES
EXTENDED & ALTERNATIVE SCENES
BLU-RAY(TM) and DVD BONUS FEATURES:
GAG REEL
LINE-O-RAMA
GOD AFTON!: Fans can go with the cast and crew behind the scenes of Wanderlust.
PENIS ENVY: A mockumentary on Joe Lo Truglio’s experience wearing a prosthetic penis for his Wanderlust role.
THE ELYSIUM CAMPAIGN: Jordan Peele gives an impression of President Barack Obama if he had a small role in Wanderlust.
WAINY DAYS – ELYSIUM: See the cast in an exclusive episode of director David Wain’s popular web series “Wainy Days.”
FEATURE COMMENTARY: Featuring director/writer/producer David Wain, writer/producer Ken Marino, actor/producer Paul Rudd, and impressions by Kevin Pollack.
BLU-RAY(TM) BONUS FEATURES: Unleash the power of your HDTV with perfect hi-def picture and perfect hi-def sound.
WANDERLUST – THE BIZARRO CUT: 80 minutes of the film with alternate jokes in nearly every scene.
Malin Akerman is featured on the cover of the May 2012 issue of “Maxim” magazine! Check out her cover and a behind the scenes video below!
