“The Hunting Wives” star Malin Akerman has revealed that her childhood best friend moved into her home to help her raise her then-4-month-old baby during her divorce.
The Hollywood heavyweight, 47, opened up about the support she had during her 2013 divorce from Roberto Zincone while speaking at the She Sees Me: The Power of Female Friendship panel, which was part of the Shine Away event at Universal Studios.
Akerman—who hails from Canada but moved to California in 2002—opened up about the importance of friendship, adding that she leaned on her best friend during her hardest times, and it helped turn her struggles into “joy,” especially when it came to her son, Sebastian.
“So I have a son who’s 12 years old. But when he was 4 months old, his father and I got a divorce. It was out of nowhere. It’s interesting what happens when you have kids and how everything just shifts and people aren’t who they seem to be.
“But anyway, we separated, and my best girlfriend from middle school moved in with me from Toronto. She came and moved in and helped me raise my son for the first year and a half of his life, and let me tell you, she made it. … I highly recommend it,” the actress explained.
She then suggested that everyone raise their children with their best friends because of how much joy it brought her.
“It was sensational because it was one of the hardest times in my life and also one of the most joyful times of my life because I had just had a baby, and that’s shocking when they let you take a human home.
“But it is this incredible experience, and she was the silver lining of it all, and we had so much fun. We made it such a fun time, and it was incredible to have that in this tainted moment of darkness,” she added.
Once the TV show icon got over her divorce, she said she was able to truly focus on all of the good things in her life, including having fun with her friends and family.
“It was sad when it ended, but boy, that laughter and that levity and, of course, the support that came with it, but just having the joyous moments together is also a huge connection. It is the connective tissue of friendships, aside from moving through hardships,” she said.
The star then revealed that the experience taught her how to ask for help, recalling one moment where she was overwhelmed that she had to ask her pal to stay behind.
“She’s like, ‘I’m just going to a yoga class. I can stay if you want and just take care of him if you want, but you have to ask for help. You have to ask me,'” she said.
“And I went, ‘Can you just stay?’ She’s like, ‘Yeah. Was that so hard? You have to start asking for help.’ I am still working on it, but asking for help was always such a sign of weakness for me.”
Akerman currently lives in Hollywood with her husband, Jack Donnelly, 39, and Sebastian.
Their home is a rustic 1940s-era abode near Beachwood Canyon and features Moroccan-inspired themes and vibrant colors.
She has previously gushed about her property while doing a collaboration with HomeGoods, noting that the word “cozy” is a good way to “sum up” her dwelling.
“I was inspired by my grandfather’s place in the South of France, so I went for that rustic Mediterranean feel—a lot of wood and stone—and worked in a Moroccan vibe,” she explained.
It is unclear if this is the same home Akerman was living in when her best friend moved in.
