Malin Akerman: The Hunting Wives, Hustling & Healing

Join Alex for an interview with Malin Akerman! Malin opens up about bringing Margo Banks to life in the hit series The Hunting Wives and teases what's in store for Season 2. She also gets candid about the lessons she's learned from past relationships, the work she's done on herself, and how approaching love with honesty and openness helped her find it again when she least expected it. Enjoy!

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Alex Cooper?

  Call Her Daddy is brought to you by Ross. I love the holidays, okay? And I love the holidays because the fashion changes and you know, your decorations and your living space, you just, everything just gets better. Okay? And so whether you're shopping early or you're checking off last minute gifts, Ross offers incredible finds. Holiday gifting doesn't have to be complicated. Sometimes it's the unexpected finds that become the most memorable. A soft robe, a beautiful candle, a piece of decor that brightens their space long after the season ends. Ross makes the holidays accessible to all with up to 20 to 60% off other retailers' prices

• 0:44Alex Cooper?

  on the brands you love. Find your nearest Ross at rossstores.com. Call Her Daddy is brought to you by Pandora Jewelry. Make their holiday unforgettable with a gift that says it all from Pandora Jewelry. I feel like the best gifts are always the ones that feel really personal, right? Like, anyone can buy you something nice, but when someone gives you a gift that is actually meaningful, you appreciate it so much more. And that's what I do love about Pandora. They have so many pieces that you can really just make your own, from festive charms to personalized engravings and jewelry that can represent the people and the moments that mean the most to you.

• 1:26Alex Cooper?

  So whether you're shopping for your partner or your mom, your best friend, you can find something that really is specific to them. Maybe it's a charm that makes you think of the trip that you guys took together once, or maybe it's an engraving for your anniversary, or just a piece that feels like them the second you see it. Pandora makes it so easy to give a gift that feels thoughtful and personal and makes every holiday moment even more meaningful and special. Because at the end of the day, the best gifts aren't just about the piece itself, but it's the intention and the story behind them. Say more this holiday season with Pandora. Shop now at pandora.net or visit your closest Pandora store.

• 2:05Speaker 01

  Nowadays, you have certain expectations when you fly, like people napping on the airport floor or flying in your pajamas. You know what you don't expect? Free drinks. But now, T-Mobile members get a free premium drink when they fly Delta Airlines. So just sit back, relax, and switch to T-Mobile today. Visit tmobile.com/membership for details. It's better over here. Their free premium Delta drink with eligible plan and linked SkyMiles account 24 hours before qualifying. Flight required. Must be 21 or older. CT life for terms.

• 2:36Alex Cooper?

  Call Her Daddy is brought to you by Ashley. Okay, so whenever I am picking new furniture for my house or redesigning a room, it is so important to me to make sure that it also is cohesive with the rest of my house and the vibe that I'm feeling. And I think filling your home with beautiful durable pieces from Ashley will help you create a backdrop for growing family's biggest memories, right? You want your home to feel cozy and you want it to feel like you. And thanks to features like stain resistant performance fabric, even the messiest memories will be easy to clean. So, visit your local store or head to ashley.com to find your style.

• 3:20Alex Cooper?

  What is up Daddy gang? It is your founding father, Alex Cooper, with Call Her Daddy.

• 3:29Alex Cooper?

  Moll and Akerman, welcome to Call Her Daddy.

• 3:31Speaker 02

  Thank you very much.

• 3:32Alex Cooper?

  Okay, I have loved you for so long. I have loved you in so many of the roles that you've played. 27 Dresses, The Proposal, Billions.

• 3:45Speaker 02

  Oh, I love it.

• 3:46Alex Cooper?

  Oh, I was a big Billions girl.

• 3:48Speaker 02

  Strong women, yeah.

• 3:49Alex Cooper?

  My whole family and I would watch it. And now, obviously, most recently, The Hunting Wives. And that has just been a phenomenon in itself. And I'm just so excited today because obviously, yes, we've seen you in so many different characters, but I also want to get to know you just like as a woman in the industry and talk about all the things. So I'm happy you're here.

• 4:07Speaker 02

  I'm so happy to be here.

• 4:08Alex Cooper?

  You're obviously a very well-established actress, but I heard that you host a good party. And I need to know if it's true that you have a disco ball in your house in LA?

• 4:19Speaker 02

  Not only do I have a disco ball, I have a smoke machine and a laser machine and a DJ deck. So I'm set up for a dance party whether we're five people or 25.

• 4:29Alex Cooper?

  You have a smoke machine.

• 4:30Speaker 02

  I have all of it, honey. I love to dance and so does my husband.

• 4:34Alex Cooper?

  Walk me through what a party is like at your house. Are we doing seated dinners? Are we doing?

• 4:39Speaker 02

  It depends on what we're feeling. If it's like New Year's Eve, we'll do a nice seated dinner and I'll do a nice meal. I love cooking. I love, I love, I love a party. If it wasn't this, I should have been like a wedding planner. Although I don't want to deal with bridezillas. Maybe just like a party planner. But I love, I also just love the cash. I love making a great cheese plate and lots of dips and, and you know, just picky food. And then we'll have some cocktails, or many. And then whenever we feel like, all my friends dance. They're all dancers.

• 5:11Alex Cooper?

  What are we dancing to?

• 5:12Speaker 02

  And even husbands who don't really dance, get on the dance floor. Anything from like, I've got a whole sort of array of stuff that we all know, like Robin and, you know, like all the classics. And then we go into a little bit of like deep house. And so we get the night really going. And then I have a friend of mine who also DJs, a friend's husband who's phenomenal. Then he goes real deep and then I get to dance. So we, we like trade off. It's amazing.

• 5:37Alex Cooper?

  This sounds like you have the coolest friend group. You're like, yeah, we do a little deep house. And then we've got the DJ that comes in. Do you have like a signature cocktail? Are we doing wine? Are we doing?

• 5:47Speaker 02

  So I'm a ranch water girl. I love a good ranch water or a dirty martini. Not too sweet, because then it gives you the worst hangover, do you? I've learned my lesson. So just a little, I do all the, I got, my girlfriends got me. We actually just moved to Connecticut this summer. So I'm, I'm about to put my disco ball. I have my own disco room in the new house. So one day you'll come over, it's going to be a 70s den. It's going to be awesome. I'm very excited.

• 6:10Alex Cooper?

  Oh my God, you're a Connecticut girl now.

• 6:12Speaker 02

  I am. It's very hard to say that. I keep saying to people like, I'm on the East Coast, real close to, just outside New York. I'm a New York girl.

• 6:19Alex Cooper?

  Yeah, and they're like, no, no, no, no.

• 6:21Speaker 02

  No, you're Connecticut. But yeah.

• 6:23Alex Cooper?

  I grew up on the East Coast and some of my family lives in Connecticut and I just, it's a very different world. But you know, Shonda Rhimes lives there.

• 6:32Speaker 02

  I do know that.

• 6:33Alex Cooper?

  And so like, okay, some of you are populating that area. We've got some good actresses and like showrunners over there.

• 6:38Speaker 02

  Yeah, there's a lot. There's a lot of artistic people who moved into the area where they, where we live. There's like an arts community and actual like visual arts and clay making community. So it feels a little bit separate. It just, you know, we have a 13 year old boy and our boy is a nature boy through and through. I called my husband yesterday. I was like, what are you guys doing? He's like, I haven't seen our son for five hours. He's out with the neighborhood kids biking with their fishing rods on their bikes, going to different ponds and fishing.

• 7:03Alex Cooper?

  That's a dream.

• 7:03Speaker 02

  It is a dream.

• 7:04Alex Cooper?

  He's not a tablet kid. He's a nature kid.

• 7:06Speaker 02

  No, exactly. That's what we want. And we're like, what? We're going back to the 50s? This is amazing. And I get to go into New York whenever I need that little like kick, you know?

• 7:14Alex Cooper?

  Okay, well, speaking of nature.

• 7:16Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 7:16Alex Cooper?

  Because I remember the first time I watched Hunting Wives and I was like, I had no idea, obviously, what to expect. I don't think any of us did, honestly. And then when season one came out, it was so new and different and it was a different take. I feel like we haven't seen this on television. It caused a lot of conversation.

• 7:35Speaker 02

  Sure did.

• 7:36Alex Cooper?

  When you first read this script, were you immediately like, yes, put me in? Were you hesitant?

• 7:43Speaker 02

  I was definitely hesitant.

• 7:44Alex Cooper?

  Okay.

• 7:45Speaker 02

  Um, mostly because I just wasn't sure. For me, it's so much about the tone. I wasn't sure if it was like a very kind of campy, you know, desperate housewives. Like, I wasn't sure what we were making here. If it was making fun of itself, or if you're in on the joke, or like, so all of that, I went, ah, this is like, it's walking a really fine line. And I, but I, but I do have to say this, when I first started reading it, I couldn't put it down. Sort of like the binge worthy television that it became, it was the same thing reading the script. So after episode three or four of reading it, I looked at my husband, I was like, can you please read this? Because I need to know if this is good

• 8:31Speaker 02

  or bad? Because it's like a good bad, but a bad good? And like, where are we at? He couldn't stop reading. He's like, are you kidding me? This was like tailor made for you. You have to do this. And I was like, wait, when you say tailor made for me, what part do you?

• 8:44Alex Cooper?

  Get specific there, buddy.

• 8:46Speaker 02

  Wait a second. And it's not your fantasy reel, right? Because this is, there's a lot going on. But I really, I then met with Rebecca Cutter, our show creator, and Erwin Stoff, our producer. And they kind of laid it out and they were like, listen, we need this to be as grounded as possible because the situations are so wild that if we bring in these characters as real characters, but let the situations be the crazy bit, then I think we can make a really great show. And I was like, I'm in, I'm in, I'm in, I'm in.

• 9:14Alex Cooper?

  That makes so much sense because I, obviously, as the consumer and the viewer, we're watching you guys and we see the final product.

• 9:22Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 9:22Alex Cooper?

  But I can't imagine seeing like the bare bones of a script.

• 9:25Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 9:25Alex Cooper?

  That is interesting. I also heard that the pegging scene for you, you were like, hmm, there's something there too.

• 9:32Speaker 02

  Oh, that made me want to do this show even more. I mean, I'm not the one doing that scene.

• 9:36Alex Cooper?

  Yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 9:37Speaker 02

  Which also made it better. But I was like, wait a second. I personally have never seen this on television before. It's probably out there. But I was like, this is so brave. I love it so much. I think this is so true to so many relationships as well. And nobody's talking about it. So I was like, this is, this is a brave woman putting this out there. And like, how exciting to have this sort of sexual freedom and change the narrative a little bit of what's on television right now.

• 10:06Alex Cooper?

  I completely agree. Also, your character, she is a very sexually liberated woman, which is again, exciting to see on television. What was it like leaning into that part of that character and the amount of nudity? Were you like, oh, let's go? Were you hesitant?

• 10:25Speaker 02

  I really love the depiction of a woman who is sitting in her power, and who has this sexual freedom and who has a relationship with her husband that allows this. Again, it's one of those things where you're like, I have spoken to many people who have these kinds of relationships, guys. It's not. But it, the narrative's not out there. And so, you know, minus some of the crazy, like not the murderer, not the, you know, but like people, I feel like, um, just, I would love an awakening of it's okay. Like, let's just talk about, let's talk about sex, baby.

• 11:01Alex Cooper?

  I, I, I agree. And I also feel like something that really hit well for me was like, it feels like we're watching a show that is portrayed through the female gaze.

• 11:13Speaker 02

  For sure.

• 11:14Alex Cooper?

  And that to me has been fascinating, watching something be so yet again, you know, pushing the boundaries we're used to watching through the male gaze.

• 11:23Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 11:23Alex Cooper?

  And like, have you and the other actresses talked about how to bring that to life?

• 11:27Speaker 02

  Absolutely. That also was a big conversation. We have, it was all female directors, which was really cool. Um, I'm always a person who says like, best person for the job. It doesn't, but this has been really great to have a female showrunner and creator, uh, female directors, women that I get to work with who I adore, who are phenomenal actresses. So to be able to have these conversations with our lady directors and go, what do we find sexy? What do we think would look beautiful? How can we depict this so that it's something that is sexy and wild and women will watch and go, yeah, okay. Um, and I feel like, I feel like we succeeded in that. I feel like it was really beautiful and sexy and soft and

• 12:12Speaker 02

  wild and like all the things that I like to watch.

• 12:15Alex Cooper?

  It is fun to watch you bring that to life.

• 12:17Speaker 02

  It is. It's wonderful.

• 12:18Alex Cooper?

  Um, I love Brittany Snow. I've had her on the show before and I just, I love following her career. And I feel like all of us became obsessed because we're like, your guys' friendship. I feel like we've seen you at basketball games together. We've seen you kind of like hanging out. And I just need to know, like, what was it like when you guys first went from being like, okay, we're going to do this job together to like, oh, we actually may have a friendship here?

• 12:41Speaker 02

  It's been the most beautiful friendship journey ever. She really is one of my closest friends now. I feel like she's more of a sister than anything. Like, I feel like she's really family. Um, I know that's weird to say about someone that you're making out with all the time, but, uh, I just adore her as a human being, as an actress. I think she's incredibly talented. But we, you know, we didn't know each other. We didn't even get a chance to like, do a chemistry read or meet before doing this show. So we all got out there maybe a week or 10 days before we started shooting. And Britt and I just went, okay, should we go out for dinner and like, get to know each other a little bit?

• 13:21Speaker 02

  Um, and there was just, uh, we, right away, I think we both, I, I know she'll say the same because we've said in interviews, we both sat there went, oh, this is gonna be great. We're gonna do just fine. There was like, we were laughing, we were trauma bonding, we were, you know, all the things. And, and, you know, especially on those days with intimate scenes, it's really important to have somebody that you feel like you can trust fall with. And there's no agenda, there's no one out to like, make you look bad, or it's just this beautiful, it's, it is a beautiful love story that's kind of paralleling, you know, real life. Our friendship just flourishing. And I, I miss her when I'm not around her. I can't wait to go back to work. Um, and so we feel so fortunate that we all are so supportive

• 14:06Speaker 02

  of each other. And it's amazing what women can do when we support one another.

• 14:10Alex Cooper?

  Yes, it is. Amen. Rule the world.

• 14:13Speaker 02

  Amen.

• 14:23Alex Cooper?

  Call Her Daddy is brought to you by SoFi, the everything app for smarter money. If your money is scattered across five different apps you never open, you're not in control. Your money should move you forward. With SoFi, you get award-winning banking, investing, borrowing, and more, all in one app. So you finally know where your money is. Make your first move with SoFi Checking and Savings. Competitive APY, no account fees, a bonus when you join with eligible direct deposit. Terms apply. SoFi Bank, NA Member FDIC. When you're ready to invest or pay off that debt, everything you need is right there. As a SoFi member, you get access to SoFi Wealth's world-class financial planners to help you

• 15:03Alex Cooper?

  know what to do next. Get started today at sofi.com/callherdaddy. SoFi, get your money right. This is a paid advertisement by SoFi Technologies and is not intended to be financial advice. This is a paid ad by BetterHelp. I always think it is so important to find time to take care of myself because I think self-care for me, a lot of times, is getting some alone time, even if it's just go on a 10-minute walk outside. Self-care can obviously look different at different stages of life, and the ways that we practice it often evolve over time. But one possible way to take care of yourself is through therapy. Therapy with BetterHelp, one of the leading online therapy platforms, can be a space to prioritize your

• 15:44Alex Cooper?

  mental health, reflect on where you are, and check in with yourself. With over 30,000 therapists worldwide, BetterHelp has served millions of people globally. BetterHelp makes it easier to fit therapy into your routine with flexible ways to connect that work for different schedules and lifestyles. Plus, BetterHelp therapists have at least three years and 1,000 hours of hands-on experience, and they hold required education, training, and certifications. You can meet with a range of professionals from marriage and family therapists to social workers, counselors, you name it, they have it. If you're thinking of starting therapy, give BetterHelp a try. Sign up and get 10% off at betterhelp.com/daddy. That's better H E L P dot com slash daddy.

• 16:27Alex Cooper?

  Your character also has a really complicated relationship with her brother and her family. And I feel like, yes, I've watched you in so many roles. And that's why I was excited to talk to you today because I'm like, I want to get to know more about you. So I guess, take me back a little bit. Like, what was your life like growing up? What was the dynamic in your house like?

• 16:49Speaker 02

  So I was born in Sweden. We moved to Canada when I was two years old. Um, because my dad, we didn't have a lot of money. So my dad got a job offer. It was actually between Toronto or New York, and he chose Toronto because he thought it was better to raise kids there. So I could have been a New Yorker. But I loved, I loved growing up in Toronto. It's a great city. Canadians are very nice. Um, and then he got another job offer that was offering a bit more money back in Sweden, and he wanted to go back. My parents were already kind of on the outs, and my mom wanted to stay in Canada. So it ended up being, you know, there's always like, the silver lining is always there in everything because it meant that I got to spend three months out of the year in Sweden. I'd go every summer,

• 17:32Speaker 02

  March break, Christmas, and spend that with my father and then be with my mom during the year. Um, so you know, it was kind of like a single mom situation. And then my stepdad came in, my first stepdad, who I adore, and they had a child together. My dad remarried, had two girls. So I've got a really like eclectic family. Got three siblings that are half siblings.

• 17:52Alex Cooper?

  It's always, um, when there's a divorce in the family at a young age, I'm always so interested to know, like, how was it explained to you? Like, did you know why they were getting separated?

• 18:02Speaker 02

  Not well. I mean, I was only six, to be fair. I can't really remember. I just remember the moment though, because we were in Sweden and my dad was like going into this new office to check some, we were there for the summer. And I can't remember how it came up, but my mom ended up spilling the beans and saying, you know, your dad's gonna stay here and he's gonna, because he got a job and you and I are gonna go back to Canada. And I started bawling my eyes out. And my dad got in the car and was like, what just happened? She's like, I told her what's happening. Um, and I just remember my dad, he's the most positive human in the world. He's like, but you know what? It's gonna be great because you're gonna be here all summer and you're gonna, so you know, it was just, I didn't know anything about the dynamics of their relationship or what

• 18:43Speaker 02

  had happened. And to be fair, it was very amicable. They went to each other's weddings. They like, they're still friends. We've spent Christmases together. So it wasn't, um, it wasn't jarring in that way, uh, which was really nice.

• 18:57Alex Cooper?

  Of course. Something I also think is interesting is like, when you sang, kind of growing up in a single parent household for a while with your mom. I know you've lightly talked about how she struggled with depression.

• 19:07Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 19:08Alex Cooper?

  Growing up. But I'm curious, like, how did that, how did you make sense of that at a young age, having your mom? I know you've said like, some days she would put herself in a room and be gone for a couple days.

• 19:20Speaker 02

  Yeah, that was, it was tricky. I was a teenager by that time. And this was after the failure of her second marriage, unfortunately. So we, we were back to just being the two of us in the, in the house for a little bit. And I think the tricky part was it was so taboo to talk about mental health, which nowadays it's like, we have mental health days. We have, it's amazing. I let my son has learned so much in schools, you know, going to progressive schools, they, it's all about feelings. But back then, it just, I mean, especially my mother's generation, there was no such thing as going to therapy and like, working on that stuff. So it wasn't, we just didn't have the dialogue. She didn't have, um, you know, the words to explain what was going on to me, nor did she have

• 20:04Speaker 02

  the energy, uh, you know, for people who know anything about depression, it just sucks the life out of you. So it was tricky just because. As a kid, you manifest it very differently and you don't and you sometimes make it very personal and you're like, is it me? Am I doing this to this person? And obviously like over time and going to therapy and her going to there and we're now having the words for it and the dialogue and the sensibility. It's been beautiful to like go on that journey together, but back then, of course it was hard. It was sad to see her. I feel terrible for her that she was going through that and I wasn't able to be there

• 20:45Speaker 02

  for her as a, because had I known what I know now, I would have at least been able to understand it and support her from which, in whichever way I could.

• 20:54Alex Cooper?

  Totally. And I think that's what is helpful about talking about it when we're at a place where we have perspective, right? How do you think it shaped your personality at the time, like subconsciously or consciously?

• 21:09Speaker 02

  But I think there was an understanding at a very young age that I needed to look elsewhere for some sort of mentorship to understand who I wanted to be in life and what I wanted to put forward as a growing woman. So, you know, it's this, this, my analogy is like having a suitcase and unpacking the suitcase and going, oh, this is mine and this is not mine. And like, I need to get rid of that and that narrative or that story that I've been telling myself or that because it was, I would say my teenage years were confusing.

• 21:49Speaker 02

  But I also had really great friends and really great people around and we had a blast. And I traveled a lot as a teen at 16. I went to Milan for model, to do modeling and I went to Spain and I went to Greece and all on my own. And that's when I think about that and I look at 16 year olds now, I'm like, that's insane.

• 22:09Alex Cooper?

  No.

• 22:09Speaker 02

  It's a child.

• 22:10Alex Cooper?

  When I was researching, I was like, hold on. You, so you started also, from what I understand, living on your own at 16?

• 22:18Speaker 02

  Yeah, I was on my way out to move to Toronto. We were living in a small town outside of Toronto and I was like, mom, I'm actually going to go in and get roommates because I'm going to model for a while, for the summer. And I was on my way out to do this, this like journey for myself. And then I ended up staying and getting an apartment and just kind of, my dad helped me with that, with the apartment. I just had to make the money to like buy the groceries and do the everyday stuff.

• 22:42Alex Cooper?

  16.

• 22:43Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 22:44Alex Cooper?

  Moving out, that is like so young, but also shows like you had this part of you. Like you said, you were kind of trying to discover obviously yourself. You're looking for who do I want to be? Who am I? And the modeling industry, from what I know, it's like you want to get in it and then you're in it and you're like, hmm, wait, wait a second. I know you've talked about this before, but I do think because there are young women that listen, if you don't mind just talking about like, there was this like chaperone situation that I know, and I've had some conversations with models before about like the model homes. Like, can you explain what these chaperones were supposed to be doing for you?

• 23:23Speaker 02

  Yes, I can. So I didn't have to have a chaperone because I was 16 or 17, which I think there's like a cap there where maybe you have to be 15 in, in Europe to be considered an adult. Depends on where you're going. But any girls who were younger than that, and there were 13 and 14 year old girls, their parents had to sign them off to a chaperone. And that chaperone would bring them over to, there was like a BBC undercover documentary on this later on, and it was the guy who we used to get in his car. He would take us to the clubs and feed the girls cocaine and alcohol. I was not part of the cocaine part.

• 24:01Speaker 02

  I did enjoy the alcohol, but you know, it was like they would ship us off. They would get the girls, there were, there was one girl who, it was awful. She was 14, her parents had signed her off there. The guy was like, we're going to take great care of, care of her. She's from a small town in Texas. She was beautiful and I remember her coming home one night in tears because what they would do at some of the modeling agencies, they'd bring us out to dinners and there'd be a few older men and they'd kind of point at some girls and the owner of the modeling agency would say, you should go out with so and so. He wants to take you out for dinner. He's a really great, whatever photographer or this or that, he's going to make you a star. And so these young girls would go out and this girl would come home and he had forced her to give him a BJ.

• 24:46Speaker 02

  And she was just devastated and, and we were like, girl, you gotta go home. Just go home, call your mom right now and tell her to come get you or get on a plane. But that stuff was happening all the time. I had a really cool roommate when I was there, when I was 16, she was 20. And so she took me under her wing, but I also was like, this isn't, this wasn't a career choice for me either. So I didn't care about my rising stardom in the modeling world.

• 25:13Alex Cooper?

  I see, I see.

• 25:14Speaker 02

  But it was everywhere you looked, there was terrible things going on, a lot of me too moments, a lot of, I was sent to a photographer's house on a weekend at 16 and I walk in and there was no hair and makeup. There's no stylist, just me and him, older man in his sixties maybe. And so we do the photo shoot and he starts going, ah, Bella Bella, yeah, take off your top. And I'm wearing a bra and a lot of times you do beauty shots where just like your shoulders, like, okay, fine. And then he kept coming up and sort of touching my face. He's like, okay, now take off the bra. And I was like, you know what? I'm really not feeling comfortable with that. We went back and forth for a minute and he got so mad. He took the light stand and threw it at my head. He just missed.

• 26:00Speaker 02

  I walked out of there, the next, on Monday, I walked into the agency and I was like, hey, this is what happened, by the way. This guy's crazy. You need to like get rid of him. And, and they were like, what do you want us to do? He's the best photographer we've got. That was it. I was like, so you're going to send 13, 14, 15 year old girls there and they're not going to be able to stand up for themselves? It was wild.

• 26:23Alex Cooper?

  It's just so wild too, because I think somehow we still are a little bit like used to just be like, oh, that's kind of like what happens. And then you just try to get out and you're like, no, this can't be normal. This should, we shouldn't have to be in these positions as young girls.

• 26:36Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 26:37Alex Cooper?

  I also feel like a lot of times that can happen to women when you are being made to feel like you should just be so grateful to get the opportunity.

• 26:45Speaker 02

  Totally.

• 26:45Alex Cooper?

  There's like a manipulation that happens where you feel really small and you get really quiet because you're like, oh, I guess I'm, I shouldn't speak up. And I just had this conversation with another actress where she was like, they would pit us and the women against each other. So we kind of wouldn't talk about it. And then all of a sudden you start to be like, hold on a second. I think this is happening to all of us, but it takes a second. So, oh, wow.

• 27:08Speaker 02

  It's manipulation. It's also just that control thing of, you know, again, it's, you don't want to be blackballed. You don't want to, especially girls who are trying to make it their career. They're like, I don't want to say anything in case I don't get the chance to become the next supermodel or whatever. So.

• 27:24Alex Cooper?

  I wrote down, which I thought was so interesting. I've heard you talk about before, how Swedish culture and like this Viking mentality and how they empower women. Can you explain a little bit about what that is? Because clearly it feels like it's helped you in your life. You being 16, being like, um, I just had a bad experience with this photographer. We need to report this. Like, I'm like, okay, Malin, tell me about that.

• 27:48Speaker 02

  I think, first of all, I think that's one thing that I'll tell you about my mom is that she's a frigging Viking. Like she goes to the dentist, she's, and she gets a, a root canal and she doesn't get freezing. She's like, I want to know what you guys are doing. Like, we're not going to joke around here. I'm like, you got a root canal without freezing? I won't go that far. She is a true Viking. But I do think that there's something, and I don't know if it's a Viking mentality or not, but there's, there's this, I guess it's just, I've talked about this with my husband, trying to like wrap my head around it, but just it's almost like you have a parent and they go, here are the, here are the things that like, here are kind of the rules, but the things that work, but you do what you think is best for you. And that's how everyone's grown up.

• 28:31Speaker 02

  So there's like this logic and, and there's an equal playing field for men and women is what it feels like. And I've noticed when I've been there, that the women are more the aggressors when you go out than the men. The men kind of like sit back and are a little bit shyer and a little, again, we're talking about like the nineties when I was out being single in the nineties, but there is something about that where it just felt like women took what they wanted. And that was really cool. Whereas here, there's this mentality, I've been talking to like some young girls when I've been on sets and they're like, I, my friends are telling me, don't reach out to him because that's too desperate or that's, I'm like, what are you talking about? Do you like the guy? Call him, text him. Why are we playing this game?

• 29:12Speaker 02

  But there is a different type of language over there than there is here around sort of who approaches who. There's no three day rule of don't text him back or like, you like a guy? You go get it. You like something? You go get it, you know?

• 29:28Alex Cooper?

  It is crazy though, to hear of like the way that you can be conditioned at a young age and how much it can impact you and how much you can actually set these young women and young men up for more success when it's like ingrained in them from a young age.

• 29:44Speaker 02

  If you like something, go get it, you know? It doesn't have to be gender appropriate.

• 29:49Alex Cooper?

  Yes.

• 29:49Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 29:50Alex Cooper?

  Okay. So we end up kind of like moving on from modeling. We go into acting, you move to LA. Did you know anyone in LA when you were like, I'm going to become an actress?

• 29:58Speaker 02

  No, I had, but I convinced my best friend to move with me. She was also like dabbling in it. We were bartending together in Toronto, putting ourselves through university and the modeling kind of picked up. And then there, that turned into like some TV commercials and then some really small roles on really shitty Canadian TV shows. And then I got an audition and they flew me out to LA to do like a screen test. And I didn't get the part, but there was a manager who was like, hey, you should come out to LA. I think you really do well. And so I turned to my best girlfriend, who was also my roommate at the time, who I was also bartending with. And I was like, babe, let's just do it. We're 23 years old, like we're bartending, school can wait, we can come back to it if this doesn't work out. And she did.

• 30:43Speaker 02

  So it was just the two of us, us against the world and this manager who kind of took me on and was sending me out on auditions. Nothing happened the first however long year. I got nothing.

• 30:55Alex Cooper?

  How were you making money?

• 30:56Speaker 02

  Nothing. It was like residuals and stuff from like back when we had worked in Toronto.

• 31:03Speaker 02

  And sometime and she got one job, like an MTV job, which was great. And so she brought in some, we were a couple. Like we, we put down a down payment on apartment. We had no money for furniture. So we like fluffed all our sweaters on the floor. That was our mattress. We got two buck Chuck from Trader Joe's. Um, we, you know, it was four for one, um, ramen noodles. We'd go to the bank in the morning and get the little free muffins and coffee and pretend like we're checking our bank account, which we didn't have.

• 31:28Alex Cooper?

  Oh, that's a good one.

• 31:29Speaker 02

  It was so much fun, but it took a good. Well, it took a while. I then was like, this isn't working. I met these guys who were in a band and they're like, do you want to be the singer of the band? And I was like, yeah, sure. Why not? I don't sing, but, and they were three Italians and like, we will teach you. And I was like, okay. So we did the band thing for a year and a half, did the whole LA circuit.

• 31:50Alex Cooper?

  That's so, I love how you're just casually like, yeah, then these like three Italian member like, do you want to be our lead singer?

• 31:57Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 31:57Alex Cooper?

  And I'm like, oh, what were you singing at open mic night?

• 32:00Speaker 02

  Nothing.

• 32:01Alex Cooper?

  Literally nothing.

• 32:02Speaker 02

  It was, I went in there because he was doing some sort of, oh, I had done, I, that's right. I did get one job. I got one like really tiny indie film for $0 and the guitarist was doing the ADR, all the like, um, audio work for the film. And that's when he's like, do you sing? And I was like, mm, no. And he's like, well, let me test your voice. Would you like to sing? I was like, who doesn't dream of being a rock star? Like, let's be honest.

• 32:29Alex Cooper?

  Malin. Wait, and do you have a good voice?

• 32:32Speaker 02

  No.

• 32:34Speaker 02

  That's why I didn't make it as a singer. It was fine. It was fine.

• 32:38Alex Cooper?

  Band though, is where you met your ex-husband.

• 32:41Speaker 02

  That's right. He's the drummer.

• 32:43Alex Cooper?

  And he did not speak English at the time.

• 32:46Speaker 02

  He barely spoke English.

• 32:47Alex Cooper?

  And you did not speak Italian.

• 32:49Speaker 02

  No.

• 32:50Alex Cooper?

  So, logistically, explain to all of us girlies, how did you?

• 32:56Speaker 02

  You guys have heard of Language of Love, right?

• 32:59Alex Cooper?

  Yes. I'm like, how did you guys like flirt? You're using the dictionary like?

• 33:03Speaker 02

  We sure were. That was before, before smartphones and we would do our day session. And then at the end of the day, we'd grab a bottle of wine and a pack of cigarettes and we'd sit on the balcony, him and I, and we would like, he had a few words and I spoke French. So it was like, I could kind of understand certain things. But we literally had a dictionary and we're like learning each other's languages. It was really romantic. It was really fun. It was really, you really get engaged in the person, you know, when they're with you, you are really with them. Um, and nothing to distract you. And then of course we were just, we were physically attracted to each other and there was something there that was just bringing us together. And we were also the only two single people in the band. So it worked out well.

• 33:47Alex Cooper?

  There you go.

• 33:58Alex Cooper?

  Call Her Daddy is brought to you by Maimochi. The holidays can be overwhelming, expensive flights, family, someone always asking why you're still single. And here's a little holiday self-care tip. Keep something in the freezer that makes you happy. Maimochi ice cream. Maimochi ice cream is a perfect little scoop of premium ice cream wrapped in soft chewy dough. It comes in delicious flavors like strawberry, mango and cookies and cream. Maimochi is only around 70 calories per piece, gluten-free and easy to share because it comes in a box with six individual snacks. Let me tell you something, for me, for me, a little cookies and cream, I'm the type of person that if I eat my dinner, I need my sweet treat immediately.

• 34:43Alex Cooper?

  I'm opening my freezer and I'm having my little cookies and cream Maimochi. Okay. What about you? I want to know all your favorite flavors because you know, it used to be mango for me, but recently I'm on my cookies and cream kick. That also could be because I'm pregnant. Um, taste the joy with every bite of Maimochi ice cream. Grab a purple box of Maimochi ice cream today at your local grocery store. Call Her Daddy is brought to you by SoFi, the everything app for smarter money. If your money is scattered across five different apps, you never open, you're not in control. Your money should move you forward. With SoFi, you get award-winning banking, investing, borrowing and more, all in one app. So you finally know where your money is.

• 35:23Alex Cooper?

  Make your first move with SoFi checking and savings, competitive APY, no account fees, a bonus when you join with eligible direct deposit. Terms apply. SoFi Bank, NA member FDIC. When you're ready to invest or pay off that debt, everything you need is right there. As a SoFi member, you get access to SoFi Wealth's world-class financial planners to help you know what to do next. Get started today at sofi.com/callherdaddy. SoFi, get your money right. This is a paid advertisement by SoFi Technologies and is not intended to be financial advice. So six years after you guys got married, you had your son. Um, and then you separated only like four months after that.

• 36:04Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 36:04Alex Cooper?

  What kind of led you to make that decision?

• 36:08Speaker 02

  Oh, so many things. It, it wasn't how we planned it. And for anyone who has had children or who is having children,

• 36:18Speaker 02

  there's, um, there's a beautiful quote that I read that, and I will, I will paraphrase it, but it was from a mother and she said, you know, allow yourself to mourn the fantasy of what you thought it was so that you can step into the joy of what it is. And that, I really held on to that because a child changes you. It changes the dynamics in your relationships. It takes a really strong relationship to keep that together. And we just didn't have that. Again, we kind of simulated what my mom and dad went through. We're still friends. We, we just went to Italy. We all hung out together and my son was with his papa.

• 36:56Speaker 02

  But it was just that thing where we both sat there and went, this doesn't work with us as parents together. But it just unfortunately became so that we couldn't work it out.

• 37:06Alex Cooper?

  Is there anything that you have advice on of like, what do you think conversations should happen before you have kids?

• 37:12Speaker 02

  I do actually.

• 37:14Alex Cooper?

  Tell us.

• 37:15Speaker 02

  I really think that, you know, there's, for me, anyway, we were young, you know, we met in our twenties and, it, it was just kind of the whirlwind love story of you fall in love, you get married, you have kids and how beautiful life is. Well, it doesn't work that way. There's, communication is, is key. And I know we've all heard it before, but we were not communicating. I mean, we barely spoke the same language. So, you know, just, we hadn't talked about parenting, how we wanted to parent, what that looked like for us. We hadn't talked about what our schedules might be like. Who was going to be home? Who was going to be out? Who was, any of the logistics? Like there was nothing. We were so naive stepping into this.

• 38:00Speaker 02

  So it was really the mindset of two very young people, young mindseted people and, and also, you know, what I've learned over the years is my own stuff where I was very happy to kind of keep everyone at an arm's length. That was sort of the survivor in me where I was like, I got this because I've gotten this my whole life. So I'm not going to let anyone in. I got me. And that's hard when you're in a relationship. You can't do that. And I had to learn that. I had to learn that intimacy wasn't just physical. The intimacy is, is the dialogue that you have with someone and we just didn't have it.

• 38:34Alex Cooper?

  That's such good advice though, because I agree with you that sometimes, especially in young relationships, you think you're having the conversations and then when a child comes or something, you hear people be like, we literally never talked about parenting and then you're watching your partner and it's not even their fault. They're just doing the thing and you're like, we, I don't like how you're doing that. Or I'm doing this and this is how I was raised and you, why are you?

• 38:58Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 38:58Alex Cooper?

  And then all of a sudden it's like so hard to keep the train on the tracks because you're also like, we need, our priority needs to be this child.

• 39:05Speaker 02

  Totally.

• 39:05Alex Cooper?

  But what about us? And so that makes a lot of sense.

• 39:08Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 39:08Alex Cooper?

  Also, how did you process for anyone maybe going through a similar situation of simultaneously the end of a marriage and also entering motherhood at kind of like a same time?

• 39:20Speaker 02

  Girl.

• 39:22Speaker 02

  It was a lot. It was a lot. And again, I think from my dad, I've always tried to see the silver lining.

• 39:31Speaker 02

  Was it hard? Yeah. Um, to be going through a divorce. I just started back at work. I was now bringing my son with me to work. Luckily I was producing on the show that I was starring in. So my office space turned into a nursery. So I got, the beauty is I got to have him with me every day. It was lovely.

• 39:51Speaker 02

  But it was really hard to.

• 39:55Speaker 02

  Be mourning the end of a relationship, doing a comedy, stepping into motherhood, being up all night, feeding him, you know, and then going to work. Um, but I had a best girlfriend of mine who moved in with me when he was six. So two months after my husband and I split, my best girlfriend moved in with me. She ended up living with me for a year and a half because she works from, she can work from home. And it was the best experience we've ever had. Um, we were so sad that we weren't, couldn't be lovers. She's more like a sister.

• 40:28Alex Cooper?

  Right.

• 40:28Speaker 02

  I wish, I wish I was sexually attracted to her.

• 40:30Alex Cooper?

  Right.

• 40:31Speaker 02

  It's like, this is the perfect relationship. But then we were like, but maybe that would get in the way of this relationship. Anyway, we loved it. We had the best time. And it's where the, um, the dance party started as well. Every Sunday, I have a neon sign and it says Sebby Sunday. My son's name is Sebastian. And it became Sebby Sundays because every Sunday I'd invite all the parents, all my friends and, and non-parents come over, hang by the pool, pop the rosé. Kids are roaming around. This is great. Put the kids to bed. The music comes out, the disco ball goes on and we dance all night. And we like dance our troubles away. And it was the best, most cathartic. It was like celebrating the good things in life, you know, and seeing the community that I had versus seeing the losses.

• 41:14Speaker 02

  So it was a lot, but after, so I had like two years of that. And then I had a year of, of reckoning where I was like, okay. I started doing transcendental meditation, learning how to do that. I started doing some deep, deep therapy on figuring out who I was, what my intimacy issues were, why I was keeping people at arms length, how to kind of navigate that. And just shifting and seeing who I am now in my thirties as a mother, a single mother in the world, and what does that mean to me? So it took some time to figure that out.

• 41:49Alex Cooper?

  Well, first of all, I love that you leaned into your friend because I can imagine there's so many women that are like, note to self, if it doesn't work with my husband, make sure my best girlfriend moves in with me to help raise my child in those beginning days. That is like, it's like a TV pilot. I'm like

• 42:07Speaker 02

  It is like, we talked about that too. We're like, should we write a show about this?

• 42:10Alex Cooper?

  That is the dream of all dreams.

• 42:13Speaker 02

  It was amazing.

• 42:14Alex Cooper?

  I want to talk about a little bit about, because I know you, yes, were in that relationship for almost 11 years.

• 42:18Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 42:19Alex Cooper?

  So then to come out of that, focus on career and your child. And then you eventually did meet your husband, Jack. But through all of this, first I want to know what drew you to him?

• 42:30Speaker 02

  Well, so Jack, funnily enough, I had known him over the years because he's my sis, one of my sister's husband's good friends from England. They went to drama school together. So he would come into town. I met him twice before, like that third year where we met and everything clicked, but he had come over to my pool where we all hung out.

• 42:53Alex Cooper?

  With the disco ball.

• 42:54Speaker 02

  With the disco ball. Um, and I'd met him and I was like, nice guy, cool. Obviously was like not in the headspace. He had a girlfriend. Um, but that third year where he came back into town, we had all gone out to Hamburger Mary's for drag queen bingo and had a blast. And he sat beside me and we just got into conversation. It was after the year of my like self-care year. And I was still in the mindset of like, honey, I'm never getting married again, never having a kid. I have a rolodex of people I can call up anytime for a booty call and I'm loving life right now. He, I was like, if you want to be part of that rolodex of booty calls, all good. You can be part of that, but you are a seven years younger boy and you're going back to England, but you are super cute.

• 43:37Speaker 02

  And so, and it was that moment where I was like, he's really funny and he's really lovely. And so that's when I asked my now brother-in-law, I was like, tell me about Jack. Like, is he, is he this good of a guy that he's like putting out there? Is this an act? And he goes, no, he actually is a really great guy. And I was like, okay. So we started dating and, and I had told him like, come on over, hang by the pool, but let's not be physical in front of my son. Um, and you don't have to try with the kid because you're not going to be his dad, like just chill. But he came over and him and my son were like, they were just drawn to each other and they had so much fun together.

• 44:21Speaker 02

  And of course my heart just went, ugh, oh my God, look at how he is with this kid. It's unbelievable. But we had many conversations that I never had with the ex where I was like, listen, if we're going to be dating for a little while, I'm testing some new material out. I'm trying to be vulnerable. I'm trying to be intimate. I'd like to share stories with you that I usually don't share with people because I feel like that puts me in a vulnerable place, but I'm practicing it right now. And I would practice it with him and he would just go, that's it? And I was like, wait, you're not, you're not getting up and running away because it's because of how crazy these stories are. So it was really, um, it was, it really shifted a lot of things for me because he's an incredible communicator.

• 45:06Speaker 02

  And he really, you know, I think between girlfriends, you can kind of like read what's beneath the waterline where you're like, how are you? And they're like, good. And you're like, oh, it's so not good. He does that with me. He sees me through and through, and I've never had that in a relationship before.

• 45:18Alex Cooper?

  Well, what a blessing also to have done the year of work that you're talking about and started kind of on this self-discovery journey. Then to meet, you have to believe also that maybe you wouldn't have looked at him in that way had you not done the self-work.

• 45:33Speaker 02

  I saw him. I met him two years in a row and like none of that. It was like cute, sweet guy, but nothing happened there. And then once I came into myself and you know, it's that, the universe provides.

• 45:43Alex Cooper?

  It does.

• 45:44Speaker 02

  You do your work and then it kind of gifts you.

• 45:46Alex Cooper?

  It does.

• 45:46Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 45:46Alex Cooper?

  Is there anything you can share that you had really not explored until you got into therapy that you're like, oh, maybe this is holding me back? Like, why do I do that in relationships? That's a pattern that I need to break?

• 46:01Speaker 02

  I think it was the protecting my heart. I think it was, I think it, I think it was having my father, who was like my everything as a kid, moving to Sweden. And, and as much as it wasn't abandonment, it felt like abandonment. Uh, you know, it's in the fiber of your DNA. You can, logically you can understand so many things, but your body has to catch up. And I think that my body was protecting itself from abandonment. And so I think in any relationship, I was just putting my hand up and going, don't get too close because I also, you're obviously going to leave at some point. And I said that to Jack too. I was like, I've got, I've figured this out about myself

• 46:44Speaker 02

  that I will try to push you away just to prove to myself that you're going to go. And he just went, okay, I'm just going to stay. And I was like, okay. And in my head, I'm going, you're not going to stay. It was just, it was wild what was happening. And I was just, the beauty of going to therapy is that you garner an awareness of the dialogue that you have in your head and you're checking yourself and you're, and, and both Jack and I are huge fans of Esther Perel.

• 47:10Alex Cooper?

  Love.

• 47:11Speaker 02

  And so we talk a lot about her stuff and she's like, you know, the, in a relationship, there's three people. There's you, there's him, and there's the relationship. And you have to treat it like its own thing. So we have these really cool conversations of like, how I'm doing, like this is my shit. I'm so sorry this is coming up and like, I'm dealing with it, but this is why I'm acting this way. Or sometimes I'm like, hey, your shit's coming up, deal with it. And then we're like, we need to talk about our relationship. So it's really, we speak the same language.

• 47:38Alex Cooper?

  And I think what's so also amazing for anyone who's listening or watching that is in their self-discovery, trying to get into therapy era, essentially. What's really incredible to hear is that yes, you were doing the self-work, but it also did take a partner who was willing to respect you on that journey.

• 47:58Speaker 02

  For sure.

• 47:59Alex Cooper?

  Because I've been in relationships prior to my husband where I was in therapy, I was trying to make progress. And then when you're hitting the wall with someone, when you're trying to do that and it's not working, like I'm sure on those dates that you were going on and the boys for the booty calls, you're like, you're not completely not open to talking to them, but they weren't giving you clearly anything that was worth your time or your energy, right?

• 48:21Speaker 02

  Well, I wasn't even at that place yet.

• 48:23Alex Cooper?

  Okay. You're like, I'm actually not talking about.

• 48:24Speaker 02

  I was not even, I was really keeping them. I really knew what that was.

• 48:28Alex Cooper?

  You wanted to have the disco ball?

• 48:29Speaker 02

  Okay with that.

• 48:31Alex Cooper?

  And I love that for you.

• 48:32Speaker 02

  There is a time and place for just having fun. Okay?

• 48:34Alex Cooper?

  You deserved that.

• 48:34Speaker 02

  I deserved it after 11 years. I was like, I can do whatever I want.

• 48:40Alex Cooper?

  You do deserve that, but I do think that's beautiful to like have met Jack and been like, okay, now I'm going to test material on you. Literally like, I'm going to try to see if what I'm working on, and it worked.

• 48:52Speaker 02

  I was just talking to a girlfriend of mine who just got out of a relationship and she's like, I'm out in the dating game and like, what do I do? I was like, girl, just say the things that are on your mind so that they know exactly who you are, what you stand for, what are your values, what like, so that they know who you are. And if that doesn't fit them, then they can go and you're on to the next. Because I think so often we get attracted to someone physically, you like drawn to someone, and then you want to make it work. You want to fit yourself into that square, you know, and, and you're like around or whatever. You know what I'm talking about?

• 49:22Alex Cooper?

  Yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 49:23Speaker 02

  Thank you.

• 49:23Alex Cooper?

  You know, that thing, that thing.

• 49:25Speaker 02

  We all know it. We've all done it. We've all done it. And a lot of people live in that. And then eventually that doesn't work out. So I, I, that's the other thing where I was like, I think that it's just that thing of As honest as you can be and practicing because you can go to therapy and you can work yourself out. But once you get in a relationship, that shit doesn't fly anymore. You have, it's a whole other animal. You're dealing with someone else's stuff too. And you have to understand how to do that. You have to practice your own stuff that comes up because we, we mirror each other.

• 49:55Alex Cooper?

  It's such a good point. I'm so curious now, though, because you said at the beginning when you met him, you were like, never getting married again, no more kids. How did your view on marriage evolve as your relationship evolved?

• 50:11Speaker 02

  Oh, boy. Um, it was really wild because it was the first guy that I had been with since the divorce that I, within weeks was like, I want to have a baby with this guy. And my body was like, yearning to have a child. And I kept asking myself, like, what's wrong with me? I didn't want another kid. What's happening? Um, so there was something just out of my control that was really pulling me towards him. Um, and I think, you know, we just really fell hard for each other. And he had never been married before. Um, and over time, we were just talking about sort of the logistics, which is

• 50:53Speaker 02

  unromantic, but just about him coming into the family and being a stepfather to Sebastian, and what that looked like. And, you know, being married makes it easier to travel with the kid. And like, you know, there's, he's gotten pulled into interrogation rooms at the border control when he's just traveling with my son when he was young. So on a logical, in the, in sort of in that sense, we were like, we should probably get married, but also, we both wanted to get married. We wanted a celebration. As you know, we both like to dance. We're like, what's the best celebration we could do? Um, so we actually, um, had this happy medium where we went to Vegas,

• 51:33Speaker 02

  got married in Vegas, Little White Wedding Chapel officially, went and saw Cirque du Soleil, because one of his brothers is in Cirque du Soleil. And then we got married and did the ceremony and everything and had his, um, one of his best friends officiate in Tulum, on the beach, barefoot, and had a dance party. I have a good time. We can hang.

• 51:55Alex Cooper?

  I was gonna say, I'm like, it's the discos, it's the, it's, we're going to Vegas, we're going to Tulum.

• 52:01Speaker 02

  We like to have fun.

• 52:02Alex Cooper?

  I'm like, girl.

• 52:03Speaker 02

  Bring in the joy.

• 52:05Alex Cooper?

  Oh, my God. Oh, wow. That's really cute.

• 52:07Speaker 02

  So it was great.

• 52:08Alex Cooper?

  Is it true that, I think I read this where you had said you didn't want to use the word forever in your vows?

• 52:14Speaker 02

  I didn't.

• 52:14Alex Cooper?

  Explain. Explain.

• 52:16Speaker 02

  So again, going on this, this honesty, vulnerable, intimate journey, um, with myself and with my partner, I just said, you know, if we're gonna get married, and I'm doing this again, I want to do it in a really honest way. And I don't want to say forever, because it doesn't always turn out that way. And that's okay, too. And I don't want to be held to that. I want to be held to this chapter right now and what we're going through. So I just want it to be the most honest

• 52:47Speaker 02

  set of vows that we've ever said, um, of where we're at right now. And so we did. Because I was like, I feel like I'm lying if I say forever, because I, I can't see the future. I have no idea. And I also don't want to stay in this relationship if it's not working for us anymore later, later on in life. But honestly, if it doesn't work out with Jack, it's not gonna work out with anyone.

• 53:05Alex Cooper?

  Yeah, we're done.

• 53:05Speaker 02

  Then I'm good.

• 53:06Alex Cooper?

  That's it.

• 53:07Speaker 02

  Come in with my girlfriends. Whoever wants to come in and out, bring it.

• 53:19Alex Cooper?

  Call Her Daddy is brought to you by Ritual. We are learning so much about how the gut microbiome is key to our mental health, immunity, and of course, digestion. And I just feel like I didn't know any of this until recently, which is a problem, because this is literally everything that we do need to know to take care of ourselves. But did you know, because now I know, the gut microbiome shifts during pregnancy, ladies, and these shifts can impact mom and baby's health in pregnancy and postpartum. And that is why Ritual created Natal Biotic, a specialized biotic with clinically studied strains for pregnancy and postpartum microbiome support to support digestive

• 54:00Alex Cooper?

  health, mood, vaginal health, and baby's immune health. I have been trying so hard to take care of myself during this pregnancy. And I think something that has been very helpful is actually learning about the things that now I will carry, not only just during this pregnancy, but I will continue to take care of myself in a way that I really never have before. I think sometimes as women, we don't have the tools or we don't know what we're supposed to be doing. And so we sometimes just freeze and we don't do anything. And since having Ritual in my life, it has been so nice to have this daily ritual where I'm actually taking care of myself and my baby, which feels great. So whether you're pregnant, postpartum, or looking for everyday trusted daily gut support,

• 54:40Alex Cooper?

  get clinically studied biotics to support your gut health with Ritual. My listeners can save 25% off their first month at ritual.com/callherdaddy. That's ritual.com/callherdaddy for 25% off your first month. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Call Her Daddy is brought to you by T-Mobile. Daddy gang, there are honestly so many reasons to just choose T-Mobile. They've got T-Mobile Tuesdays perks, tons of freebies, travel benefits like hotel and rental car savings. They make your phone plan feel like it's actually giving you something back instead of just being another bill that you have to pay every single month.

• 55:25Alex Cooper?

  And if you're a student, T-Mobile has student perks plans designed specifically for you. I remember being in college and constantly, literally just looking for ways to save money, understandably. And so these are the kind of perks I would have absolutely taken advantage of. Students can get things like a $5 movie ticket every month, exclusive access to concerts, okay? And even streaming benefits, so you can always have a reality TV binge night with your girls. And when you're already paying for your phone every month, getting all of these extra benefits on top of it, just, it makes sense, right? For all the reasons to choose T-Mobile, find yours at

• 56:07Alex Cooper?

  tmobile.com/membership. Qualifying plan required. Visit tmobile.com. Okay, your son is now 13.

• 56:16Speaker 02

  Mm hmm.

• 56:16Alex Cooper?

  When it comes to identity, I am curious, because I feel like everyone, like, a lot of women I've talked to, talk about how when you enter motherhood, you kind of go through, like, your identity shifts. And there will be times where, and again, newborn phase, and who am I? And what am I doing in my career? Like, in what ways has your identity continued to evolve as you, as your own individual, while also being a mother?

• 56:41Speaker 02

  Um, I think that in the beginning, it's that, again, it's that, for me, it was that loss of freedom of my life. It's gone. The life, life as you know it, is no longer. So you gotta say goodbye to that. That's why I kept going back to that quote, like, mourn the fantasy that you thought I was gonna be, and enjoy what it actually is. And it took a minute to get into the rhythm of becoming a mother. Again, just because I was dealing with so many different moving parts.

• 57:10Alex Cooper?

  Yeah.

• 57:11Speaker 02

  But when you really start to step into it, and you are present to what motherhood is, it is so incredible to get, it's almost like you get a second lease on life. Like, you get to live it all again, through your child's eyes, and with even more feeling. Like, it's like you feel double because it's for them. And it's, it's been really wild, because my identity is very much linked to my son. It's like walking out without your jewelry on. I feel naked when I don't have him. Oh, that sounded weird, but you know what I mean?

• 57:42Alex Cooper?

  I get it. I get it.

• 57:43Speaker 02

  But, but it's like, um, a piece of me is missing without him now. And he's so much a part of my life and my identity. And I love that about who I am. I love being a mother. Um, I, I think it's actually really beautiful and powerful. And there's something sexy about being a mother, about stepping into this womanhood that I feel really, again, this is just my personal journey, but I feel like I'm complete. I, I've done the things that I wanted to do, um, as a woman, and uh, feeling like a woman again, like a grown woman versus a young girl. Um, and that's what

• 58:26Speaker 02

  motherhood taught me is to just step it up and maybe become

• 58:30Alex Cooper?

  It's beautiful.

• 58:31Speaker 02

  more aware.

• 58:33Alex Cooper?

  How do you think it's changed your perspective on your relationship with your own mom and everything that she went through?

• 58:40Speaker 02

  I think it changes everything. You, you really have more time for everything. You know, when you're a teenager, we're all brats at some point, and our parents are the worst. Um, and then when you yourself become a parent, you go, oh, this is, it's hard. It's hard. And we're only doing the best that we can. And I've most certainly messed my son up in some sort of way. There's gonna be something he's gonna want to talk to his therapist about.

• 59:06Alex Cooper?

  Of course.

• 59:06Speaker 02

  One, one day if he wants to get a therapist, but it's just like, you get so much more, um, understanding. And, uh, I, I think you just kind of loosen the grips a little bit, and you are grateful for what they did do. And you see them as people, I think, more than parents. It's like, these are people who are just, who tried their best.

• 59:28Alex Cooper?

  Right.

• 59:29Speaker 02

  And I appreciate that. And thank you.

• 59:31Alex Cooper?

  Talking about finding silver linings, you've referenced that a couple of times. And I know you were saying, like, your dad always found the silver lining. And I can feel that energy from you, which is so refreshing and positive, that you're trying to like, always look at, how can we look at this in a positive way? When you look back at all of your life experiences and what made you who you are today, um, how do you just overall apply that mindset? And if you have any advice for people who are kind of maybe going through it right now and need a mindset shift?

• 1:00:00Speaker 02

  It takes a long time.

• 1:00:02Alex Cooper?

  Yeah.

• 1:00:03Speaker 02

  I think we have to look at What our inner dialogue is, I think it's that whole thing of um, your mind is so powerful. And we speak to ourselves in such a brutal way. I feel like it's we say things to ourselves that we'd never say to anyone else and we have to stop it. I think it's being aware, it's taking a bird's eye view of how you're operating in life. What's not working for you? Change it. If that's not working, do something, do it differently. Um, and that's easier said than done, but it's baby steps. It's little by little of just have a different dialogue with yourself. Try something different.

• 1:00:43Alex Cooper?

  I feel like I've had so many conversations with women about how when we were younger and you're this young girl, and obviously we are told by society, like our value is when we're at our prime, which is like weirdly like 18 and 21 and like

• 1:00:57Speaker 02

  I mean, that's not your prime.

• 1:00:59Alex Cooper?

  It's literally not your prime. No, all the women that I have sat in this room with it, it just, I just feel like I just keep finding out more and more about how life just keeps getting better. The more experiences you have and the older that you get, like, how has womanhood gotten better for you with age?

• 1:01:16Speaker 02

  Cause you don't care what people think anymore. You can't please everyone. You really, really can't. And that's also who I am at the core was at the core was such a people pleaser. It was like this puppy dog just going, love me, love me, love me. I'll, I'll shape shift. I'll be a chameleon. I can be anybody you want me to be. That's gone. Once you start getting older and you're like, oh, wait a second. I don't have to do this for anybody. You either like me or you don't. I'm trying to be a good human, but if you don't like what I'm doing or what I'm saying, then be gone, you know?

• 1:01:48Alex Cooper?

  I know. Um, let's, let's finish out with season two. Um, I can speak for everyone and I know I can speak for everyone. I say, we are so excited that we are getting this season two. I cannot wait to just binge this. I'm just so ready to see you all back on my screen. Is there anything you can just like lightly tell us about what to expect?

• 1:02:10Speaker 02

  Um, it is so hard. This I always find the hardest thing to do because I want to give it all away to you. I want to tell you everything. Um, it's equally as crazy as the first season.

• 1:02:26Alex Cooper?

  Oh, my God.

• 1:02:26Speaker 02

  You're not going to be disappointed. There are new people have come in. There are people who are going to die. Um, there are some shocking moments, which I don't have to tell you because you know what this show is, but like what was different for us about second season is we were reading the scripts as we went along, they were being written. Whereas first season, it was all one to eight was written. We knew what was happening. So we would get scripts sometimes and we would sit there and go, oh my, what? This, this is happening? Wait a sec. We call each other. We're like, oh my God, can you believe this?

• 1:03:02Alex Cooper?

  Oh, that's so fun.

• 1:03:03Speaker 02

  So it's, we got to experience it, hopefully the way you guys are going to get to experience it. But yes, there is one specific moment that is shocking that you, everyone will be like, I can't believe they just did this. Yeah.

• 1:03:18Alex Cooper?

  Oh my God. Okay. Now I'm like, okay, bye. I need to go watch it right now. You said that you, you know, tried to keep Margot's character grounded and not let her kind of become this caricature, which we talked about at the beginning of this. But how did you intentionally bring that to life this season? And like, did you approach anything differently than the first season?

• 1:03:39Speaker 02

  I think there was, I think Brittany will say this, and all of the cast members, we felt a lot more secure walking into this season. We knew who these characters were. We weren't trying to find them just like the first season. We also knew how it had hit with audiences.

• 1:03:55Alex Cooper?

  Yes. You're like, everyone loves us.

• 1:03:57Speaker 02

  No, but it was so great. We were like, this is so nice to have an audience base and going, oh, we, we want to satisfy them now. We're like, oh my God, we want this to be so good for them. You had someone to like fight for, you know what I mean? Um, but it was, it was the same rules where we, there were some really crazy situations again. And Brittany and I, we spent a lot of time figuring out how to make some of the dialogue that is crazy feel real, because we just don't want to bring it to that other side.

• 1:04:32Alex Cooper?

  Uh huh.

• 1:04:33Speaker 02

  Um, where we're in like an SNL skit, but we, we worked a lot together on finding the real moments and making it as believable as possible in these unbelievable situations. So it's, yeah, it keeps it, you try to keep it grounded and, and you have to for yourself in order to do that. Um, figure out a way in the mind of Margo Banks, that this makes sense, that this is a real thing.

• 1:05:02Alex Cooper?

  I see. Um, the wig situation.

• 1:05:05Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 1:05:06Alex Cooper?

  You know, the wig situation caused a lot of conversation after season one, or it was like the first episode and then it continued.

• 1:05:14Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 1:05:15Alex Cooper?

  How are we feeling about the wigs this season?

• 1:05:17Speaker 02

  Love. We, we, we upped our game this season.

• 1:05:22Alex Cooper?

  Okay, we got budget.

• 1:05:23Speaker 02

  We got budget. We got a real wig maker who really knew what they were doing. I, I mean, I'll let you guys be the judge of it, but I really think there's a huge difference. And I think it looks great.

• 1:05:34Alex Cooper?

  I love that for you and I love that for us.

• 1:05:36Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 1:05:37Alex Cooper?

  You previously said in an interview and you've kind of talked about it that like this cast has just hit it off and you guys would hang out every weekend and the nights that you could, and it was just so fun. Are there any just like little fun memories that you can kind of share with us that happened during filming of season two?

• 1:05:53Speaker 02

  Oh my gosh. Well, we went to Charleston, South Carolina for Brittany's 40th birthday.

• 1:06:00Alex Cooper?

  Oh.

• 1:06:01Speaker 02

  It was all of us. We all went, we rented an Airbnb. It was so special. We spent a whole weekend. We did the little petty cabs, you know, and just had, that was one of my most special moments filming season two was having all of us together in Charleston, which by the way, is one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

• 1:06:21Alex Cooper?

  Amazing.

• 1:06:22Speaker 02

  The food scene there is incredible.

• 1:06:23Alex Cooper?

  And it's great for a birthday party.

• 1:06:25Speaker 02

  Oh my gosh. We, and even Dermot came out and danced with us because you know there had to be dancing. Brittany's a dancer too. We love our dance moves. We went out after dinner. We're like, let's just see if there's anything. We walk into this place and they're like, oh my God, it's you guys. Let us get you a table. And I was like, it's her birthday. They brought out champagne and it was just this impromptu party at some outdoor patio in Charleston. I look over and Dermot's in the corner and dancing and girls are coming up to him. And I'm like, this is the most, the wildest, most beautiful, spontaneous night that we had and everyone had a blast. And by the way, everyone that was coming up was so lovely. We had another gaggle of girls. So I think it was a bachelorette, this woman

• 1:07:05Speaker 02

  who's getting married to her, um, uh, her like sister's best friend or something. And they were all just right in front of us and we started this big dance party. So that was like, I know it's not a set thing, but it was with all, all, all our cast and we had a really nice time.

• 1:07:21Alex Cooper?

  I feel like what we now know.

• 1:07:23Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 1:07:24Alex Cooper?

  I said at the beginning of this, I said, you know, I'm so excited to meet you because I was like, oh, I can't wait to know the woman behind all of these just like iconic characters. And now I know that Molly and Akerman, you are going to find her dancing. There's going to be a disco ball.

• 1:07:40Speaker 02

  Yep.

• 1:07:40Alex Cooper?

  And it's going to be a good time.

• 1:07:42Speaker 02

  Yes, it is.

• 1:07:42Alex Cooper?

  If you run into her, or if you're lucky enough to get invited to one of those parties that she's hosting now in Connecticut. Oh, everyone's going to be gunning for you in Connecticut.

• 1:07:50Speaker 02

  That's right.

• 1:07:51Alex Cooper?

  They're going to see you at the grocery store and be like, what are you doing on Friday? And you're like, you might get the invite.

• 1:07:55Speaker 02

  Disco ball on? It'll be turned on.

• 1:07:57Alex Cooper?

  I can't thank you enough for coming on. I am so excited to watch this new season and you are so talented. I love watching your character, bringing her to life. Obviously also can't wait to just see what more you do with your career, but thank you so much for your time and it was so nice meeting you.

• 1:08:14Speaker 02

  Thank you. It's so nice to meet you too. You're so lovely.

• 1:08:31Alex Cooper?

  Call Her Daddy is brought to you by American Eagle. Holiday outfits just got way easier. American Eagle's new arrivals are basically everything you need right now. Super soft sweaters, lightweight layers, comfy lounge styles, heritage faves and low rise jeans that are very much back in the rotation. Whether you're heading to a holiday thing or just hanging with your people, there's something for every plan. Just don't wait too long. Your new faves won't be around forever. You can check it all out at ae.com or just go to the store. Call Her Daddy is brought to you by Alka Seltzer Cold. Life's already messy enough. Drama, dating, working, a cold or flu? We don't have time for that. Alka Seltzer Cold

• 1:09:16Alex Cooper?

  fast dissolve tablets are designed to deliver cold and flu relief fast. Just drop the two tablets in water and hear those bubbles bursting into action, ready to work faster than pills. Pills take time to dissolve. Next time a cold or flu strikes, quick Alka Seltzer Cold. Nothing works faster for cold and flu symptom relief. Among oral OTC products, use as directed. Call Her Daddy is brought to you by Stouffer's. Let me tell you something. When I am hungry and I am trying to figure out what to eat, sometimes you can just actually become so, you're angry. You're like, I am busy. I'm hungry. I'm getting hangry. I'm getting angry. What can I eat? I need something hot and delicious and low maintenance. Well, introducing

• 1:10:01Alex Cooper?

  Stouffer's dinners are not only delicious, they're done in a flash. Serve up their classic lasagna, chicken pesto or carbonara for two. Whatever you're craving, Stouffer's is your hot, delicious, easy meal fantasy. When the clock strikes dinner, think Stouffer's. You can see all the delicious options at stouffer's.com.