As an actress, Akimoto has appeared in both Japanese and American productions, and made her Hollywood debut in Sniper: Assassin's End (2020).

[6] She was also assigned as a narrator in the collaboration drama of PTV-4 and Nippon TV entitled "Halo Halo House-Jose's Nippon Diary"[7] Akimoto began her career in AKB48 as one of the members of the second generation, the Original Team K. On the last day of the Budokan concert on August 23, 2009, during the first team shuffle, Akimoto was officially made captain of Team K. She resigned after a scandal in 2010[8] but after completing the Tokyo Marathon in 2011, she was reappointed the position.

On April 7, 2013, Akimoto announced on her official blog that she would not be participating in AKB48's 2013 general election, and would be graduating from AKB48 to focus on her acting.

[13] In 2014, she reunited with her sub-unit group DIVA to release their final single "Discovery", an album, and a tour before disbandment.

[15] Akimoto was a co-host for Team Japan in the reality competition show Ultimate Beastmaster which was released on Netflix on February 24, 2017.