That’s why the Swedish presenter of the Eurovision Song Contest looks familiar

Swedish-Canadian Malin Akerman is one of those actresses who’s played enough roles to know her face, but never got big enough to remember her name. However, she often stood next to stars whose names you already know. Next to Ben Stiller The Heartbreak Kid (2007) for example, or alongside Ryan Reynolds and Sandra Bullock The Proposal (2009). She was the annoying sister 27 Dresses, the 2008 romantic comedy starring Katherine Heigl. In Couples Retreat from 2009 she played the love of Vince Vaughn. That same year she was in the film Watchmen.

Thanks to her blonde look bombshell and her comedic talent, Malin fit perfectly into the romantic comedy genre, which was very popular at the beginning of the century. After 2010, the romcom fell into decline. Akerman continued to act extensively, in the US and sometimes in Sweden, but was no longer able to add major cinema films to her credit. In recent years she has played in smaller but also more ‘dramatic’ productions. “Humor was a mask,” she says about the start of her career. “It was time to turn it off.”

Perfectly bilingual

This week Akerman returns to the general public as presenter of the Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö. She was born almost 46 years ago – her birthday is Sunday – in Stockholm. Both her parents are Swedish. When she was two years old, her father got a job offer in Canada and the family moved there. Four years later the Akermans divorced and Malin’s father returned to Sweden. She stayed in Canada with her mother. Because she was raised in Swedish and lived in English, the presenter is fluent in both languages. She also speaks French and Spanish.

As a seventeen-year-old, Akerman won a modeling competition in Canada. At that time she was already on her own two feet, she says in an interview, because she left her mother’s house at the age of sixteen, who had mental problems. As a model, Akerman starred in commercials. That’s how she got the idea to start acting. She moved to Los Angeles, where she made her breakthrough after several difficult years. Her first role with a name was in the thriller TheCircle in 2002.

The actress married drummer Roberto Zincone of the band the Petalstones in 2007. They met when she sang with the band. The couple had son Sebastian together in 2013, but separated a few months later. Today the Eurovision host married actor Jack Donnelly. He is best known for his role in the BBC series Atlantis. Malin and Jack have done a few TV movies together in recent years, such as A week in paradise (2022) and Friendsgiving (2020). They live with her son in Los Angeles. However, for the actress, the area around Malmö, where the Eurovision Song Contest takes place, is familiar territory. Her father lives in Falstenbro, a half-hour drive from Sweden’s third largest city.

Malin will be seen again at Petra Mede’s side on Thursday and Saturday. The ladies will then present the second semi-final, including Belgium, and the grand final on Saturday.