When Malin Akerman was first asked to read for “Trophy Wife,” she couldn’t have been less interested.
“I said, ‘Are you kidding?’ That’s exactly what I don’t want to be,” the former Ford Model tells The Post.
But the pilot script for the show showed her character, Kate, to be smart, sexy and funny enough to utilize Akerman’s comedic gifts.
Kate is the third wife of Pete (Bradley Whitford), a man who has kept his family — including his ex-wives — close. She therefore has to adapt to being a stepmom to Pete’s three kids, but also to embracing the exes, space cadet Jackie (Michaela Watkins) and no-nonsense Diane (Marcia Gay Harden), into her life.
“What I love about Kate is that she’s trying really hard,” says Akerman, 35. “She truly is in love with Brad Whitford’s character. They have lots of fun together. She wants to be part of the family, and wants to be a good parent.”
Akerman, born in Sweden and raised in Canada, related to the role for several reasons. She grew up in a similar situation, as her family included a slew of step- and half-relations.
“I have two stepfathers, a stepmother, and half-siblings and step-siblings. I have a picture of my mom and my three dads at my wedding, laughing their heads off,” she says.
“The capability of exes to be friends is a huge deal, because if you haven’t experienced it, people may go, ‘Can you all sit in the same room and really enjoy each other?’ I want this show to portray that there’s unity within these families, and that we can work together and raise kids properly. I had a positive experience with all these step-parents, and my life has been more colorful because of it.”
The other personal connection is that Akerman comes into the role of new mom as a new mom herself. Her first child with husband Roberto Zincone, Sebastian, is now 7 months old, and Akerman had four months home with him — “I would have taken a year had you given it to me,” she says — before shooting began for the show.
[As this story was going to press, it was announced that Akerman and Zincone, her husband of six years, were splitting up. Akerman’s reps had no comment.]
Having Sebastian allowed her to bond with co-stars Whitford and Harden, each the parent of three.
“Their kids are pre-teens or teens,” Akerman says. “Bradley just embraces my son and goes, ‘Oh, this makes me want another one.’ I keep saying he can borrow mine anytime.”
Akerman’s casting did more than just fill the role of Kate with someone who gets it on a personal level.
Comedy is her forte. Akerman has co-starred in films like “Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle” and “The Heartbreak Kid,” and on several TV and Web series including “Robot Chicken” and “Newsreaders.”
“There were definitely some things I didn’t know she could do that surprised me. I didn’t know how great she was at physical comedy,” says Sarah Haskins, the show’s co-creator and inspiration (although her husband has three ex-wives).
“She had a scene with Marcia where she walked out, slammed into the desk, and hit Marcia with her purse, and I went, ‘Oh, she’s great. We can do all kinds of comedy with her.’ ”
Given Akerman’s beauty and talent, it can seem like her success was preordained, especially since her road to fame began in storybook fashion.
When she was 16, Ford Models held one round of a competition to find their next great model in a mall outside of Toronto. As she watched from the audience with her mother, one of the “head honchos” from Ford approached her.
“He pulled me aside and said, ‘You’d be perfect for our agency,’ ” says Akerman. “Being a high fashion model was never a passion, but I thought I could make some money and pay my own way. I was very focused on the money aspect so I could be independent.”
She was enrolled in the competition, won the grand prize of a modeling contract, and modeled for several years, which led to acting roles.
Now that “Trophy Wife” has been given a full-season order, Akerman hopes that this becomes her main gig for years to come — even if it’s the misleading title that draws viewers.
“I love it now,” she says of the title, “because I think it increases the surprise when people actually watch the show, and they go, ‘Oh. It’s not at all what I thought it would be.’ ”