May 12: Swedish Canadian actress and singer Malin Åkerman, is 35-years-old today.

 

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Malin Maria Åkerman was born May 12, 1978 in Stockholm, Sweden. Her family moved to Canada when she was two.

As a child, she appeared in several television commercials before going on to win a modelling contract at age sixteen. Åkerman's acting career began with her debut on the Canadian television series Earth: Final Conflict in 1997, after which she made appearances on several other Canadian productions.

In the early 2000s, she had many television and film parts, including The Utopian Society in 2003 and Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle the next year. Following a supporting role on the short-lived comedy series The Comeback in 2005, Åkerman gained her first starring roles in the feature films The Heartbreak Kid in 2007 and 27 Dresses in 2008.

Åkerman was cast as Silk Spectre II in the 2009 superhero film Watchmen, a role for which she was nominated for a Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress. The same year, she had supporting and starring roles in both The Proposal and Couples Retreat, two commercial hits that garnered mixed to negative reviews.

In 2010, she became part of the main cast on the comedy series Childrens Hospital. She starred in four feature films in 2012, including the musical film Rock of Ages.

When she first moved to Los Angeles in 2001, she pursued a broader acting career. At first, she worked as a waitress and stayed at a friend's house. In 2002, she received smaller role in the film The Utopian Society. The film was edited by Francesco Sondelli, the guitarist for alternative rock band Ozono. Sondelli asked Åkerman to help the band with song lyrics and later asked her to sing.

 Åkerman subsequently became the band's singer, and they changed their name to The Petalstones. The band's debut album, Stung, was released in August 2005, but Åkerman eventually left to focus on her acting career, admitting that she "actually can't sing."

She described her singing as "sort of a self-made, self-taught, if-you-can't-hit-the-note-scream-it kind of thing."

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For more about Malin, visit her Website at-

http://www.malinakerman.net/

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