Watchmen: Malin Akerman says she felt ‘out of her league’ and ‘the weak link’ in Zack Snyder adaptation

Akerman's performance in film bore brunt of cast criticism at the time

Malin Akerman has revealed she felt like “the weak link” in Zack Snyder’s controversial adaptation of Alan Moore’s comic book Watchmen.

The Swedish actor played Silk Spectre II in the 2009 movie, which has developed a cult following in the years since, but earned mixed reviews upon release. Akerman’s performance bore the brunt of cast criticism, and she has now confessed to feeling insecure on set.

“I felt way out of my league on that one,” Akerman told Collider. “I really struggled because it was such a big film and I really felt like I had no idea what I was doing. I had no training and I was working with these fabulous theatre actors who had all the training in the world. I definitely didn’t feel worthy of being there.”

Prior to Watchmen, Akerman was best known for her roles in romcoms 27 Dresses and The Heartbreak Kid, as well as the Lisa Kudrow black comedy The Comeback.

The Watchmen cast included Oscar nominee Jackie Earle Haley and classically-trained actors including Patrick Wilson, Billy Crudup and Matthew Goode.

Akerman continued: “I just said, ‘Alright, I can’t just follow now anymore. I have to start making decisions of what it is that I want to learn. I don’t want to feel like I’m in that position where I feel like I’m the weakest link in a production’ … I realised that I didn’t know how to prepare for a role and they did, and that was really getting to me. I was disappointed in myself that I hadn’t taken more time before going into [it].”

After Watchmen, Snyder further developed a cult fandom as a result of his work in the DC Universe, directing films including Man of Steel and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

Watchmen was adapted for television in 2019, with Lost co-creator Damon Lindelof lifting characters and concepts from Moore’s original books. It was widely heralded as one of the best TV events of the year.