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Netflix series The Hunting Wives based Margo on First Lady Melania Trump, says Malin Åkerman
Åkerman, who stars as Margo Banks in the Netflix adaptation of May Cobb's scandalous novel, says the First Lady was "the only reference, really" for her character
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We don't know her personally, but we'd guess Malin Åkerman probably does her homework when it comes to character inspirations. Her storied work across multiple genres and mediums proves as much. However, for her most recent project, the scandalous high-society drama The Hunting Wives, Åkerman's inspiration homework apparently only came from one source: current First Lady of the United States, Melania Trump.
The story comes out of an interview Åkerman did with Vulture, in the same week that The Hunting Wives was clocked at the No. 2 spot on Netflix's Top English-Language Shows. The show, which is based on a 2021 novel of the same name by May Cobb, cast Åkerman as socialite Margo Banks. Åkerman, whose credits include Zack Snyder's Watchmen adaptation and meta-horror The Final Girls, told her interviewer that both her character and the current First Lady "came into a marriage to this rich man as one woman."
"That was the only reference, really," Åkerman continued. "Other than that, it’s just high society. I’ve mingled with aristocrats and high-society people and seen the games that go into it. For lack of a better word, I wouldn’t say 'authenticity' is how those people lead."
To be fair, Margo's husband is neither President of the United States or laughing stock of the entire South Park fanbase. However, Margo does hold a serious position of power in the show's fictional Texas community of Maple Brook, where she is de facto leader of the titular society of elites.
And not for nothing, but if I were on the Maple Brook town council, I wouldn't let Margo anywhere near the town Christmas displays.
The Hunting Wives is streaming on Netflix now.
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