Latest news with #Margo
New York Post
a day ago
- Entertainment
- New York Post
Malin Akerman on steamy Brittany Snow 'Hunting Wives' scenes: video
Move over, 'Big Little Lies,' there's a new soapy drama about rich housewives, sex, and murder. Malin Akerman stars in the Netflix show 'The Hunting Wives' (now streaming), which is based on the 2021 novel and follows Sophie (Brittany Snow), who moves with her husband (Evan Jonigkeit) from Massachusetts to Texas. While feeling like a fish out of water, she ends up in a complicated relationship with Margo Banks (Akerman), the wife of her husband's boss, Jed (Dermot Mulroney), who is considering running for the Governor of Texas. Margo is the leader of the local clique of socialites and moms. Advertisement 'I love roles like this. Women who are just big and free and wild,' Akerman, 47, exclusively told The Post. 9 Malin Akerman and Dermot Mulroney in 'The Hunting Wives.' Netflix 9 Malin Akerman and Brittany Snow in 'The Hunting Wives.' Netflix Advertisement 9 Malin Akerman in her video interview with the New York Post. Page Six The '27 Dresses' star added, 'This show is saucy and fun, and I love veering away from who I am in real life, which is a people pleaser, and stepping into something that's a bit more queen bee, leader of the pack. It was amazing.' Margo and Jed have an open relationship, allowing Margo to have flings with inappropriately younger guys such as high school aged Brad (George Ferrier) and also women like her friend Callie (Jaime Ray Newman). Plus, she sets her sights on Sophie. As Sophie becomes tied into Margot's group of hard-partying friends – fellow moms and housewives who also like to shoot guns – there's also a dash of murder. Advertisement 9 Jaime Ray Newman, Malin Akerman, Brittany Snow, and Katie Lowes in 'The Hunting Wives.' thehuntingwives/Instagram Regarding the steamy scenes in the show, Akerman said, 'I've done it in the past and I just think that when it moves the plot forward, I'm all for it. I'm not for gratuitous scenes, and I think that this is necessary to Margo's character.' The 'Watchmen' actress noted that the cast had a 'wonderful intimacy coordinator' to collaborate with. 'So before you even get to set, we're rehearsing the scenes. We're talking about what we're comfortable with, what we are not comfortable with so that when we get to set, we're ready to go and we know there are no surprises,' she explained. 'It's very technical. But when it's on your TV screens, hopefully it feels very sexy and exciting.' Advertisement 9 Joyce Glenn, Katie Lowes, Malin Akerman, Brittany Snow, Jamie Ray Newman, and Alexandria DiBerry in 'The Hunting Wives.' For the moments when things heat up between Margo and Sophie, Akerman said the atmosphere behind the scenes was 'playful.' 'Brittany and I get along so well. She's such a lovely human. We would be sitting there kind of giggling like school girls, like, 'Oh my God, this is so crazy. What a job we have!'' 'I'm so glad it was with her, and we felt so comfortable with each other,' the 'Couples Retreat' star added. 'We'd become really good friends – and how lucky that we did end up getting along. Because sometimes you have to do scenes with people you're not as bonded with. So, of course there's some hesitation, but we always felt really well taken care of.' 9 Malin Akerman at An Unforgettable Evening at The Beverly Hilton on April 28, 2025 in Beverly Hills, California. WireImage 9 Brittany Snow and Malin Akerman in 'The Hunting Wives.' Netflix She added: 'And it was such a respectful set. We knew what we were doing with this intimacy coordinator who had our backs along with everyone else in the crew.' Akerman explained that Margo and Sophie's relationship is 'complicated.' Advertisement 'They need each other in different ways. And I think that they both have an idea of what they think they want in the beginning, but what it ends up becoming is something very different,' she told The Post. 9 Malin Akerman at the Anine Bing Cocktail Party held at Chateau Marmont in LA on May 13, 2025. WWD via Getty Images 9 Katie Lowes, Brittany Snow and Malin Akerman in 'The Hunting Wives.' Netflix '[Margo likes that Sophie is] smart and she's interesting and very different from the women that she's hanging out with. It's like a shiny toy for her that she wants to play with,' she said. 'She doesn't really know what she's getting herself into, but is always willing to go there and feels confident enough to dive into this relationship. So it starts in one place and then it ends up some place different that any of these women would have guessed.' Advertisement Akerman is also known for her roles in 'Rock of Ages,' 'Watchmen' and 2008's '27 Dresses,' co-starring James Marsden and Katherine Heigl. 'We've had dreams about [a sequel],' she said of the romantic comedy. 'We've all dreamt big, but I still haven't any rumors about that. I would love that. '28 Dresses' would be lovely.'
Time Magazine
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Time Magazine
'The Hunting Wives' Is a Bonkers, Bisexual Culture-War Soap
If the word wife is in the title, expect suds. This is a cardinal rule of television, established by Desperate Housewives, cemented by the Real Housewives, and perpetuated by the many scripted and unscripted series those ravenously consumed foremothers begat: The Good Wife, Sister Wives, Basketball Wives, Mob Wives, The Ex-Wife, The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives. But really, wife titles have been shorthand for scandalous fun since the 14th century, when Chaucer made 'The Wife of Bath's Tale' the raunchiest of his Canterbury Tales. As the backstory of its eponymous five-time widow suggests, the ur-wife is a character with carnal experience, sexually empowered and financially secure but also subject to a man's rule. Hence the steam—and the scheming. You'd think 600-plus years and successive waves of feminism would have put paid to this archetype… and yet, though sexual candor predominates, the patriarchy persists. And so the diabolical minds behind summer TV have managed to dream up what might be the wildest, silliest, and soapiest wife show ever made—which, I know, is saying a lot. Adapted from May Cobb's novel, Netflix's The Hunting Wives has it all: kidnapped teens, age-gap affairs, buried secrets, crooked clergy, swinging politicians, shadowy stalkers, ravenous bisexuals, substances galore, a murder. And that's just in the three episodes provided for review. It's also about the Trump-era culture wars. Even if you cringe a bit at its crassness (as I did), you kind of have to admire it (as I also do) for always doing the most. Wife-show junkies, meet your new addiction. The Hunting Wives begins with a pretty basic soap opera premise: Sophie O'Neil (Brittany Snow) has just moved from Boston—sorry, Cambridge, where the show keeps reminding us Harvard is—to small-town Texas for her husband Graham's (Evan Jonigkeit) new job. A former political PR pro and generic East Coast Liberal, Sophie is now the full-time mom to a young son (Emmett Moss). So you can guess how she feels when she finds herself at a rollicking NRA fundraiser on the vast estate of Graham's new employer, the super-rich oilman and aspiring Republican governor Jed Banks (a smug Dermot Mulroney). There she encounters Jed's beguiling wife, Margo (Malin Akerman), who initiates Sophie into her circle of glamorous, snarky, hard-drinking, gun-toting, red-voting wives. Fish out of water, meet queen bee. But there's a twist to this upstart-vs.-diva plot. Sophie first lays eyes on Margo in one of the mansion's bathrooms, which Margo is scouring for a maxi pad. When her guest doesn't have one either, Margo strips down, shoves some paper towels in her lacy underwear, and asks Sophie (who's dressed in long-sleeved black number a dismayed Graham labeled 'Soviet') to zip up her slinky green gown. Then Sophie shares her Xanax stash with Margo; they clink pills, champagne-flute style, and exchange meaningful glances. Occurring less than five minutes into the premiere, this scene gives us our first inkling that these two women might be more likely to make out with each other than to feud for supremacy within their clique—which is also to say it's our first indication that The Hunting Wives is to soap operas what Secretary is to rom-coms. Margo is the horny, imperious sun that Maple Brook, TX revolves around, and Akerman both smolders in the role and seems to be having a ton of fun with it. We learn early on that Margo and Jed have extensive extramarital sex lives. But don't call it an open marriage! As Margo explains to Sophie: 'Open marriages are for liberals. We just keep it simple. I don't sleep with other men, and when Jed and I see a girl we like, we go for it.' (Not that she always adheres to those rules. Something else she tells Sophie: 'I believe in doing whatever the f-ck I want.') One girl Margo likes more than Jed might prefer is her skeet-shooting buddy Callie (Jaime Ray Newman), who immediately senses a rival in Sophie. For her part, Sophie is bored without her job and chafing within her marriage to a man who, despite his Harvard-polished manners, can be judgmental and controlling. Both women are running away from shameful pasts. The question of whether Margo and Jed's unconventional arrangement would hurt his campaign arises early, and the way the series handles it is emblematic of The Hunting Wives' perceptive take on the new right. This constituency, Jed points out, doesn't care about the (hetero)sexual transgressions of its macho leaders: 'They don't want a Boy Scout. They want a man.' If Donald Trump can get re-elected President after being held liable for sexual abuse, who in Texas is going to blink at the consensual nonmonogamy of a Republican gubernatorial candidate? Yet Margo rightly worries about double standards around gender and sexuality that guarantee she'll face scrutiny if it comes out that she, too, is sleeping with other women. From Graham's surveillance of Sophie to the do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do debauchery of Margo's friends, who regularly get wasted at honkytonk girls nights but wouldn't miss a Sunday at church, the show gets that hypocrisy is a bipartisan phenomenon. It's enough to make you forgive all the glib political references, from Marjorie Taylor Greene to 'deplorables.' Once in a while, there's even a painfully keen zinger. 'There are no clinics left to bomb—thanks to us,' one character brags. All of the above would've been more than enough to fuel a season of salacious froth, but the series' maximalism extends to more than just Margo's sex life. (Before we move off the latter topic, though, let me just say: There are two separate scenes within the first three episodes where someone stumbles upon a couple in flagrante and one of the lovers meets that person's gaze with a saucy smirk. Both involve Margo.) As is obligatory on TV these days, there is a murder mystery; early episodes are framed by flash-forwards to a blonde woman, her face obscured so it's impossible to tell which of multiple blonde characters she is, fighting for her life in the nighttime woods. The kidnapping of a teen girl months earlier lingers in the background. The local megachurch is its own whole thing, with Shondaland stalwart Katie Lowes giving a delightfully overbearing performance as Jill, a preacher's wife and Margo sidekick who's plotting to profit off of her husband's influence. Jill's teenage son Brad (George Ferrier) is just as calculating, if not nearly as savvy, pressuring his pious girlfriend Abby (Madison Wolfe) for a repeat of their prom-night hookup while pursuing other partners. The church's guitar-wielding youth minister, Pastor Pete (played by the late Paul Teal), senses friction within the relationship but has ulterior motives of his own. Abby's mother, Starr, a frumpy, low-income outcast in a sea of McMansion-dwelling trophy wives, is played by This Is Us alum Chrissy Metz, one of the show's top-billed actors. So it's curious to see her get so little screen time in the first few episodes. The Hunting Wives is too much, in ways both delectable and exhausting. Executive producer and showrunner Rebecca Cutter risks running out of steam in the back half of the season, let alone in a second. But for now, at least, its sheer exuberance keeps all the try-hard naughtiness from feeling excessively self-satisfied. (The gnawing guilt viewers of certain political persuasions might feel at reveling in lightly satirized MAGA nihilism as its real-life fallout reverberates around the globe is another story.) The Wife of Bath would surely recognize an heir in Margo—and, I think, approve.
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Qantas blunder ruins couple's overseas holiday - weeks after the airline was rocked by a massive cyber attack affecting six million customers
An Australian businessman and his wife suffered a nightmare end to their US holiday courtesy of a bizarre and infuriating Qantas blunder. Craig Badings and his wife Margo had booked a long-haul flight leaving Los Angeles on Tuesday and were due to arrive back in Sydney on Thursday. They never made the flight because Qantas told them it had been it had been cancelled. The only problem was, according to Mr Badings, it hadn't been at all. Mr Badings said the flight took off when it was supposed to, just as they were making their way back from the airport after turning around due to the cancellation message. The principal at public relations firm SenateSHJ said he and his wife were instead stranded in LA. 'The best Qantas can offer us is a flight on Friday via Dallas to Sydney arriving Sunday morning - three days later than scheduled,' Mr Badings said. The initial test and email the couple got from Qantas told them that their flight - QF12 - had been 'delayed' and would be instead be leaving on Thursday. They were later told Qantas had failed to book them seats on the Thursday flight, resulting in the offer of leaving on Friday. After much back-and-forth with the airline the couple were eventually booked on a replacement flight a little earlier on Thursday morning. 'It's all been a bit of a debacle,' Mr Badings told Daily Mail Australia. 'Even a few hours before the flight, when our travel agent was dealing with Qantas, they didn't alert him that the flight was still going ahead as scheduled. 'I'm not sure whether this was related to the (recent) cyber incident, poor planning on Qantas' part, or just poor communications and a genuine mix up.' Mr Badings said the booking for their rescheduled flight on the 17th had disappeared from his Qantas app, meaning at one stage they weren't on any flights at all. 'Ten hours of calls to Qantas US (no help at all), the 24-7 Qantas number and we were finally booked via Dallas to Sydney on the 19th, arriving on Sunday the 20th. They said we couldn't get on the flight on the 17th,' he said. 'Then, when Australia woke up, we called our agent again and a few hours later we were informed we are indeed on the 10am flight (on the 17th).' With 30 years' experience advising major corporations and senior executives about communication and brand reputation, Mr Badings had some advice for the embattled national carrier. 'The message to Qantas would simply be over-communication in these situations,' he said. 'Not knowing and being able to get hold of someone when you are thousands of kilometres from home isn't great. And then keep us informed along the way.' Mr Badings urged fellow Qantas passengers to learn from his lesson and double check that cancellation texts and emails are valid. 'The message to others would be to call Qantas immediately and if in any doubt, go to the airport and speak to them in person,' he said. 'If we had done that, we would have been on the flight.' A Qantas spokesperson confirmed the mix-up was the result of an 'administrative error'. 'We sincerely apologise to Mr and Mrs Badings and understand how frustrating this experience would have been,' they said. 'The SMS sent to Mr Badings was a result of an administrative error and we are investigating how this occurred to ensure it doesn't happen again. 'The error is not related to the recent cyber incident. 'We have contacted Mr and Mrs Badings and rebooked them on the first available direct flight from Los Angeles to Sydney.' The couple will be compensated for any additional travel costs. The blunder comes after the airline fell victim to a cyber attack on June 30. Qantas was granted an interim injunction in the NSW Supreme Court on Thursday to stop the compromised data of customers being accessed or released following the hack. The records of 5.7million Qantas customers were impacted when a third-party system used by an offshore call centre was hacked. The names, email addresses and frequent flyer details of four million customers were exposed. The remaining 1.7 million customers had more data taken, including their dates of birth, phone numbers, personal or business addresses, gender and meal preferences, prompting an apology from Qantas boss Vanessa Hudson. The airline has confirmed there was no evidence of any personal data being released, and no credit card or passport details or personal financial information had been accessed. 'In an effort to further protect affected customers, the airline has today obtained an interim injunction in the NSW Supreme Court to prevent the stolen data from being accessed, viewed, released, used, transmitted or published by anyone, including by any third parties,' a Qantas statement said on Thursday. 'We want to do all we can to protect our customers' personal information and believe this was an important next course of action.'
Toronto Star
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Toronto Star
Life advice: Malin Åkerman on playing horny in the juicy 'The Hunting Wives' adaptation
The treasure: Actor Malin Åkerman may have been born in Sweden, but she was raised in Ontario — complete with a very Canadian pro figure-skating career — so we're delighted to claim her as our very own treasure. She's become well-known in Hollywood, too, thanks to her roles in everything from big action spectacles ('Watchmen,' 'Rampage') to acclaimed TV comedies ('Childrens Hospital,' 'The Comeback'). The new thing: Now Åkerman is relishing one of the most fun genres yet: the juicy drama. She stars as horny small-town-Texas socialite Margo Banks in 'The Hunting Wives,' a fun adaptation of May Cobb's bestselling mystery thriller about a shy mom, Sophie (Brittany Snow), who gets into trouble when she starts hanging out with the titular swinging, hard-partying crew, led by the slightly menacing Margo. (Margo busts out her tatas as a power move during her very first scene, so you know she means business.)
Tom's Guide
10-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Tom's Guide
Netflix drops first trailer for new mystery thriller series — and it looks like a twisty ride full of murder and secrets
Netflix has just dropped a trailer for the twist-filled thriller 'The Hunting Wives,' but here's a curveball: it didn't originate with Netflix. The new series was actually acquired from Starz, meaning it won't carry the streamer's original branding, but that's not stopping it from becoming a potential No. 1 hit when it debuts on July 21. Originally developed by Starz, the show quietly changed hands in a strategic move that now places it in front of Netflix's global audience. And if the trailer is anything to go by, this southern-set mystery could have viewers hooked. With a starry cast led by Brittany Snow and Malin Åkerman, the story follows a bored housewife who relocates to East Texas and falls in with a seductive clique of elite women, a decision that leads to obsession, betrayal, and ultimately, murder. Malin Akerman, Brittany Snow, Katie Lowes, Chrissy Metz, and Dermot Mulroney star in The Hunting Wives — a new series premiering July 21. When Sophie moves to East Texas, an intoxicating group of affluent women usher her into a world of seduction, jealousy, and murder. 9, 2025 The trailer for 'The Hunting Wives' introduces a group of wealthy women living lives of leisure, spending their days sipping cocktails, flirting, and shooting for sport. But their seemingly carefree world takes a dark and sudden turn when a night of fun spirals into chaos. Sophie (Snow) and Margo (Akerman) find themselves entangled in a deadly situation, forced to cover up a murder in a town where secrets run deep and trust is in short supply. As the pressure mounts, it becomes clear that betrayal could come from anywhere, even from those closest to them. For now, the new series appears to be available exclusively in the United States. While there's a chance it could be licensed in other countries later (especially if it becomes a breakout hit) it's currently geographically limited to the U.S. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. 'The Hunting Wives' centers on Sophie, a woman who relocates to a small town in Texas and quickly becomes entangled with a dazzling group of local wives. Their days are filled with high-end fashion, midday cocktails, and weekend hunting trips, but beneath the surface, there's far more going on. 'The Hunting Wives' is based on a bestselling novel, a sharp and sultry story that dives headfirst into the lives of wealthy southern women and the secrets they try to keep buried. As Sophie slips deeper into their seductive world, the dynamic begins to shift. The women (charmed by Sophie's quiet presence and mysterious past) become increasingly fixated on her. And while Sophie appears to be swept up in their allure, she may be hiding a few secrets of her own. At the center of it all is Margo, the group's leader. She takes a special interest in Sophie, even confiding personal details as their bond intensifies. But things start to spiral as Margo's husband (Dermot Mulroney) launches a political campaign, forcing her to clean up her image. The cast also includes Evan Jonigkeit as Sophie's husband, Graham, Chrissy Metz as Starr, a devout outsider who doesn't fit in with the elite wives, and Katie Lowes as Jill, a pastor's wife with a fierce maternal streak. Jaime Ray Newman plays Callie, a sharp-shooting member of the inner circle, and George Ferrier rounds out the group as Brad, whose 'charm hides darker layers.' 'The Hunting Wives' is based on May Cobb's bestselling novel, a sharp and sultry story that dives headfirst into the lives of wealthy southern women and the secrets they try to keep buried. The series comes from showrunner Rebecca Cutter, best known for 'Hightown' and 'Gotham.' Season 1 will feature eight episodes in total, with composer Jeff Danna behind the score. Judging by the newly released trailer, this looks like a twist-filled binge-watch, and I'm certain it will climb the ranks in Netflix's top 10 list based on the intriguing premise alone. While it's not labeled a Netflix original, 'The Hunting Wives' seems to have the right ingredients to draw viewers in with its dark twists and southern setting. Set to premiere on U.S. Netflix on July 21, it will be interesting to see how viewers respond once it's released since there hasn't been much build-up.
