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Malin Akerman On 'Trophy Wife': 'Welcome To The Real World'

Malin Akerman: 'Welcome To The Real World'
CTV

Malin Akerman's personal life may be going through an upheaval but it's not all sad. Her comedy, "Trophy Wife," was one of a handful of shows ABC picked up for a full season, and she and the cast are enjoying both the critical acclaim and the love from audiences. Plus, the new mom gets to bring her eight-month-old Sebastian to work every day on the set -- always a perk.

HuffPost Canada TV spoke with the Toronto native over the phone and chatted about the parenting tips she's getting on the set, whether Kate and Pete (Bradley Whitford) can expect their own baby, and the chances of a "Suburgatory" return.

Do you get a chance to visit Toronto often?

Malin Akerman: I wish it was more often. It hasn't been much lately. It's the funniest thing all of a sudden when you live in California, everyone wants to visit you. I don't get over as often as I like, I try to make it over once a year to see family and friends and all that kind of fun stuff, but with work now and a new baby, it's harder.

It's been a few weeks but congratulations on the full season order.

Thank you. So excited about that.

A nice relief there.

There were lots of tears of joy when that happened. We were very excited.

I love "Trophy Wife." And it's a nice one-two punch with "The Goldbergs," another favourite.

Yeah, that's a great one too. I love it!

The misleading title has been an ongoing subject, but it's been fun watching Kate go from from party girl to wife and mom. How has it been playing that transition?

Great. It's one of those things where I feel Kate is the one person that will continue to change because it is her journey into adulthood, parenthood and wifehood. It's all changing for her and I think a lot of people can relate to that. I mean, I certainly can, going from being a little bit of a party girl myself in my teens and early '20s and then all of a sudden going, wow, it's time to focus and gear down a little bit and think about what I really want in life. That is the journey that many people take. Watching someone fumble through it, I think that makes it fun to watch, somebody trying to figure life out. Welcome to the real world.

Does being a relatively new mom give you insight into how you play mom to Hillary (Bailee Madison), Warren (Ryan Lee) and Bert (Albert Tsai)?

Not really. I think it becomes more that I myself grew up in a screwed-up family, with stepfathers and a stepmother and half-siblings and step-siblings. That, for me, is really relatable, that dynamic. I don't really want to bring my motherhood in. Kate doesn't have any kids of her own and I don't think she's quite there yet. Becoming a mother, you do soften up to other kids so much more, and I don't want her to be there just yet. I think she kind of connects more with teenagers right now because she feels like maybe she's closer in age to them [Laughs]. So I want to keep that edge in, that dynamic where she feels like she's more like the cool friend. So, yeah, a little more of that dynamic than actually being a real, true mom.

Are you learning any parenting stuff from the set and bringing it home?

It's more off-camera, talking to Marcia [Gay Harden, who plays Diane] and Bradley and parents of the kids, that has been really where all the learning comes in. Sebastian, my son, is on set with me every day and he's becoming part of the family. There's always so many great tips from parents or from Bradley and Marcia themselves, so I've definitely got great knowledge thanks to all the real parents on set.

Speaking of the kids, I've been having a mini-argument with my husband, are Hillary and Warren twins?

No, they're not. Who won the argument?

Him. Boo.

Well, you were right in one way because in the pilot, they were scripted as twins [and then they recast Hillary]. But writing-wise and storyline-wise, there was just a little more excitement with having one be a little bit younger, having that difference. She's 13 and he's 15. They're supposed to be two years apart.

OK, thanks for trying to make me feel better. Albert's been quite the little scene-stealer. He's adorable but please tell me he's not too, too much like Bert?

Oh, no, Albert is a brilliant child. He's like a miniature Einstein. He's an encyclopedia of knowledge. He just finished reading a book about the stock market. Last year, he read a book about Ronald Reagan. He's incredible. He's just this genius kid who is so natural, he's never done another show before in his life, he's only done a school play, this is his first show. The first day of shooting on the pilot, one of the scenes where he's in the car with Meg [Natalie Morales], they did it once, and he goes, 'OK, so we done?' The director's like, "Oh, goodness, we've got some angles..." He was like, 'Whaaaaa?' Now, he's like, "Where's my camera, what's the set-up," now he's like a pro. It's so fun to watch him. He makes everyone smile on set, he is just brilliant and lovely and super-talented without really even knowing it.

I love Kate and Pete's relationship -- it's just so natural -- but no offence to Bradley, I think my favourite scenes involve seeing Kate interact with Pete's ex-wives, Diane and Jackie. What's it like playing opposite Marcia and Michaela?

I love them to death! I kind of can't believe that that's who I get to work with. An Oscar winner and an improv comedienne extraordinaire, you kind of feel like the odd man out. I sometimes forget that I'm in the scene because I just watch them intently and I'm trying to absorb everything. It's funny because we were actually talking about that in the hair and makeup room, how much we love doing scenes together, the three of us, and how that dynamic is really fun to watch because there's so much going on. They're such diverse characters, I always think that that is really interesting to watch. And, of course, like you said there's the sweetness between Bradley and I, which is a given, but there's way more of an element of surprise when you get the wives together.

The episode when Kate and Pete go on the double date with Jackie, it was just so freakin' awkward...

Oh my god, it was so great. Nat Faxon who plays Sad Steve ... I laughed so hard ...

And how did everyone know he was Sad Steve? [Laughs]

[Laughs] I know, it was just so random. And his scenes with Bradley in the office, he's just so awkward and amazing and lovely, I loved him. It really was a great episode.

Will Nat be back?

We'd like him to come back, for sure, but he is a busy man. But hopefully, fingers crossed, at least one more episode this season is what we would like. But it all depends on his availability. If we could have him every episode, we would, trust me. He's great.

Will we be seeing you on "Suburgatory" ever again?

I don't think so.

I don't even know if that's allowed, I don't know the rules.

I don't really know either. I don't think so because it's on the same network, but I'm not sure, to be honest with you. If they call and ask and ABC says yes, I'm down for more episodes of "Suburgatory." I love that show.

I loved you as Alex. It was really nice seeing her and Tessa come together.

I really loved that and, again, I was excited to be a part of it so if they ask me back, I'm in. if the rules allow me to.

"Trophy Wife" airs Tuesdays at 9:30 p.m. ET on ABC in the U.S. and CTV in Canada.

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