Malin Maria Åkerman was born in Stockholm, Sweden. Her family emigrated to Toronto, Canada when she was only two years old, but she still speaks fluent Swedish. Malin began doing modeling and TV commercials at age 5, and at 17 she won the Ford Supermodel of Canada talent search, which led to a successful modeling career and international attention.
She took a break from modeling to study psychology at York University in Toronto, and was inspired to get back into acting. Malin's first television role was a guest appearance on Gene Roddenberry's Earth: Final Conflict (1997), and was followed by small roles on other shows like The Others (2000), Relic Hunters (2000) and Witchblade (2001). Her first leading role in a television series was Juna Millken in the HBO comedy The Comeback (2005).
Malin has also acted in films, starting with small roles in Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle (2004) and 27 Dresses (2008). However, it was her performance as Laurie Jupiter (the second Silk Spectre) in the big budget blockbuster The Watchmen that brought her career to the next level.