What does Margo see when she looks at Sophie [Brittany Snow], this bright-eyed young newcomer to her group?
“A new toy!” Margo is smart. She may not use her smarts for good, but she is definitely smart and she wants smart people around her. She likes the challenge, she likes to be titillated. Sophie brings in a freshness and I think Margo really likes it, respects it, wants that on her side. She pulls her in because she wants a powerful woman beside her — but also someone who seems like she can control, because her best asset is being able to control people. There’s always an agenda with Margo, there’s always something to get out of it. But I think the initial feeling is, “Oh, this is a fun new shiny toy, and I want it . . . and I’m gonna have it.”
The dynamic of this hunting club is really quite the vipers’ nest . . .
It’s catty! It’s the worst of what you can see in women. Very different from my life where, over time, I have gathered a group of incredible women who support each other. This is the complete opposite of that. When your goal is just to be at the top of the social ladder and your values are not lined up with what you actually are, what you should be searching for, this is what you get. You get a bunch of women clamouring for the top. They do not want to upset the top dog because they don’t want to be cast out, because if you’re cast out of this circle, it’s such a small town that you’re cast out of everything. It’s not a very nice insight into female relationships, but these kinds of relationships do exist. We watch it on reality TV, on the Housewives of Whatever . . .
It’s a very hypocritical small town. People talk one way and act the complete opposite. That’s always fun to watch.
So, you’re not Canadian, but you do have quite the history with Canada.
I’m officially a Swedish citizen. I never ended up getting my Canadian citizenship, funnily enough. I was here for 22 years, but when we first moved over, Sweden didn’t allow dual citizenship, so we just kept the Swedish and we were landed immigrants for a long time. But growing up here, it’s very much a part of me and my most developmental years of my life. So, I feel very Canadian, but I also sense that there’s something different about me because I, culturally, was raised Swedish. And Los Angeles is home now. So I feel like what a mutt must feel like [laughs]. But coming back to Toronto, it really feels like I’m coming home.
I don’t mind it. I really don’t. And you also get to use it when you want. When you’re travelling and they go, “Where are you from?” you go, “I’m Canadian.” People always love Canadians.
There used to be a large divide between film and TV in terms of the “prestige.” Does that exist at all anymore?
Not that I see. I think for many of us, if anything, TV is more coveted. It’s a job that lasts a bit longer. The character arcs are a bit longer. We have incredible directors who are going to television, incredible show creators. Unfortunately, we’ve seen a decline in movie theatre-goers, and I hope that comes back around, but people are really clamouring to their home screens. All the streamers are offering so many great, different shows — and outlets for women my age; that wasn’t really a thing back when I started 20 some-odd years ago. So, there used to be kind of a taboo — “You don’t do television.” Now, everyone wants to do it.
Also see our previous article on The Hunting Wives here.
The Hunting Wives, streaming on Crave
MEMORABLE ROLES:
Born in Sweden, raised in Toronto and now a Hollywood star, Malin Akerman got her break as conflicted crusader Silk Spectre in 2009’s Watchmen; she also played the girl of Ben Stiller’s nightmares in twisted rom-com The Heartbreak Kid; and popped up in Couples Retreat and 27 Dresses. Meanwhile, her TV résumé includes shortlived sitcom Trophy Wife, absurdist medical spoof Childrens Hospital and hit Wall Street drama Billions.
CURRENT GIG:
Akerman leads this soapy eight-part mystery as Margo, queen bee of a women’s hunting club in East Texas. A “master manipulator,” our antiheroine meets her match when young Sophie (Brittany Snow) enters the hive — just as a dead body sets the whole town abuzz.