TCB Infomercial: Malin Akerman

This episode is sponsored by our good friends at 5 Hour Energy.

All right, Labor Day is right around the corner, and that means I've taken one more spin around the sun.

What if my energy boost could taste like my birthday cake?

A big old birthday party in my mouth without the awkward singing from Steve and Accounting.

That's what you will get with the new 5 Hour Energy Confetti Craze flavor.

It's a vanilla-y, buttery, full-on birthday cake vibe without all the sugar and the need to crash.

It's got as much caffeine as a fancy 12-ounce cup of coffee, but as mentioned, zero sugar.

And here's the best part: the thing is tiny.

You can toss it in your bag, your glove box, your sock drawer, or keep it in your fridge.

So, next time you go to grab an emergency snack, you've got confetti in your mouth.

And the confetti craze is only here for a limited time.

Translation, get it now before it's gone, and you're back to pretending that the office room donuts are festive.

5 Hour Energy Confetti Craze flavor is available online, so head to 5Hourenergy.com or order yours today on Amazon and start living that big birthday life.

And happy birthday to me.

Planning a trip this year?

Imagine how much richer your travel experience could be if you could speak the local language.

Whether you're traveling abroad, planning a staycation, or just shaking up your routine.

What better time to dive into a new language?

With Rosetta Stone, you'll gain the confidence to have real conversations and create deeper connections wherever you go.

Rosetta Stone is the trusted leader in language learning for over 30 years.

Their immersive, intuitive method helps you naturally absorb and retain your new language on desktop or mobile, whenever and wherever it fits your summer schedule.

With 30 years of experience, millions of users, and 25 languages to choose from, Rosetta Stone is the go-to tool for real language growth.

Don't wait, unlock your language learning potential now.

Listeners of this podcast can grab Rosetta Stone's lifetime membership for 50% off.

That's unlimited access to 25 language courses for life.

Visit rosettastone.com slash rst10 to get started and claim your 50% off today.

Don't miss out.

Go to rosettastone.com slash rst10 and start learning today.

It's not my fault.

You stupid Mexican ozone.

No, the Mexican ozone isn't stupid, Lila.

You just needed to wear some sunscreen.

I was trying to get a tan.

No, No, you were trying to get savage.

Whose side are you on, Eddie?

What?

What sides are there?

Mine are the ozone.

Choose one!

On this episode of the Commercial Break,

I went to university.

I only completed one year of psychology.

I thought I was going to become a child psychologist.

So this was like, yeah, quite a sort of

go to the left instead of the right.

You took a left at Albuquerque.

Yeah.

Yeah, totally.

But you you know, it's one of those things as well.

You hear, like, all right, well, ride the wave.

This might, I was young, it was early 20s, and I was like, well, opportunities are presenting themselves.

Let me just see what could happen.

And, um, and by the way, it wasn't that easy.

It took years before things really started to happen, but of course, but decided to kind of go, yeah, let's.

I was a bit burnt down on school and working and going to school at the same time.

And I just thought, let's just do one thing for a year and see what happens.

So, I've never gone back to university since.

Yeah.

Well, keep that in your back back pocket, Marlin.

Maybe someday you'll need to go back to universe and get yourself.

Maybe I will.

The next episode of the commercial break starts now.

5:30.

Oh, yeah, Cows and Kittens.

Welcome back to the Commercial Break.

I'm Brian Green.

This is my dear friend and the co-host of this show, Chris Joy Hoadley.

Best to you, Chris.

Best to you, Brian.

And best to you out there in the podcast universe.

Thanks for joining us on yet another episode of the Commercial Break.

It's a TCB Infomercial Tuesday, and a good one at that.

Malin Ackerman is here joining us today.

A very famous actress indeed.

Oh my gosh.

Have we upped our game?

We have.

She's been in so many things.

Have we upped our game?

That's all I gotta say.

Yes, we've upped our game.

I like it.

Malin has been in more things than

we could go on forever and ever about all the TV and movies that she's been in.

But she's probably most noted for a couple of things.

I will say Watchman.

Watchmen.

I will say The Comeback.

Yep.

I will say Billions.

Yes.

Couple's Retreat.

Couple's Retreat.

What other funny movies has she?

I mean, a million of funny movies she's been in.

Television shows,

Children's Hospital, The Proposal, 27 Dates, 27 dresses.

Yep.

She's been in.

The list goes on and on.

She's a Swedish-born actress, raised in Canada, then moved to Los Angeles, where she found some luck.

She was a model, and then she found...

She started off as a model.

And then she found some luck as an actress taking taking some small parts, and then eventually becoming a big name actress.

She's got a brand new television show on Netflix streaming.

It's available now, The Hunting Wives.

The Hunting Wives.

The Hunting Wives.

How very exciting for her and very exciting.

Watch the trailer.

It looks really good.

Yeah.

I did not watch the trailer, but I trust you.

Set in Texas.

Ooh.

Little drama in Texas.

I heard it's new girl moves into town.

Yeah, a new girl moves into town.

Mollin takes her under the wind.

Uh-huh.

Yeah, she's the head conscious.

Lies and videotape follows.

Yeah, it's like Yellowstone, Pretty Lies,

and another one.

But it looks interesting and bingeable.

It's a strawa.

It's a streaming drama.

It's a straw on, and you must watch it.

Those things do very well on that Netflix creature.

Yeah, and I imagine that Malin would not be involving herself unless there were some fine people behind

this particular

television production.

And I'm very excited to have her too.

Watchmen is really probably one of the the first.

I know it's not like comic book material, but like in that same vein, Watchman was one of the first, besides the original Batman movies and the Superman movies, it's something that got me very interested in like the graphic novel.

The graphic novels.

I remember buying the book after I saw the movie because I was so fascinated by it.

And then, of course, everyone was wearing those buttons, the smiley face with the

you know, the bleed, the bullet.

Oh, that's right.

Remember, everyone was wearing those.

I was victim to that too.

I think I wore a button around for a while.

But just such a beautiful young lady and such a great part in The Watchman is such a complicated and layered movie and a very long one at that, nonetheless.

And then have watched her in so many other comedic roles that she's taken on, sitcoms and television shows, Children's Hospital.

I think she was in like 40 episodes of Children's.

Have you ever watched Children's Hospital?

I didn't watch it, but I saw that that was on Adult Swim.

It was so good.

That show was so good.

It was on for a long time, I think.

It was on for a very long time on Adult Swim.

And if I'm not mistaken, another one of our guests, Paul Scheer, was in children's hospital, also.

I think so.

I think I might be right about that.

Okay, Malin Ackerman, we're going to put a link to our brand new Netflix series.

We wish that you would go watch it because these people don't come here for their health, they come here because they love Brian and Chrissy.

Then, secondarily, they're promoting something.

And today, we're promoting the Netflix show, The Hunting Wives.

So, go watch it.

Click on the link, watch it on your own Netflix subscription.

If you need my login, let me know and I'll send it to you.

And then they're cracking down on that.

They are cracking down on that.

We know that here in this family because we have a few stragglers who were out there in the wind using our Netflix account.

We didn't know that until they said, Did you change your password?

And I said, Are you still using my Netflix account?

Yes.

But they couldn't get in even using our password.

It said, too many people are logged in from different locations.

Sorry, Charlie.

And then sometimes early on in this whole Netflix process, we were getting kicked off our Netflix accounts.

We wouldn't be able to log in.

It'd be like, what the fuck is going on?

There's only one person in the house.

I had to find out other people were using our Netflix accounts.

Everybody was doing it.

No more.

Disney Plus has done the same thing.

Yeah.

It's all Hulu.

Yeah, the game's over now, kids.

We all got to pay $19.95 a month.

But in this case, maybe worth it as the hunting-wise, the new strama from Netflix.

We're all going to watch it.

Okay, let's do this.

Let's take a break.

And when we get back, through the magic of telepodcasting, wherever in the world she happens to be, we'll find out and we'll talk to her right here on the screen.

What do you think, Chrissy?

I think we should do it.

Okay, we'll do it after this break.

Why don't you text us and we can text back and then you can text us and reply, then so on.

It's a fun little game I've been playing and I think you'll be great at it.

212-433-3TCB.

That's 212-433-3822.

You could leave a message too.

If you do, maybe you'll end up being the voice of the show.

But be warned, the pay is not great.

You could go to the website and drop us an email, also, tcbpodcast.com.

And while you're there, you can get a free sticker.

Who doesn't want a free sticker?

Just go to the contact us button and ask for one.

Follow us on Insta at thecommercial break and watch the episodes at youtube.com/slash the commercial break.

Now I'm going to go back to that texting game.

You want to play?

Come on.

Bye.

This episode is brought to you by Squarespace.

I'm out on our little break.

I'm over at the local coffee shop and I'm talking to one of the people behind the counter.

They say, I want to start my own podcast.

To which I reply, you already have more listeners than we do.

But their question to me was, What do I need in order to launch a podcast?

Three things: a microphone, an idea, and a website.

And our good friends at Squarespace, they have the all-in-one website platform designed to help you stand out and succeed online.

Whether you're creating content, selling something, offering a service, or just want to keep people people informed about your comings and goings.

You can build your website, grow your brand, and get paid all in one place.

And if a website is a building block of a business, what's the building blocks of the website?

Two things, in my opinion.

Number one, design.

You gotta have a good-looking design.

And Squarespace has a collection of cutting-edge design tools that anyone can use to build a website that fits your brand perfectly.

Number two, building block, you have to be found.

As I've often said about podcasting, if you want to be heard, you have to get found.

No different out there on the world wide Web and search engine optimization is the key to doing that.

While some companies and services may charge thousands or tens of thousands of dollars for search engine optimization, it's included with every single website on Squarespace.

And the great news about all of this is you do not have to be some designer, programmer, search engine optimization expert.

Squarespace is designed to help me build a website.

And if I can do it, you can do it.

I'm really not all that smart.

Go to squarespace.com/slash commercial to save 10% off your purchase of a website or domain using the code commercial and start building your business or grow the one that you have or refresh that multi-billion dollar conglomerate.

Squarespace.com slash commercial.

And when you're ready to launch, make sure to use the code commercial.

And thank you to Squarespace for always being a sponsor of the commercial break.

Hello, it's Lena Dunham.

I host a podcast called The Sea Word with my dearest friend and historian of bad behavior, Alyssa Bennett.

What is up?

It's a chat show about women whose society is called crazy.

We're going to be rediscovering the stories of women society dismissed by calling them mad, sad, or just plain bad.

Listen to and follow The Sea Word with Lena Dunham and Alyssa Bennett.

Available now, wherever you get your podcasts.

Hey, I'm Brett Podolsky, co-founder of The Farmer's Dog.

We make fresh food for dogs.

We started the company when we saw what a huge difference it made in my own dog, Jada, when she stopped eating ultra-processed kibble and started eating fresh whole food.

The farmer's dog food isn't fancy.

It's just real food delivered to your door in pre-portioned packs.

It's better for them and easier for you.

Get 50% off your first box at thefarmersdog.com slash trial50.

That's thefarmersdog.com slash trial50.

And Marlin is here with us now.

Thank you so much for joining us.

I was very excited to learn that you were going to come on the show.

You're most welcome.

Thank you.

Because you just take one look at your now very long laundry list of TV shows and movies that you've been in, and you're so recognizable from so many things that we love.

But I would imagine that the thing you get the most love for in your career, or the thing that most people fawn over you about, is Watchmen.

Am I right about that?

If you go to a Comic-Con, then then yes,

that's the kind of people I'm talking about, Mollen.

Yeah,

the cool one.

My people.

Yeah, that's a big one.

But you know, if you talk to the ladies, it's usually 27 dresses.

That is a good movie, also.

Or couples retreat.

Or couples retreat.

I love that.

I know.

So there's a few of those.

It's a real mixed bag, to be honest with you.

But Watchmen was the biggest undertaking for sure for me in my career.

And really just a an incredible once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing i am not one of those people now god bless the our comic-con fans and we have i'm sure we have a lot of them that listen to the show but that's that's not me but i did i'm not like a super superhero type you know comic book um

type of fan but the watchman i went and saw it in the theaters with some friends and i was fascinated by the movie i loved it i thought it was so good um why is it the biggest undertaking of your career well first of all yeah i agree i think that that it was really because it's not quite a superhero film.

It's more like a real, that's what I loved about the graphic novel.

I'm also not like a huge superhero moviegoer.

But I thought this was brilliant.

It was more like humanity, existentialism.

It's all wrapped into, you know, these vigilantes who don't have superpowers.

But I...

I guess it was a huge undertaking because it was nine months of my life.

It was three months of training.

As you recognized, you were in the movie theater for double-length features.

Right, right.

But it, so that took six months to shoot.

And, you know, for the first three months before shooting, I was training with a former Navy SEAL, and I thought I was going to

be able to do that.

And then learn some, oh man, and then learned some really great fight moves and fight choreography.

And it was really...

amazing and and so incredibly challenging and fun.

And also that was the first sort of film where I felt really green and out of my depths.

I'd been doing comedy up until then.

And then I was thrown in with all of these, for me, these incredible actors who, you know, theater trained,

well-versed in this, in drama.

And I just felt like a fish out of water.

So it was not only my imposter syndrome that I had to fight, but it was also

just a learning curve, you know, and a beautiful one.

And I felt so lucky to be there.

So there was a lot going on.

And then just the challenges of shooting.

You know, it was winter in British Columbia and let me tell you, a latex suit out in the cold is, you're better off naked because that outfit, the latex like, it takes on the cold and it just kind of stays on you.

So yeah, there are a few little like bits and pieces.

Yeah, I think this is the first movie where I, maybe not the first, probably the first movie because I don't read many books.

Let's be honest about it.

I listen to a lot of them, but I don't read them.

Have you read Ram Das?

Yes, I read Ram Das.

This is the first movie where I watched the movie knowing nothing about it and ran out and grabbed the graphic novel because it was so fascinating to me because

there was so much.

There's so much to it.

There's so many layers and depths to the movie and to convey that all even in a short period of time was really difficult.

I think you did a wonderful job.

Still one of my favorite.

I mean, of those type of movies, it's one of my favorite.

Certainly.

You've been doing this.

You've been in the entertainment business for a long time.

I read that at 16 years old, you were cast to the Ford Modeling Agency, and then a couple of years later, you started taking on small roles.

Am I right?

Is Google right about that?

Yeah, we don't know at all.

Google is right.

Google got it right this time.

Yeah.

Yeah,

it started small and really wasn't.

I was out of the house at 16 and went to Toronto.

We were living in a small town outside of Toronto, Niagara Lake, and went to Toronto and sort of decided to do modeling as a side hustle and spend my summers traveling the world and doing that since

I was a possibility and an option.

Of course.

So that was a great way to see bits and pieces of the world.

And then

never

thought that this would be the course of my life.

I thought I went to university.

I only completed one year of psychology.

I thought I was going to become a child psychologist.

So this was like, yeah, quite as like sort of

go to the left instead of the right.

You took a left at Albuquerque.

Yeah.

Yeah, totally.

But, you know, know, it was one of those things as well.

You hear, like, all right, well, ride the wave.

I, this might, I was young, it was early 20s, and I was like, well, opportunities are presenting themselves.

Let me just see what could happen.

And, um, and by the way, it wasn't that easy, it took years before things really started to happen.

But of course, but decided to kind of go, yeah, let's.

I was a bit burnt down on school and working and going to school at the same time.

And I just thought, let's just do one thing for a year and see what happens.

So, and never gone back to university since.

Yeah.

Well, keep that in your back back pocket, Molyland.

Maybe someday you'll need to go back to university.

Get yourself out of the way.

Maybe I will.

Yeah, I think

things turned out for me.

Who in their right mind lets you out of the house at 16 years old?

Like, I mean, by the way, I was also out of the house at 16 years old.

So

there you go.

I know that.

But different times.

My dad was glad to let me.

I mean, my dad was happy to let me go.

He didn't want me to take the furniture.

He asked me to bring back the furniture.

That's young to be out of the house.

You said said Toronto at the time?

In Toronto, I was pretty responsible.

I mean, I say that.

Like, I was grown up enough to live on my own and take that step.

Sure.

And I had roommates who were much older.

Some of them were actually makeup artists in the business.

And, you know, so it was, I had great mentors all the time as I was out in the world.

But yeah, I think that, and I, when I say responsible, I still was doing all this stupid stuff.

Of course.

of course, but to a certain degree, because I only had a certain amount of money to spend and a certain amount of, you know, I had to get up in the morning, go to work, or whatever it was.

So, so I guess I learned at an early age just a bit of responsibility, and I liked it, so I didn't take advantage of it.

That is where our stories veer, Malin.

You were somewhat responsible, I was absolutely irresponsible.

Yeah, I moved in with two dancers, ladies of the night, if you will.

I moved in.

My dad loved it.

but this isn't this isn't about me this is about you um

i would like to hear that story one day yeah well i mean it's a pretty easy one uh guy works at gas station uh because you know why not work at a gas station 16 dancer walks in and guy moves in with dancer at 16 years old it was crazy my dad was i think he was happy to see me go if i'm being honest he thought get this trouble out of the house right go figure out oh my god

so move out at 16 then you turn 18 When do you start getting like substantial roles, enough roles that you're supporting yourself?

I mean, you're obviously supporting yourself, you're paying rent, you have roommates, but when does it start to click that maybe this is something I can do?

Not for a long time.

It still was, I was still going to school up until I was 20 years old.

And

then I was, and then that's when I kind of things started to pick up, and I was doing some really

bad roles on bad Canadian television shows.

What do you mean?

Not that all Canadian television shows aren't great.

There are some really good ones, but I got the bad ones.

And then, you know, I guess it was somewhere around when I was 21 that

I got an audition that

I got a call back and they flew me out for a screen test, which is when you go in and you kind of do a chemistry read with somebody with the lead actor, which happened to be Rob Schneider at that point.

It was for a movie called The Hot Chick.

Rachel McAdams ultimately gone.

But it was a wild experience.

Got flown out, got put up in a hotel, went to Disney studios to do the audition.

It was really surreal.

Didn't get the role, which was fine.

But I got a call from a manager and called my agent in Canada and said, you know, I'd really like to represent her, and I think she should come out for pilot season and give it a try.

So I did.

I convinced my best friend, the one who lives here in Martha's Vineyard now.

And she was also kind of doing the same thing I was doing going to school and working.

And said, you know what?

There's nothing holding us back.

Let's just go give it a good try.

So we did.

Got nothing, you guys, for a good year and a half.

Started a band, did that whole thing, married the drummer.

Oh, that's right.

I read that.

Yeah.

Married the drummer.

I love it.

I like the drummer.

You probably shouldn't marry the drummer, right?

No, have you ever seen Spinals have?

I've got a little little fun with it.

No, you stay away from the drummers.

Yeah, you marry the bassist.

The bassist is always the stable one in the crew.

I don't know if you marry any musician.

Well, fair enough.

I don't know if musicians are stable.

Yeah, no.

We had a blast.

We had a blast.

And then after a year and a half, I just thought, what am I doing?

Like, I'm just wasting time here.

I can't, I'm not the singer.

I'm not going to be in a band for my whole life.

So I gave my manager a three-month rule, and I said, I'm out in three months.

If I don't get anything, it was another pilot season.

And he's like, All right, I'm going to send you out.

And within three weeks of that pilot season, I got the comeback on HBO.

That's right.

Oh, I love that show, which was a great show.

That was

my little big break.

That was your little big break on HBO.

Yeah.

Yeah, exactly.

That is exactly.

That is an amazing story.

You get flown at.

You're relatively unknown, certainly to the United States, to the U.S.

market.

You're doing Canada shows.

Canadian shows, these are comedy shows like sitcoms that you're just.

no, oh no, funnily enough, in Canada, it was like little like drama, like little, again,

small, small parts.

Yeah.

Not even soap operas, just like dramas, like TV drama.

Okay.

And it was more serious roles, but again, for like five minutes on screen.

When I say serious roles, you know.

But then once you break in somewhere, like in Hollywood, if you, you kind of get pigeonholed into one,

once you've broken into it and people are like, oh, that person for comedy only so that's why watchman was such a big step a big jump yeah to be seen for that that was going to be my next question is that

you i think you have this like run of comedic roles and then the watchman comes along and i that's obviously a less comedic role it's very serious role and it's the movie can be dark in places and so

did you have any comedic training did you go to like improv class i mean was there anything in your background that would have indicated you would have been a good comedic actress, which you are.

There's you have great roles in some great comedy movies and television shows.

I honestly don't.

It wasn't, no, I did not do any of that stuff.

I've had an acting coach here and there to help out with some auditions.

I tried

a Meisner technique class for a couple of weeks, which was interesting.

But I don't know.

I do not have training as a comedic actor.

I think growing up and

my mother went through bouts of depression

when I was young.

And so I think trying to get her to laugh and be silly and be a clown was sort of my role in the family.

Same with us.

And having

being the clowns of the family.

Yeah.

And I just think that was like,

I was happy to embarrass myself and had no reservations.

And I think that just helped out with the comedy.

But I'll tell you this much that when, so the comeback is comedy, but it also was so true to life.

Like it's like, here, play this character who adores this other character who they've been watching their whole lives.

I'm like, well, it's true to life.

I mean, I'm watching Lisa Kudron Friends Die, so that's not far from reality.

So that wasn't a huge undertaking.

But then when I went in and did the next role that I got was the Heartbreak Kid with Ben Stiller, and that audition process.

Process was wild because then all of a sudden it was like oh, you're in the comedy world.

Like this is the Fairley brothers are watching you.

You're doing a chemistry read with Ben Stiller.

This was like the second round.

I brought in with Ben Stiller.

And he throws the script away and says,

we're not really, this isn't going to be what, it's not finished.

It's not the writing.

This isn't, these aren't going to be the scenes.

So let's just improv.

No way.

So my heart went up in my throat and I was like, oh my God, I'm about to improv with Ben Stiller.

I still are.

I have no idea how to do improv.

I have no idea what I was supposed to say.

But it was almost like, I don't know if you ever have those days where you just feel like you're on and the focus and everything like falls into place and everything works and then you have your off days where nothing is working 99 of these episodes it just

yeah so you can we relate yeah we relate but that was just one of those one of those on days and it worked out great we just kind of flowed and uh

And I guess, again, it's that freedom of not really caring, you know, my

physical comedy.

I'm happy to give any of of that and like anything to make people laugh.

And so I think it's just a life skill, maybe.

Yeah, I think you have a natural,

you have a sense of timing and a sense of humor, right?

And I think that sense of timing is often what comedy is all about.

Not only is it the right thing to say, the right word to place, but it's the emphasis and the timing.

And you're very funny in some of these roles.

And to know you have zero, like, you know, you didn't do any stand-up, you went to no improv classes, you did Meisner.

Okay, you had a week of Meisner training, but then you get thrown in with Ben Stiller and you're doing improv all of a sudden.

I can only imagine how terrifying that is.

And that must have been just some kind of like universal magic moving through you in that moment because that's.

Yeah, that's really crazy.

Listen, you asked me to go and do

my husband is the, on the other hand, he's, he's more of a writer now, but he came up as an actor and he had his own improv group in England called Chuckle Dusters.

Oh, wow.

It's on YouTube and it's like great.

It's like, kind of like, whose line is it anyway?

Yeah.

It was great.

And then he came over to America and he started writing and then he did the UCB courses, which is, you know, Upright Citizens Grade, which is all improv stuff.

And man, I went to watch those shows and I just thought to myself, I could never do that.

I'd be terrified to get on that stage and just hope that something comes to mind.

And then there are all these rules of like, yes, and is just the beginning, by the way.

There are so many rules in how you, you know, make a scene work.

So it really is a true talent.

Stand-up comedy and

improv and all that stuff is, I really bow down to those actors.

We have the utmost respect for stand-up comedians

do something that I think is quite amazing.

They capture your attention and they have a way to deliver a message.

It's a Trojan horse.

It's wrapped in a package.

And the good ones do it so brilliantly.

And you're right about improv.

I had friends that worked at a place called Whole World Improv Theater, which is famous here in Atlanta.

And they did some work with Turner and stuff like that.

But he was there for five, six years.

And I always was a little jealous.

I wanted to be a part of Whole World Theater, but I was never brave enough to take that step because it seems so scary.

And when you dig into it, for being improv, quote unquote,

it's so structured.

Like, there's so much structure to improv that you need to learn.

I mean, it becomes a muscle, I imagine, that you can work, but it is, there is a very, there's a very like fine art to being a good

improv comedian, especially the way that they do it on stage.

And, you know,

you've worked with some of the best.

I have to like step back one second on the comeback.

What is it like to walk on set?

Did you audition for the comeback with Lisa?

Yeah, so it was, I can't remember if I had to do one or two sort of regular auditions, but

the the ultimate was a like a chemistry read with lisa and it's called like a a test a studio test and so you go into the studio and it literally looks like a movie theater and you have the studio execs

i know and lisa koudreau and michael patrick king

but before you step into that to do your like chemistry read you have to um sign your contract that may or may not happen for you so you're looking at this contract going oh my god i might make money or i might not.

Yeah.

And then you go in and you do the audition, you chemistry read with Lisa.

I mean, it was wild.

My heart was pounding through my chest, but she was so lovely and so calming.

And, you know, she's obviously been through a few of those herself.

Yeah, she's a pro.

She knew exactly what we were all going through.

Yeah.

Uh-huh.

Yeah, she's a pro.

When you go into it.

It was crazy.

And then I called my friend and went out and drank margaritas right after.

Good for you.

Yeah, exactly.

Forget about it and see what happens.

When you go in and you're doing this studio test, like this chemistry test, what are these do these do they do these on purpose just to torture people?

I mean, why do they have to be in the room for the chemistry test?

Why do they have to be in the room?

I don't know.

It it feels terrifying and terrible.

I don't know why they do it.

And and there is, I think there's a lot of like industry articles and and and stuff about, you know, the audition process, which is so different than actually being on a set and doing your job.

Sure.

The audition process is like, is highly stressful and a completely different, unique animal to what acting actually is.

So I don't know why they do it.

It's not a fun experience.

It seems unorganizing.

But yeah.

But that's the way it's done, guys.

Well, listen, I would imagine that the studio muckety mucks, right, who sometimes are creative types and most of the time are not, they just want to be in on the big decisions.

They want to feel like they're doing something.

When I would imagine at the end of the day, it really does have to do with the the chemistry between the two who are playing those parts.

That Lisa would have some say and say, Hey, listen, I like this person for this role because it feels right for me.

But I, you know, they got to earn those big paychecks they're making.

So, and to sign a contract, sign a contract

to even walk in the room is insane.

Isn't that brutal?

Yes, it's insane.

And I literally was, I think I was living in a motel at that point and working under the table at some restaurant and making 20 bucks a day.

So, I mean, it was really like seeing those numbers on the page, which in hindsight weren't big numbers.

Yeah.

Because I'm a newbie.

But for me, it was huge.

The difference of, oh, maybe I can move into an apartment now versus living in a cheap, shitty motel with a microwave.

So definitely was a great.

Mullin's like $300 an episode.

What's this

going on?

But you got to sign before you even meet anybody.

Yeah.

And by the way,

there's a 50% chance you're not going to get the part.

So congratulations.

You signed your life for it.

And by the way, you're going to sit in the room with the other girl who you're up against, and you guys are just going to sit there and stare each other down until you go in.

Yeah.

God, nerve-wracking.

Yeah.

Well, you were in another one of, you were in another one of my favorite shows, which is Billions.

So talk a little bit about how you got that role.

And I mean, did you get to work much with Paul Giamatti?

He's just one of my favorites.

Paul Giamatti and I actually worked together on Rock of Ages.

Oh, that's right.

We didn't have many scenes together, but we were

living in the same hotel and we were kind of like roommate buddies across the hall.

So we got for dinners.

And like, I love that man so much.

Then when we, when I got billions, I obviously called him up right away.

And I was like, we're going to be in the same show together.

cut to the fact that we're never in any scene.

Well, right.

Yes.

But we got to see each other at the table reads.

And of course, we hung out and all that.

But I loved Paul.

He's an incredible actor and just such a lovely person, such a brilliant mind.

But that was really,

I was chasing just a different kind of role.

And then this came about and I really fought for it.

Again, because even though Watchmen had happened, a lot of my stuff has been comedic.

So, you know, did a lot of auditions for it.

I flew out to New York to meet the showrunners, the creators,

to really sit down and try to convince them and have a chat um

and i i had just recently become a mom and i just thought you know i have this whole new well of emotions that i want to play with now that i never had before becoming a mom interesting um and this woman is you know a mom of mother in in the show and really family strong and um not to be messed with and i just thought yeah i think i can play that now i understand that now yeah

so it was really neat um and i felt really excited to land that role because it was something.

And all I got for that was the pilot.

So I didn't know what her trajectory was, like what the arc was, where she was going.

But I love in the pilot, she's just, you know, cutthroat.

So that's why I flew to New York and had a chat with the show creators and was like, listen, you know, there's not much in the pilot, but where does this go and who is she?

And tell me all about her because I love what she is in the pilot.

And sure enough, they.

they definitely told me a great story about where she was going, her character, and I loved it.

Ah, you did a fantastic job.

And just that whole, that whole team, I just, we, we, my husband and I were just

watch that every week up until the end.

It is a great cast and a great story that's really pertinent to the times.

That, you know,

I mean,

you know,

it fluctuates up and down all the time.

It's always been there, but it's really funny, too, because my, I always say my now husband, my husband.

Yes, my second husband.

Not your drummer husband.

Yeah.

Your non-drummer husband.

yeah, my non-drummer little British husband.

He and his dad were avid watchers of billions as well.

Before we even met, I think we met like after I'd after I'd done the second season.

Oh, wow, I had met my husband, so he was with me in New York while I was shooting the third season.

But I remember he was telling the story how he called his dad finally and was like, Dad, I'm dating a woman out here in Hollywood.

And his dad was like, Oh, who is it?

And he goes, Remember that girl, that woman from Billions?

The Hawaii, yeah, girlfriend,

The White.

And the dad is like, oh, be careful with that one.

Like, he's nothing like your character.

That's really funny.

So they were, they, they had like a father-son watch party whenever Billions can meet.

Oh, that's great.

You married the fanboy.

Yeah.

I think that's really interesting that you find

this like like you say a new well of emotions a new some a new resource creatively And you say, I'd like to find an outlet there because I'm feeling things that I haven't before.

And I think I can express those through my art.

I just need to find the right vehicle to do so.

That feels, that's a very interesting way that you just described that.

And I like that.

I like the thought

that you would tune into something that was going on and say, I could put this to good use.

I could find a way to express myself on celluloid or wherever if I could just find the right part that is different from what I've done before because I'm feeling things that I have never felt before.

And as a parent myself,

you certainly go through this huge range of emotions that first year or two that you have a child.

It's crazy.

Things you thought you would never feel, the depths of love and fear, and anxiety, and trepidation, and stress.

And you never knew that you could exist on so little sleep.

And I'm not even a mother.

I'm just a father.

I'm just the dude that gets up half the time, right?

So

you really,

you really felt this urge to go like express this creatively.

I just felt like there was so much, and I love comedy and that's always my safe house and my safe place.

But I also think, like you said, like when I came home with my son, I like the first time he cried, I went, oh my God, what?

Why did they give me a human?

Yes.

Crazy.

You know, and then you figure it out, but it's, it's a shock, man.

And there's a lot that goes into it.

And unfortunately, my

first husband and I, we split up when he was only four months old.

So that was like, that was another thing, a layer on top to contend with.

And like, all of a sudden, kind of becoming a single mom and like, you know, all the things you didn't think that you can't prepare for.

And it just, again, just, just brought new levels to the person that I am, which could have been parenthood.

And it can also just be growing up, you know, and moving through different scenarios.

It doesn't necessarily, but for me, it was in the shape of parenthood.

And so I was lucky enough that I got the role in billions because that doesn't always happen.

You can look and you can search, and there's always things that we want to be doing.

Like, I'm still wanting that day, my day in court where I get to work with the Cohen brothers on a few years.

Yes.

So if they're listening right now, hire me.

Me too, Joel Levy.

Me too.

Yes.

I can play a podcaster.

Yeah.

I mean, that's like

Apex Predator.

Yeah, that's Apex Predator type stuff.

The Cohen brothers are certainly

some of my favorite films.

Dreams don't always come out.

I know.

You can chase things, but

keep putting it out there.

I think one of the brothers is coming out with a new movie, but that they did not do together, if I'm not mistaken.

So tell us about your new television show that's coming out on Netflix.

We watched the trend.

We're very excited about it.

The Hunter's Wife.

Oh, my gosh.

The Hunting Wives.

The Hunting Wives.

The Hunting Wives, yeah.

And it is, oh my gosh, you guys, talk about

billions and powerful women.

I play, so just to set it up for you, it's in a small town in East Texas, deep Texas, and you've got this young woman played by Brittany Snow named Sophie, who moves into town with her husband.

And she gets introduced to Margo Banks, which is my character, who is the queen bee of not only the Hunting Wives group, this group of wives, but also pretty much of the town.

Yeah.

And is charming and seductive and dangerous.

And Brittany gets wrapped up in, or Sophie gets wrapped up in Margot's world.

She invites her in.

And it's very much like Big Little Eyes meets Yellowstone, meets Desperate Housewives.

It is everything,

a little bit of everything for everyone.

It's one of those

binge-worthy shows that I just, as I got the scripts, on this one, I got all eight episodes and I got to read it all and see the arcs and the twists and the turns and where it all goes.

And it's nuts.

And I love my character.

She's also very strong,

very interesting, very manipulative.

I kind of liken her to a cult leader because they're always very true.

I mean, they make you drink the Kool-Aid.

That's Margo Banks.

She is a Kool-Aid pusher.

I watched the trailer and it looks exactly like you said, a mix of all of those different types of shows.

I can't wait to see that.

These shows.

Yeah, these types of shows, these kind of these mystery, drama, new art, these type of shows are doing so well right now because it's really good peak television, right?

And especially if you get something creatively that's got a good script and it's got a good and good performances, which I imagine you're giving in this television show.

It looks like it from the trailer.

I'll give it my best.

We'll see.

Where did you film it?

But it's very salacious and very crazy, so cover your eyes sometimes.

Is there a lot of sex in this?

Are we going?

Is it a sexy show that we can watch as adults?

It is sexy.

It's sexy.

I love it.

There's a few episodes.

Yeah, don't let your kids watch.

But yeah, definitely.

You got to have that fun part.

Yeah, you have to.

Where did you film?

We were maybe going to shoot in Austin, but then we ended up, I think Yellowstone took up all the crew over there.

Oh, yeah.

Or Taylor Sheridan did.

I think Yellowstone was in Montana.

Well, he's only got like 10 shows.

I mean,

every time I see a new show, it's the world.

Taylor Sheridan, yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah, Mollyn, when are you going to get your own Taylor Sheridan show?

Yeah.

When are you going to get your own Taylor Sheridan show?

Listen, I've auditioned for him a couple of times.

I'm still waiting for him to

take a spin-off off the hunting wire.

There you go.

We ended up shooting in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Oh, no, it's not too far from us.

It's a really great city.

Yeah, Charlotte is beautiful.

It is.

It is a great city.

It's a lovely, lovely city.

So the Netflix show.

It's also like the lake life out there.

Oh, yeah.

Oh, yeah.

Just in the summertime, just, you know, we shot Margot Banks and her husband played by Dermot Mulroney.

Our little heart throb from my best friend's wedding.

We had our character's cabin was out on Lake Norman.

Yeah, Lake Norman.

Very familiar.

Just beautiful.

So we would spend days there shooting and going out on boats and having a blast.

It was really, I'm excited to hopefully go back for a season too.

Yeah, Lake Norman up there is beautiful.

And Atlanta is lake life.

There's a lot of lake life going on here too, really all throughout the Piedmont area, South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia.

It's a little bit too far to drive to the coast, so we stay with our lakes.

So we have lake.

So we put huge boats on small lakes and go and drive in circles.

But the lakes are beautiful.

Sounds great.

Yeah, the lakes are beautiful and largely man-made.

Yeah.

So I think even Lake Norman is like a Duke Energy lake, which they

then keep clean.

And a lot of times there's a lake here called Lake Burton here in Georgia.

It's Georgia.

It's a Georgia power lake.

And so you can't actually buy the land.

You can lease the land.

And they have.

you know, houses that are $10, $15 million up there.

They're amazing.

It's a tiny little lake.

The entire lake is stonewalled.

It's a stonewalled lake and you can see the bottom of the of the lake as if you're in the caribbean it's amazing yeah and so i'll have to get out there at some point yes you belong in lake burton tell your tell the netflix folks to send you to burton yes no more norms send you to burton i'm in malin ackerman stars in the hunting wives hunting wives uh available on on Netflix.

When is it coming out?

I'm sorry, I don't know the date.

July 21st.

Oh, this will be out.

Yeah, this will be out when you're listening to this.

Pretty soon, you guys.

Oh, okay.

So exciting.

We are very excited to watch this.

Malin, we can't thank you enough for being here today on the commercial break.

You have been

in some of my favorite movies, comedic and otherwise.

And here's to many more years of using that well of emotion to dazzle us on the screen.

And Cohen Brothers.

Yes, that's up next.

Yes.

Three things.

If you're tuning in, Cohen Brothers.

Three things, Cohen.

But first of all, Cohen Brothers, get to it.

Marlin is ready to be in your next film, whenever that may be, whenever the two of you get back together to make a film.

Number two, can we please get a Taylor Sheridan show for Malin?

We understand, Taylor, she's already in your video file, so get on that.

And number three, let's move from Lake Norman to Lake Burton.

Yep, those three things.

I like this plan, guys.

Yes.

So that Marlin can be on a stonewalled lake.

Marlin Ackerman.

Malin Ackerman is on Netflix right now.

Go check out The Hunting Wise.

Thank you, Malin.

We appreciate it.

Thank you so much for having me, you guys.

It's been a pleasure.

Okay, you're probably wondering why I, Rachel, have taken over the voice duties at TCB.

It's pretty simple.

Astrid asked me to shut Brian up, even for a minute.

Well, lovely Astrid, your wish is my command.

Do you want to help Astrid too?

You know you do.

Leave a message for her or me or Chrissy at 212-433-3 TCB.

That's 212-433-3822.

You can be on the show too.

Just call and say something.

Anything.

Or text us and we'll text you right back.

Promise.

Then head over to tcbpodcast.com and get your free sticker.

It's your constitutional right to a sticker and we must abide.

You get the point.

Follow us on Instagram at thecommercial break and watch all the episodes on video at youtube.com slash thecommercial break.

Best to you and Astrid, especially Astrid.

Looking for endless fun with online casino games?

Step into Global Poker, the online social poker site where you can play poker in slots with friends, join regular tournaments, and try out fun new games.

No purchase necessary, just pure entertainment anytime, anywhere.

Sign up now for your free welcome offer and discover the vault.

Play for your chance to redeem some serious prices.

No purchase necessary.

VGW Group, void where prohibited by law.

21 plus.

TNC's apply.

Buying a car in Carvana was so easy.

I was able to finance it through them.

I just.

Whoa, wait, you mean finance?

Yeah, finance.

Got pre-qualified for a Carvana auto loan, entered my terms, and shot from thousands of great car options all within my budget.

That's cool, but financing through Carvana was so easy.

Financed.

Done.

And I get to pick up my car from their Carvana vending machine tomorrow.

Financed.

Right, that's what I said.

You can spend time trying to pronounce pronounce financing, or you can actually finance and buy your car today on Carvana.

Financing subject to credit approval.

Additional terms and conditions may apply.

Malyn Ackerman.

Wow.

Yes.

What a sweetheart.

She was very, very nice.

And

beautiful.

That goes without saying.

If you've ever seen Malyn Ackerman, and you have, because she's been in so many things, there's something beautiful.

She's not aged at all.

No, not a bit.

Like, not at all.

I think she's like my age, your age.

Yeah.

And I'm not looking that good.

You might be, but I'm not.

I'm not looking that good.

Yeah, Marlin looking that good.

But, you know,

it's all that Swedish.

She probably eats very healthy and, you know, doesn't go in the sun like I do, like I purposefully do.

She probably doesn't do any of that stuff, all that bad shit for you.

She probably never smoked a cigarette in her life.

You know, Marlin's probably on the good side of the tracks when it comes to health.

And she was a model.

Let's remember that.

So, you know.

But anyway.

I'm I'm excited for the show.

I'm excited for the show.

That's the most important thing.

She gets to use all of that mom energy and put it toward good use on her brand new Strama on Netflix.

I just made up a word now.

I'm going to use it all the time.

You did.

Or astromedy.

A drama comedy.

Astomedy?

I think a dromedy.

A drama.

Astromedy, yes, a dromedy.

But it's a stradromedy.

It's a stradromy.

Astradromedy.

She was good in Couples Retreat.

Yeah.

Oh, yeah.

I'm now remembering that role.

She was good in that.

And the comeback, which I liked when it was on.

I know.

I can't believe it was only for one season.

I thought it was for two seasons.

I did too, but it was only one.

I thought it was for two.

But I don't know.

Maybe.

I don't know.

It was long ago.

Yeah, it was a great show.

On HBO, I think you can get it on Max still because I think it popped up a couple months ago for me as something else.

I changed back to HBO Max, you know.

Yes, I did see that, fuckers.

Unbelievable.

It's like, update your app now to HBO Max.

And I'm like, I had HBO Max.

Why am I not?

You told me to get Max.

Yeah, now you told me to get Max.

Now you're back to HBO Max.

Makes no sense whatsoever.

I don't know what's going on.

Who knows?

If it was up to me, I would do things differently, but it's not up to me.

I just would have kept it HBO the entire time.

Just HBO that you can also get Cinemax shows on and all of those other.

And your favorite TLC?

TLC's on HBO Max, so I do find myself popping on there.

Virgins is the show I just finished watching.

Oh, Oh, and let me tell you something, that is a hot train wreck of a show, and I loved it.

But there were only six episodes, and then I guess it didn't get great ratings because six episodes and done.

I didn't see it.

Yeah, I wish they had.

There was a lot of dates that they went on and stuff that they did that they kind of wrapped into the last five minutes of the show so you could tell they had more content.

They just wrapped it up,

which sucked because I think that deserved a season two.

Anyway, not that.

Go watch the Hunting Wives.

Link below in the show notes.

Thanks, Mom Lynn, for coming in.

We certainly appreciate it.

Welcome back anytime.

212-433-3 TCB.

212-433-3822.

Questions, comments, concerns, contents, ideas, we take them all at the commercial break on Instagram, tcbpodcast.com for the audio, the video, and your free sticker.

And youtube.com slash thecommercial break for all the video, including this interview out now.

Okay, Chrissy, that's all I can do for today.

I think so.

I'll say that I love you.

And I love you.

Best to you.

Best TCC.

And best of you in the podcast universe.

Until next time, Chrissy and I will say.

We do say.

And we must say.

Goodbye.

Hey, Fidelity.

How can I remember to invest every month?

With the Fidelity app, you can choose a schedule and set up recurring investments in stocks and ETFs.

Huh, that sounds easier than I thought.

You got this.

Yeah, I do.

Now, where did I put my keys?

You will find them where you left them.

Investing involves risk, including risk of loss.

Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC member NYSE SIPC.

At Designer Shoe Warehouse, we believe that shoes are an important part of, well, everything.

From first steps to first dates, from all-nighters to all-time personal bests.

From building Hello Forts to building a light.

For all the big and small moments that make up your whole world, DSW.

DSW is there.

And we've got just the shoes.

Find a shoe for every you from brands you love at bragworthy prices at your DSW store or dsw.com.

Don't miss out.

Global poker is buzzing with non-stop action.

From social poker and slots to exciting new tournaments and exclusive offers.

Your friends are already in on the fun.

Are you?

Sign up today for your free welcome offer and unlock the thrill within.

Play anytime, anywhere, and don't let your chance to redeem some serious prizes slip away.

No purchase necessary.

PGW Group, void where prohibited by law, 21 plus.

TNC's apply.

Yeah.

Want to live better?

We've got a lot of work to do.

Join Chris Hemsworth in National Geographic's new Disney Plus original series, Limitless.

Live Better Now.

I'm diving headfirst into cutting-edge science to uncover three powerful secrets to living better right now.

The growth that occurs through any challenging experience is really what we see.

Chris Hemsworth stars in Limitless: Live Better Now, now streaming on Disney Plus and Hulu.

It's showtime.