Malin Akerman is the gorgeous Swedish actress who has appeared in many films. I've seen many of Malin's movies, but I didn't even know what her name was until a few years ago, which obviously means that she's doing a great job of keeping her private life private. Her newest movie is the film adaptation of the rock musical "Rock of Ages," co-starring Tom Cruise, Julianne Hough, Diego Boneta, Russell Brand, Alec Baldwin and Paul Giamatti. Malin explains what it was like to film a sex scene with Tom Cruise, what Paul Giamatti asked her to do in his hotel room, and much more!

POTP: When you auditioned, do you think they were more interested in singers than actors?
Malin: That's a really good question because I know that they had singers and actors. I'm not sure about the other roles what they were looking for. I'm sure Julianne and Diego are amazing, they're all encompasing dancers, singers and triple threats. I believe that my character came down to… they were figuring out if they wanted a singer or an actor and I think they went with the acting because my singing isn't that great in the audition! I think they knew they could use autotune and all those fantastic tools.

POTP: Did you want to bring more of a rock and roll sensability to the musical?
Malin: Luckily this was sort of up my alley. I'll be honest, I have gone to auditions for other musicals and not gotten called back [laughs]! The fact that this was a rock musical, I was so excited! I love singing music and it's so much fun to create music and sing. It was a huge challenge. It was definitely the most nerve-racking part about this whole process was singing.

POTP: What about the choreography? It was very intricate.
Malin: It was very intricate [laughs], yes! To get Tom on his knees to sing into my butt! It was so much fun! That was the fun part, having a couple of weeks and figuring out how we're gonna do this love scene on an air hockey table and how to get the perfect balance between fun and sexy and funny and grounded, and believe that they're really kind of falling in love but a bit confused about it. We had so many laughs as we were choreographing. You know the part of me sticking my tongue in his ear, that was not in the script! That was made up as we were doing choreography. Tom and I kept cracking up and we thought If we're laughing at this, we think the audience is going to dig it too.'

POTP: What was your reaction when you found out you'd be playing Tom Cruise's love interest?
Malin: I was like, 'Awwww, damn! Top Gun, what?' It was great! I was really excited because I get to act with Tom Cruise. I'm a huge fan. His body of work is so impressive and I really love what he's doing now with Tropic Thunder, he's playing this crazy character. I loved him in Magnolia. He's a really transformative actor. And he can sing! The vocal coach even said 'If this man wanted to, he could be an opera singer.' I believe there was a moment when he was performing and he broke one of the microphones with his voice, it literally popped one of the speakers because it's so powerful.

 

POTP: Do you think the younger crowd, like the Bieber fanbase, who may not be exposed to rock will gravitate towards the music?

Malin: I think so for sure. That's what I like about this movie, there's so many different age groups in it; it sort of attracts so many different audiences whether it's the music or not. I think it's nice cause maybe we'll get the Bieber fans to listen to this, the real rock and roll! Get them intrigued. I'm a Bieber fan, but I'm a big fan of rock and roll and I also feel like, we gotta keep this music alive. We gotta keep the history of music alive and this is a fun way to do it. Hopefully those kids who are a Bieber fan will walk out and go 'Wow! Who's Journey? That was a really fun song.'

POTP: What was it like on the set, working with Alec Baldwin, Russell Brand, Catherine Zeta Jones?
Malin: The sad part is that I didn't have any scenes with them. You know what's crazy about Paul [Giamatti] s that he doesn't think he's a good actor. There were days where he was like, "I don't know what I'm doing. I should just quit!" Paul and I were staying at the same hotel and one night he was like, "Malin, do you mind helping me read this script that I'm going to be doing next?" I was like 'Oh my god, I'm helping Paul Giamatti go through his lines. This is crazy!' Watching him, he was like, "I don't know, what do you think?" I'm like, 'You're asking me what I think? I think it was GREAT!' He's like "I don't know. I don't think that was that good." So it was a beautiful moment to be with an actor that I admire as well, just watching his process. Everyone is so self-critical and that never goes away. To me, Paul is gold and he still feels like he's got a lot of work to do but that's what's also really beautiful about this business is you're never finished. You continue to grow, unfortunately in front of people and with a lot of critics, but it's just fun to try new things. This was definitely one of those great moments with great actors.

POTP: Did you identify with Sherrie's struggle with getting into the entertainment industry?
Malin: I didn't strip! Instead of stripping I was catering [laughs], which wasn't at all as exciting. I think everyone who comes here has a dream and that's the thing I like about this movie is '[the message is] 'Don't give up!' There is a moment where you're like, 'Hey buddy, it's been fifty years. Maybe it's time to give up. You're living on the street; it's time to get a job!' But I really feel like you have to try. You have to give yourself some time. We've got one life to live and I don't want to be an old woman and regret that I didn't go for what my dream was. For sure I can relate to that. It's a tough struggle. It took me… I had one year where I didn't get one single job and I went into music and said, 'Maybe I could do this!' and that didn't work and I went back into acting. I came here like a deer in headlights like Sherrie where you had no idea what Hollywood had to offer and what it would be like. Coming from Toronto, it's a small little pond. This is an ocean of millions of people that you're competing against.