Role Recall: Malin Akerman on 'Sin City Saints,' 'The Comeback,' Her 'Entourage' Threesome, and Why 'Trophy Wife' Failed

Malin Akerman’s still young (and beautiful and talented — duh), but she already has a long résumé of TV roles to her credit, from sweetly naive actress Juna Millken on HBO’s The Comeback to harried third wife Kate Harrison on ABC’s Trophy Wife. And now she’s starring in Yahoo Screen’s new basketball comedy Sin City Saints, about a ragtag pro hoops team in Las Vegas.

Since she’s such a TV veteran, we thought we’d subject Akerman to our Role Recall, where we get actors to tell us personal stories about their biggest roles. Read on to find out why she felt like she was playing herself on The Comeback, why her Entourage threesome wasn’t as awkward as it could’ve been, and what she calls the biggest culprit in Trophy Wife's early demise.

Avatar, Earth: Final Conflict (1997)

The first credit we could find for you is this sci-fi show called Earth: Final Conflict. Was that your first on-camera role?
Oh, jeez. [Laughs.] As far as a TV show goes, yes. I’d done TV commercials and stuff like that, but that was my first TV show. And it was literally like a small, little thing. I was basically a computer. I was someone’s avatar. I had lines. I don’t remember what they were. Some technical stuff. But yeah, it wasn’t the most memorable part. I don’t think I own that. [Laughs.]

Juna Millken, The Comeback (2005, 2014)

It had to be exciting booking a role on a Lisa Kudrow comedy for HBO. Do you remember anything about the audition process?
Oh my God, do I ever. That was the biggest thing ever. That was my first job here in L.A.! And luckily for me, the show sort of paralleled real life, because here I am, playing this young girl who adores and admires Valerie Cherish, someone I grew up watching, and that’s pretty much the truth of my life, growing up watching Friends and Lisa Kudrow. So I feel like it was a bit of a cheat that I got that, because I was just kind of playing real life! I was so excited to be working with her.

But for sure, there was an audition process. There was an initial audition, and then I went in for the producers, not thinking that Lisa was one of the producers, and I walk in and there’s Michael Patrick King and Lisa Kudrow. And of course, I was like, “Oh my God.” My level of nerves went up a hundredfold when I saw them. Because they’re huge! There’s Lisa Kudrow, who for years and years I’ve loved and adored. But it went well, and they were so lovely.

Related: The Second Coming of ‘The Comeback’ Is Something to Cherish

Then they made me do another audition and made me do a screen test, and I’m waiting in a waiting room with other girls who are pre-testing, and it’s all so nerve-wracking, and you sign the contract before you even go into the audition… and you kind of look at the project and go, “Oh my God, my life could just turn around! I could stop living on somebody’s couch in a studio apartment. I could maybe get my own apartment! That would be great!” [Laughs.]

So everything is just a crazy, nerve-wracking process. But it was so much fun. And you know, I didn’t realize how lucky I was at the moment to have such incredible writers writing. And after that show went away, reading other pilots, I felt like I had been so spoiled with the amazing, funny, funny material. But that was an incredible experience. I love Lisa, and [executive producer] Dan Bucatinsky, and all of them. It was so nice to have the reunion this past year, and do it all again.

Yeah, how did you get involved with the new season? Had it been in the works for a while?
No, I didn’t know about it. I just saw it announced that The Comeback was coming back, and two days later, I ran into Dan Bucatinsky and I was like, “Hey, dude! Can I be in it?” And he said, “Yeah, it’s on the D.L. right now, but we’re gonna be calling you.” And I said “Great!” I just wanted to be a part of it in one way or another, just because it was such a great show and it was so nice to see everyone again. Lisa and I had a really beautiful scene that I loved. It was very sweet. It showed a little bit of an arc, a little bit of growth over the years. It was nice.

Tori, Entourage (2006)

Then you did a couple episodes of Entourage as Sloan’s friend Tori, who has this threesome with her and E. Was it awkward walking into a series as a guest star and jumping right into a sex scene?
Yep, totally. Very awkward. [Laughs.] There’s never a moment where it’s not awkward, whether it’s the last day of shooting or not. It’s always awkward. But luckily, Emmanuelle Chriqui [who played Sloan] was such a doll. And so was Kevin Connolly. But Emmanuelle and I became fast friends. Before we even started shooting, she was so cool; she was like, “Do you want to go out for drinks and get to know each other?” And lo and behold, we both come from Toronto, we had so many similarities and friends, and she’s still one of my closest friends to this day. So because of that bond, it wasn’t as awkward as it could have been. Both of them were so lovely and so welcoming. I think Kevin was more nervous than either one of us! [Laughs.]

Dr. Valerie Flame/Inger Hagerstown, Childrens Hospital (2010-present)

So you went away from TV for a few years to go become a movie star, but you came back to do Childrens Hospital. You joined the show in Season 2; what made you want to sign on?
Anyone who watches that show would want to be on it. If they ask you to be on that show, you’re gonna say yes. It’s comedic brilliance, I think. Rob Corddry is such an amazing writer, and David Wain and Jon Stern, all those guys who write on that show. I love that type of comedy. I love comedy that pushes the limits; I love comedy that’s a little different. I think it’s funny, hilarious, awesome… and easy to shoot. In and out, it was six weeks, and you’re done with a season. So I was more than happy to be a part of it. I was honored to be asked to be a part of it. I love that show to this day.

And you even got to use some of your Swedish background on the show, playing the Swedish actress Inger Hagerstown in the show-within-the-show.
Totally! That’s what I love about it: There are no limits to that show. Adult Swim allowed us to do whatever we want with it, and that’s what becomes so much fun. You just get to do whatever you want. There’s no sort of sequence or consistency; you can kind of just jump in at any episode and go “What?!?” One day, I’m dating a girl, and the next day, I’m banging another guy… it’s a crazy, crazy show.

But at the same time, it really knows its limits, and Rob has been really good about that. Whenever we go off and try different things, he reels it in. There’s a certain fine line that you have to be careful that we don’t cross it and just become gross or disgusting. So I appreciate that about those guys. They’re good comedians.

Kate Harrison, Trophy Wife (2013-14)

Trophy Wife was your first starring role on a network series, after years of working on offbeat cable comedies. Was there a different vibe working on an ABC show?
Yeah, there’s a little more red tape around certain things that you want to do or say. There’s a bit more of a process, let’s put it that way. You have to go through the network and the studio for approval of certain things. There are certain words you cannot say on a network television show. There are certain jokes you can’t make. So there are definitely more limitations.

But at the same time, that was my first time producing, and we managed to get together an amazing cast and crew. So once we got going, everyone was on the same page. It was such a sweet show. We all loved it. We all really believed in it. So it was a great vibe on set. It’s very different from Childrens Hospital, because again, it’s not crazy vulgar or outrageous comedy. It’s more pulled together. But it really worked. And I loved it, too; I was sad to see it go.

Related: 22 Reasons to Watch, Love, and Save ABC’s ‘Trophy Wife’

Why do you think the show didn’t catch on? Was it the title? Because you had your own reservations about that, right?
Yeah, I had my own reasons just because I didn’t want to play a trophy wife. But once I read the script, I realized it was sort of a play on the words, because she isn’t really a trophy wife. And that’s why I really liked it. “Trophy wife” for me is big t-ts, pink Juicy Couture outfit, nails out to Africa, and does nothing but shop all day long. And this is not her thing. She really loved her husband, loved the kids. But she was put in a situation where people would look at her as a trophy wife.

I mean, Trophy Wife probably didn’t appeal to a lot of the male audience, because they’re not gonna be like, “Hey dude, you wanna come over and watch Trophy Wife?” But the main thing I think was also, we really didn’t get much marketing. At all. Even friends of mine would call and say, “So when’s Trophy Wife coming out?” And I’m like, “It’s been out for two weeks!” So I think that was our big downfall, unfortunately. But that’s just a network thing. They only put money into marketing a certain amount of shows per year, and unfortunately, we weren’t one of them. And nowadays with social media, they want you to do your own marketing and all that kind of stuff. And somehow, we didn’t quite succeed. But we were also up against The Voice, which gets like 15 million viewers, so that’s kind of a bad situation.

Dusty Halford, Sin City Saints (2015-present)

On your new show Sin City Saints, you play the special counsel for a pro basketball league, trying to keep this misfit team in line. She’s a bit more business-like than the characters you usually play.
Yeah, she is, and that’s why I chose it. Because it’s still in the comedy world, but it’s a new character for me. This past year was a lot about shifting my own performances and doing something different, so that I could try out some new shoes and push my own limits and see how far I could go. Yeah, it was definitely a challenge for me to play a powerful business-type woman, because I’ve never done that before on television. I was curious to see if I could do it… and we’ll find out if I succeeded or not! [Laughs.] 

Related: ‘Sin City Saints’ Star Tom Arnold Thought Someone Spiked His Smoothie (And More Tales From the Vegas Set)

Las Vegas seems like a great setting for a TV comedy. Have you spent a lot of time there yourself? Got any stories?
I do not. [Laughs.] C’mon, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas; we all know that! A lot of s—t can happen. The environment is perfect for some crazy stuff to go on. But I am not a fan of staying in Vegas for longer than a night: a dinner and a show, and that’s about it. I’m not much of a gambler. It’s kind of a sad state to walk around and see all these people gambling their money away. It’s just like the demise of humanity in one place. But there are all the positives: beautiful shows and great restaurants. There’s some cool stuff to see there. And especially getting off the Strip, which I did a lot with my friends, there’s some beautiful places to go see, and really cool art. But as far as spending a lot of time there, that’s not the first place I think of to go. [Laughs.]

All eight episodes of Sin City Saints are available now at Yahoo Screen.