12 Best James Marsden Movies & TV Shows, Ranked

Unexpectedly a prince and a prison, there are few roles James Marsden is not excellent for. The charming everyman has dazzled audiences for over three many years and in over 80 movie and tv initiatives, ranging broadly in style from experimental comedies and darkish satires to indie science fiction tales and comedian e book blockbusters.

As of writing, Marsden’s greatest up to date initiatives are the movies within the “Sonic the Hedgehog” franchise, wherein he performs considered one of few human characters alongside Jim Carrey, reverse the voices of Ben Schwartz, Idris Elba, and, most lately, Keanu Reeves as Shadow the Hedgehog. However earlier than he was chasing gold rings throughout dimensions, Marsden was already an unmissable star of screens large and small, so we have ranked his 12 greatest TV reveals and films, taking into consideration their total high quality, how they showcased his expertise, and their affect on common tradition at giant.

Whereas James Marsden is now broadly often called an actor who can deal with comedy and drama in equal measure, he did not all the time really feel that was a given. When he was solid within the Adam McKay sequel “Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues,” it was solely as a result of Will Ferrell occurred to have seen him in 2008’s “Intercourse Drive” (regardless of containing some nice work from Marsden, it is a pretty draining watch in any other case), and felt he may go toe-to-toe together with his character, legendary newsman Ron Burgundy.

Marsden took on the function of Jack “Lame” Lime, an smug hotshot anchor whom the actor in comparison with Tom Brokaw with regard to his standing within the “Anchorman” world. He remembers attending to shock folks — reminiscent of Jonah Hill and Seth Rogen — on the preliminary desk learn by getting large laughs on his traces. “It was a shock that ‘Marsden is humorous,’ was kind of the final feeling,” he recalled in a retrospective interview with Vanity Fair. Marsden is certainly humorous within the closing reduce of the movie as properly, delivering probably his wildest comedic efficiency to this point.

Regardless of courting cancellation by the vast majority of its run, Tina Fey’s groundbreaking NBC sitcom “30 Rock” stays one of the beloved tv reveals ever produced. Satirizing Fey because the dysfunctional head author of a “Saturday Evening Dwell”-style selection present, it usually juxtaposed her fast-paced profession together with her banal private life. The latter included a string of well-intentioned however ill-fitting romantic companions, together with James Marsden’s Criss Chros in Season 6.

As he mirrored with Vanity Fair in 2020, “There was a time interval the place folks like Matt Damon and Jon Hamm … have been displaying up and being boyfriends to Liz Lemon [Fey] and I assumed, ‘Yeah, good firm to maintain.'” Anticipating solely to be a seasonal visitor star, Marsden was shocked when he was not solely requested to return but additionally was pitched a storyline wherein Liz and Criss would marry. He enthusiastically accepted the provide. “It was, I feel, the primary time in my profession that I used to be [working with] the most important league gamers of comedy,” he stated.

In 2012, the identical 12 months James Marsden took on roles in comedies like “Small Flats” and the Insurgent Wilson-led “Bachelorette,” the actor additionally featured in a little-known but grossly underrated sci-fi movie referred to as “Robotic & Frank.” The movie takes place in 2022, a as soon as near-future that compelled Marsden. “It is not like a really slick, futuristic film,” he advised Vanity Fair. “There’s a couple of new automobiles and a [few] technological developments, however … We dwell in a world the place, 10 years sooner or later, robots are put in in properties as caretakers for the aged.”

Frank Langella stars as one such aged individual, an growing older and agitating ex-con additionally named Frank. When Frank’s bitter perspective and signs of dementia alienate him from his solely son Hunter (Marsden), Hunter items him the robotic as a method of making distance. Realizing that the robotic lacks the ethical code his different companions have, Frank thus endeavors to show the machine into his new companion in crime.

Having been a fan of director Lee Daniels’ since his directorial debut (2005’s “Shadowboxer”), James Marsden was ecstatic when he was invited to audition for a job in his 2013 historic drama “The Butler.” This sense mounted when Marsden realized what number of Academy Award-winning or nominated actors have been concerned already, and that he was being thought-about to play U.S. President John F. Kennedy. The star-studded ensemble function facilities round Forest Whitaker’s Cecil Gaines, a butler who labored within the White Home all through 5 presidential administrations together with Kennedy’s, and sometimes needed to cope with the political, social, and ethical ramifications of his proximity to their energy.

Marsden felt a “duty to historical past” (as he stated in a behind-the-scenes interview) to justly painting the martyred chief. Although he donned prosthetic make-up and adopted Kennedy’s Boston accent by rigorous examine, his major purpose was to painting him with as a lot humanity as attainable. Consequently, Marsden turns in considered one of his greatest performances to this point in “The Butler,” regardless of having comparatively little display screen time in comparison with different initiatives featured larger on this listing.

A defining romantic comedy of the early 2000s, “The Pocket book” is an imperfect however efficient movie that had a long-lasting and indelible affect on the style. Whereas Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams star as Noah and Allie, the star-crossed lovers of the Nicholas Sparks adaptation, James Marsden performs Lon Hammond Jr. — a rich lawyer whom Allie should, in fact, abandon by the tip of the movie for her real love. This marks the most well-liked instance of a inventory character Marsden usually finds himself taking part in: the man earlier than “the one.”

On this case, particularly, this function led to sudden penalties for Marsden, because the movie’s viewers grew a lot bigger than he anticipated. “No person knew that it was gonna be such an enormous hit, you realize? You by no means know if you’re filming,” he advised Good Morning America in 2020. “You hope that it is gonna occur, however [for “The Notebook”], I do not assume anybody noticed [that] coming.” Although he should sometimes climate a passionate fan or two, he additionally stated many males strategy him to share that it is their favourite movie of his. “It is a fairly particular factor to be part of.” In the event you’ve but to expertise this basic story, you can currently watch “The Notebook” on streaming.

John Waters’ “Hairspray” is still a relevant story 35 years after it was released. It has been became a extremely profitable Broadway musical, been revived as a dwell mission starring Ariana Grande, and was up to date as a modern movie musical in 2007. Within the latter kind — an equal components hilarious and heartwarming comedy with no scarcity of infectious tunes to sing and dance to — James Marsden performs Corny Collins, the charming host of a teen selection program that propels a lot of the plot. (As a teen, Marsden obtained his begin performing in class musicals reminiscent of “Bye Bye Birdie” and “Good Information.”)

The battle on the story’s coronary heart is racial segregation within the Nineteen Sixties, as Collin’s present solely permits Black dancers to be featured on an remoted day of programming. Talking to The Oklahoman (an outlet from the actor’s native state), Marsden expressed that “Hairspray” shared related themes to a different common mission he was concerned with — “X-Males.” “It is the outcasts, the people who find themselves totally different, who turn into the heroes,” he stated. “As a substitute of retractable claws and laser beams, it is the Twist and the Mashed Potato — singing and dancing.”

“27 Clothes” will not be probably the most profound movie (when the romantic comedy was launched in 2007, we described it as merely “a treat of light fun”), however it accomplishes precisely what it intends throughout the style and has maintained a legacy as one of the best wedding movies ever made. It additionally sees James Marsden taking part in considerably towards sort, lastly because the romantic lead quite than the impediment. “[In ’27 Dresses’], everybody will anticipate that I don’t get [the girl],” he joked to Cinema.com on the time, “as a result of traditionally, that’s what occurs to all my characters, I’ve all of the dangerous luck.”

Within the movie, Marsden stars reverse Katherine Heigl as Kevin Doyle, a newspaper columnist who secretly plots to make a serial bridesmaid (Heigl) the topic of an bold however derisive life-style piece concerning the frivolity of weddings. Even when your thoughts can most likely hint precisely the place the plot is headed from there, Marsden and Heigl are stellar in an amusing-enough script aimed on the rom-com trustworthy.

Polarizing because the collection might have turn into because it progressed, there is not any denying that the primary season of “Westworld” ranks among the best work HBO has ever done. Adapting each the e book and movie of the identical title by influential sci-fi author Michael Crichton, the present depicts a future wherein an uncanny Wild West-themed amusement park is patronized by rich friends and populated by lifelike animatronics with synthetic intelligence that (on the very least) borders on real sentience. James Marsden performs considered one of these robotic hosts — the dashing cowboy Teddy. Throughout the park, his function is clearly that of the romantic hero. As soon as his scripted love curiosity, Delores (Evan Rachel Wooden), breaches the boundaries of the park to ignite a revolution, his function on this planet turns into rather more difficult — finally resulting in an epic however deadly storyline that takes place throughout Season 2.

Based on Marsden, showrunners Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Pleasure already had a four-season arc deliberate for Teddy earlier than they shot a single scene of Season 2. On the similar time they stated he could be departing the present on the season’s finish, they advised him precisely when he’d return. This absolutely made it all of the extra disappointing when “Westworld” was suddenly canceled after its fourth season, a flip of occasions that Marsden spoke about publicly. “I am by no means going to talk with out gratitude about any of my experiences, however it could have been good to have the ability to full the story we wished to complete,” he shared. 

Marsden’s efficiency on the present is nonetheless spectacular, particularly figuring out he was attempting to keep away from tv earlier than he signed on. This leap of religion might not have led to the total story he hoped for, however it seemingly opened the door to a collection of profitable TV initiatives that formed this chapter of his profession.

Regardless of being quickly lifeless to “Westworld,” James Marsden was removed from lifeless to the world of status TV. In 2019, he was solid within the first season of Netflix’s buzzy black comedy collection “Useless to Me,” wherein he performed dangerous man Steve Woods. Steve is rapidly revealed to be partially liable for the lethal hit-and-run that throws the present into motion, sparking a risky friendship between his spouse, Judy (Linda Cardellini), and Jen (Christina Applegate), the spouse of the accident sufferer.

Large spoiler alert for the tip of the primary season — Marsden’s tenure on the present was initially supposed to finish with Steve’s sudden and surprising loss of life within the finale. As highly effective of a second as it’s within the collection, the twist did depart the actor feeling barely upset that he would not get to return for future seasons. That was when creator and showrunner Liz Feldman got here to him with an uncommon thought: Twins.

In Seasons 2 and three, Marsden returns as Steve’s twin brother Ben. That is an appropriately soap-opera-style twist that — along with conserving Marsden on the decision sheet — will increase the strain caused by Jen and Judy’s internet of deception dramatically. He and Feldman each felt that the important thing to conserving this twist from breaking the present was to lean solely barely into the melodrama whereas in any other case persevering with to play stakes as direly as he all the time had been. This mindset carried into the third season as properly, particularly in Ben’s extra ridiculously tragic moments. “It was vital to me that when he is stumbling round … that may’t really feel foolish,” he advised Gold Derby. “It is obtained to really feel like this man is falling aside.”

It is becoming that James Marsden’s sudden profession detour into a number of the best tv reveals of the final decade resulted with the actor receiving his first Golden Globe and Emmy Award nominations — although we’re undecided anybody anticipated it might be due to a present like “Jury Responsibility.” The 2023 collection is the underdog story of underdog tales, a genre-mashup of the normal, scripted office sitcom and actuality courtroom TV (a part of the identical weird crypto-reality subgenre of comedy that was pioneered by the dubiously moral “Joe Schmo Present” on MTV and persists to at the present time largely by the work of Nathan Fielder). Ronald Gladden, an affable everyman who has no thought he is on a TV present, is known as in to serve on a “jury” alongside a number of strangers who’re, the truth is, actors taking part in characters. This contains the very recognizable James Marsden, who performs a caricature of himself.

Although Marsden might have appeared as one thing of a giant fish in a small pond engaged on the collection (which was dumped on Amazon’s oft-neglected FAST streamer Freevee), the actor was each exhilarated and terrified by the problem this uncommon format offered. “You get one take,” Marsden defined to The Hollywood Reporter. “If [Gladden] sees a hidden digicam, or somebody calls any individual by the improper title, the entire thing is upended. That was actually thrilling to me, simply from the angle of [wondering], ‘Can we pull this off?'” And pull it off they did — “Jury Responsibility” was undoubtedly the largest sleeper hit of the 12 months, in addition to one of our favorite shows of 2023 overall.

It was troublesome for us to determine which of the unique “X-Males” movies we must always embody on this listing. Although some might disagree with our alternative (and, actually, it is splitting hairs between the primary two anyway), we really feel the 2003 sequel “X2: X-Males United” takes every little thing nice concerning the first entry and dials up the warmth when it comes to emotion, spectacle, and thematic complexity. James Marsden stars within the trilogy as Scott Summers — aka Cyclops, the chief of the titular mutant superhero crew who has the power to fireplace concussive blasts by his iconic visor. This costume piece was apparently troublesome for him to work with as an actor, given the way it removes his eyes from the efficiency in each scene. He advised CBR on the time, “If I consider within the dialogue I am simply going to [act] like I did not have these glasses on and cross my fingers and hope that [the emotion is] conveyed.”

“X2” was a repeat success for Fox’s then-nascent Marvel endeavors, incomes reward from critics and followers whereas raking in over $407 million worldwide. It additionally made Marsden a scorching actor for superhero initiatives, a lot in order that he virtually had to decide on between taking pictures the ill-fated finale “X-Men: The Last Stand” and the DC Comics legacy sequel “Superman Returns.” Within the many years since he took his closing bow as Cyclops, Marsden’s profession has branched into many attention-grabbing and seemingly rewarding instructions — however that does not imply he does not miss his crime-fighting days. After a number of Fox “X-Males” made their return in 2024’s “Deadpool and Wolverine,” Marsden implied he was open to returning in an interview with Screen Rant. “I look again on that have with such affection and reverence for all of it, and I liked taking part in that character,” he stated. “It was one of many highlights of my profession.”

Fifteen years after it cast a classic Disney spell on audiences, “Enchanted” continues to be a magically efficient musical romantic comedy the likes of which we have but to see once more. Amy Adams performs Giselle, an archetypal lovesick princess who’s banished from the (animated) fairytale kingdom of Andalasia to the tough, very actual streets of New York Metropolis — the place, in fact, she unexpectedly finds the good-looking divorce lawyer Robert (Patrick Dempsey). Earlier than that can occur, nonetheless, Giselle should reckon together with her emotions for her prince Edward (James Marsden), who has chased her throughout dimensions dreaming of a real love’s kiss. “I all the time describe [Edward] as not essentially being in love with Giselle, however being in love with being in love,” Marsden shared with Cinema.com.

“Enchanted” was a decisive essential and business hit (although a few of us are nonetheless a bit bitter Adams didn’t receive a nod for Best Actress). The excitement had followers understandably clamoring for a sequel — however 5 years after the premiere, Marsden was nonetheless at midnight and uncertain. “You recognize, we’re taking part in animated characters that do not age,” he warned Vanity Fair in 2012. “In order that’s possibly an issue.” It finally took Disney till 2020 to greenlight the sequel mission, which ultimately grew to become the surprisingly enjoyable Disney+ feature “Disenchanted.”

Marsden expressed his gratitude upon its launch not just for attending to return as Edward, but additionally for having been supplied the function again in 2007. He credit the chance to point out audiences a brand new facet of himself after “X-Males” together with his sudden skilled longevity. “I have been fortunate to have had a profession for nearly 30 years now on this enterprise,” he advised Nerds of Color, “and also you return to 1993 [and ask yourself], would you continue to be working in 2023? I would most likely say, ‘Perhaps not, but when I get a few years out of it, that is nice.'”

Unexpectedly a prince and a prison, there are few roles James Marsden is not excellent for. The charming everyman has dazzled audiences for over three many years and in over 80 movie and tv initiatives, ranging broadly in style from experimental comedies and darkish satires to indie science fiction tales and comedian e book blockbusters.

As of writing, Marsden’s greatest up to date initiatives are the movies within the “Sonic the Hedgehog” franchise, wherein he performs considered one of few human characters alongside Jim Carrey, reverse the voices of Ben Schwartz, Idris Elba, and, most lately, Keanu Reeves as Shadow the Hedgehog. However earlier than he was chasing gold rings throughout dimensions, Marsden was already an unmissable star of screens large and small, so we have ranked his 12 greatest TV reveals and films, taking into consideration their total high quality, how they showcased his expertise, and their affect on common tradition at giant.

Whereas James Marsden is now broadly often called an actor who can deal with comedy and drama in equal measure, he did not all the time really feel that was a given. When he was solid within the Adam McKay sequel “Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues,” it was solely as a result of Will Ferrell occurred to have seen him in 2008’s “Intercourse Drive” (regardless of containing some nice work from Marsden, it is a pretty draining watch in any other case), and felt he may go toe-to-toe together with his character, legendary newsman Ron Burgundy.

Marsden took on the function of Jack “Lame” Lime, an smug hotshot anchor whom the actor in comparison with Tom Brokaw with regard to his standing within the “Anchorman” world. He remembers attending to shock folks — reminiscent of Jonah Hill and Seth Rogen — on the preliminary desk learn by getting large laughs on his traces. “It was a shock that ‘Marsden is humorous,’ was kind of the final feeling,” he recalled in a retrospective interview with Vanity Fair. Marsden is certainly humorous within the closing reduce of the movie as properly, delivering probably his wildest comedic efficiency to this point.

Regardless of courting cancellation by the vast majority of its run, Tina Fey’s groundbreaking NBC sitcom “30 Rock” stays one of the beloved tv reveals ever produced. Satirizing Fey because the dysfunctional head author of a “Saturday Evening Dwell”-style selection present, it usually juxtaposed her fast-paced profession together with her banal private life. The latter included a string of well-intentioned however ill-fitting romantic companions, together with James Marsden’s Criss Chros in Season 6.

As he mirrored with Vanity Fair in 2020, “There was a time interval the place folks like Matt Damon and Jon Hamm … have been displaying up and being boyfriends to Liz Lemon [Fey] and I assumed, ‘Yeah, good firm to maintain.'” Anticipating solely to be a seasonal visitor star, Marsden was shocked when he was not solely requested to return but additionally was pitched a storyline wherein Liz and Criss would marry. He enthusiastically accepted the provide. “It was, I feel, the primary time in my profession that I used to be [working with] the most important league gamers of comedy,” he stated.

In 2012, the identical 12 months James Marsden took on roles in comedies like “Small Flats” and the Insurgent Wilson-led “Bachelorette,” the actor additionally featured in a little-known but grossly underrated sci-fi movie referred to as “Robotic & Frank.” The movie takes place in 2022, a as soon as near-future that compelled Marsden. “It is not like a really slick, futuristic film,” he advised Vanity Fair. “There’s a couple of new automobiles and a [few] technological developments, however … We dwell in a world the place, 10 years sooner or later, robots are put in in properties as caretakers for the aged.”

Frank Langella stars as one such aged individual, an growing older and agitating ex-con additionally named Frank. When Frank’s bitter perspective and signs of dementia alienate him from his solely son Hunter (Marsden), Hunter items him the robotic as a method of making distance. Realizing that the robotic lacks the ethical code his different companions have, Frank thus endeavors to show the machine into his new companion in crime.

Having been a fan of director Lee Daniels’ since his directorial debut (2005’s “Shadowboxer”), James Marsden was ecstatic when he was invited to audition for a job in his 2013 historic drama “The Butler.” This sense mounted when Marsden realized what number of Academy Award-winning or nominated actors have been concerned already, and that he was being thought-about to play U.S. President John F. Kennedy. The star-studded ensemble function facilities round Forest Whitaker’s Cecil Gaines, a butler who labored within the White Home all through 5 presidential administrations together with Kennedy’s, and sometimes needed to cope with the political, social, and ethical ramifications of his proximity to their energy.

Marsden felt a “duty to historical past” (as he stated in a behind-the-scenes interview) to justly painting the martyred chief. Although he donned prosthetic make-up and adopted Kennedy’s Boston accent by rigorous examine, his major purpose was to painting him with as a lot humanity as attainable. Consequently, Marsden turns in considered one of his greatest performances to this point in “The Butler,” regardless of having comparatively little display screen time in comparison with different initiatives featured larger on this listing.

A defining romantic comedy of the early 2000s, “The Pocket book” is an imperfect however efficient movie that had a long-lasting and indelible affect on the style. Whereas Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams star as Noah and Allie, the star-crossed lovers of the Nicholas Sparks adaptation, James Marsden performs Lon Hammond Jr. — a rich lawyer whom Allie should, in fact, abandon by the tip of the movie for her real love. This marks the most well-liked instance of a inventory character Marsden usually finds himself taking part in: the man earlier than “the one.”

On this case, particularly, this function led to sudden penalties for Marsden, because the movie’s viewers grew a lot bigger than he anticipated. “No person knew that it was gonna be such an enormous hit, you realize? You by no means know if you’re filming,” he advised Good Morning America in 2020. “You hope that it is gonna occur, however [for “The Notebook”], I do not assume anybody noticed [that] coming.” Although he should sometimes climate a passionate fan or two, he additionally stated many males strategy him to share that it is their favourite movie of his. “It is a fairly particular factor to be part of.” In the event you’ve but to expertise this basic story, you can currently watch “The Notebook” on streaming.

John Waters’ “Hairspray” is still a relevant story 35 years after it was released. It has been became a extremely profitable Broadway musical, been revived as a dwell mission starring Ariana Grande, and was up to date as a modern movie musical in 2007. Within the latter kind — an equal components hilarious and heartwarming comedy with no scarcity of infectious tunes to sing and dance to — James Marsden performs Corny Collins, the charming host of a teen selection program that propels a lot of the plot. (As a teen, Marsden obtained his begin performing in class musicals reminiscent of “Bye Bye Birdie” and “Good Information.”)

The battle on the story’s coronary heart is racial segregation within the Nineteen Sixties, as Collin’s present solely permits Black dancers to be featured on an remoted day of programming. Talking to The Oklahoman (an outlet from the actor’s native state), Marsden expressed that “Hairspray” shared related themes to a different common mission he was concerned with — “X-Males.” “It is the outcasts, the people who find themselves totally different, who turn into the heroes,” he stated. “As a substitute of retractable claws and laser beams, it is the Twist and the Mashed Potato — singing and dancing.”

“27 Clothes” will not be probably the most profound movie (when the romantic comedy was launched in 2007, we described it as merely “a treat of light fun”), however it accomplishes precisely what it intends throughout the style and has maintained a legacy as one of the best wedding movies ever made. It additionally sees James Marsden taking part in considerably towards sort, lastly because the romantic lead quite than the impediment. “[In ’27 Dresses’], everybody will anticipate that I don’t get [the girl],” he joked to Cinema.com on the time, “as a result of traditionally, that’s what occurs to all my characters, I’ve all of the dangerous luck.”

Within the movie, Marsden stars reverse Katherine Heigl as Kevin Doyle, a newspaper columnist who secretly plots to make a serial bridesmaid (Heigl) the topic of an bold however derisive life-style piece concerning the frivolity of weddings. Even when your thoughts can most likely hint precisely the place the plot is headed from there, Marsden and Heigl are stellar in an amusing-enough script aimed on the rom-com trustworthy.

Polarizing because the collection might have turn into because it progressed, there is not any denying that the primary season of “Westworld” ranks among the best work HBO has ever done. Adapting each the e book and movie of the identical title by influential sci-fi author Michael Crichton, the present depicts a future wherein an uncanny Wild West-themed amusement park is patronized by rich friends and populated by lifelike animatronics with synthetic intelligence that (on the very least) borders on real sentience. James Marsden performs considered one of these robotic hosts — the dashing cowboy Teddy. Throughout the park, his function is clearly that of the romantic hero. As soon as his scripted love curiosity, Delores (Evan Rachel Wooden), breaches the boundaries of the park to ignite a revolution, his function on this planet turns into rather more difficult — finally resulting in an epic however deadly storyline that takes place throughout Season 2.

Based on Marsden, showrunners Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Pleasure already had a four-season arc deliberate for Teddy earlier than they shot a single scene of Season 2. On the similar time they stated he could be departing the present on the season’s finish, they advised him precisely when he’d return. This absolutely made it all of the extra disappointing when “Westworld” was suddenly canceled after its fourth season, a flip of occasions that Marsden spoke about publicly. “I am by no means going to talk with out gratitude about any of my experiences, however it could have been good to have the ability to full the story we wished to complete,” he shared. 

Marsden’s efficiency on the present is nonetheless spectacular, particularly figuring out he was attempting to keep away from tv earlier than he signed on. This leap of religion might not have led to the total story he hoped for, however it seemingly opened the door to a collection of profitable TV initiatives that formed this chapter of his profession.

Regardless of being quickly lifeless to “Westworld,” James Marsden was removed from lifeless to the world of status TV. In 2019, he was solid within the first season of Netflix’s buzzy black comedy collection “Useless to Me,” wherein he performed dangerous man Steve Woods. Steve is rapidly revealed to be partially liable for the lethal hit-and-run that throws the present into motion, sparking a risky friendship between his spouse, Judy (Linda Cardellini), and Jen (Christina Applegate), the spouse of the accident sufferer.

Large spoiler alert for the tip of the primary season — Marsden’s tenure on the present was initially supposed to finish with Steve’s sudden and surprising loss of life within the finale. As highly effective of a second as it’s within the collection, the twist did depart the actor feeling barely upset that he would not get to return for future seasons. That was when creator and showrunner Liz Feldman got here to him with an uncommon thought: Twins.

In Seasons 2 and three, Marsden returns as Steve’s twin brother Ben. That is an appropriately soap-opera-style twist that — along with conserving Marsden on the decision sheet — will increase the strain caused by Jen and Judy’s internet of deception dramatically. He and Feldman each felt that the important thing to conserving this twist from breaking the present was to lean solely barely into the melodrama whereas in any other case persevering with to play stakes as direly as he all the time had been. This mindset carried into the third season as properly, particularly in Ben’s extra ridiculously tragic moments. “It was vital to me that when he is stumbling round … that may’t really feel foolish,” he advised Gold Derby. “It is obtained to really feel like this man is falling aside.”

It is becoming that James Marsden’s sudden profession detour into a number of the best tv reveals of the final decade resulted with the actor receiving his first Golden Globe and Emmy Award nominations — although we’re undecided anybody anticipated it might be due to a present like “Jury Responsibility.” The 2023 collection is the underdog story of underdog tales, a genre-mashup of the normal, scripted office sitcom and actuality courtroom TV (a part of the identical weird crypto-reality subgenre of comedy that was pioneered by the dubiously moral “Joe Schmo Present” on MTV and persists to at the present time largely by the work of Nathan Fielder). Ronald Gladden, an affable everyman who has no thought he is on a TV present, is known as in to serve on a “jury” alongside a number of strangers who’re, the truth is, actors taking part in characters. This contains the very recognizable James Marsden, who performs a caricature of himself.

Although Marsden might have appeared as one thing of a giant fish in a small pond engaged on the collection (which was dumped on Amazon’s oft-neglected FAST streamer Freevee), the actor was each exhilarated and terrified by the problem this uncommon format offered. “You get one take,” Marsden defined to The Hollywood Reporter. “If [Gladden] sees a hidden digicam, or somebody calls any individual by the improper title, the entire thing is upended. That was actually thrilling to me, simply from the angle of [wondering], ‘Can we pull this off?'” And pull it off they did — “Jury Responsibility” was undoubtedly the largest sleeper hit of the 12 months, in addition to one of our favorite shows of 2023 overall.

It was troublesome for us to determine which of the unique “X-Males” movies we must always embody on this listing. Although some might disagree with our alternative (and, actually, it is splitting hairs between the primary two anyway), we really feel the 2003 sequel “X2: X-Males United” takes every little thing nice concerning the first entry and dials up the warmth when it comes to emotion, spectacle, and thematic complexity. James Marsden stars within the trilogy as Scott Summers — aka Cyclops, the chief of the titular mutant superhero crew who has the power to fireplace concussive blasts by his iconic visor. This costume piece was apparently troublesome for him to work with as an actor, given the way it removes his eyes from the efficiency in each scene. He advised CBR on the time, “If I consider within the dialogue I am simply going to [act] like I did not have these glasses on and cross my fingers and hope that [the emotion is] conveyed.”

“X2” was a repeat success for Fox’s then-nascent Marvel endeavors, incomes reward from critics and followers whereas raking in over $407 million worldwide. It additionally made Marsden a scorching actor for superhero initiatives, a lot in order that he virtually had to decide on between taking pictures the ill-fated finale “X-Men: The Last Stand” and the DC Comics legacy sequel “Superman Returns.” Within the many years since he took his closing bow as Cyclops, Marsden’s profession has branched into many attention-grabbing and seemingly rewarding instructions — however that does not imply he does not miss his crime-fighting days. After a number of Fox “X-Males” made their return in 2024’s “Deadpool and Wolverine,” Marsden implied he was open to returning in an interview with Screen Rant. “I look again on that have with such affection and reverence for all of it, and I liked taking part in that character,” he stated. “It was one of many highlights of my profession.”

Fifteen years after it cast a classic Disney spell on audiences, “Enchanted” continues to be a magically efficient musical romantic comedy the likes of which we have but to see once more. Amy Adams performs Giselle, an archetypal lovesick princess who’s banished from the (animated) fairytale kingdom of Andalasia to the tough, very actual streets of New York Metropolis — the place, in fact, she unexpectedly finds the good-looking divorce lawyer Robert (Patrick Dempsey). Earlier than that can occur, nonetheless, Giselle should reckon together with her emotions for her prince Edward (James Marsden), who has chased her throughout dimensions dreaming of a real love’s kiss. “I all the time describe [Edward] as not essentially being in love with Giselle, however being in love with being in love,” Marsden shared with Cinema.com.

“Enchanted” was a decisive essential and business hit (although a few of us are nonetheless a bit bitter Adams didn’t receive a nod for Best Actress). The excitement had followers understandably clamoring for a sequel — however 5 years after the premiere, Marsden was nonetheless at midnight and uncertain. “You recognize, we’re taking part in animated characters that do not age,” he warned Vanity Fair in 2012. “In order that’s possibly an issue.” It finally took Disney till 2020 to greenlight the sequel mission, which ultimately grew to become the surprisingly enjoyable Disney+ feature “Disenchanted.”

Marsden expressed his gratitude upon its launch not just for attending to return as Edward, but additionally for having been supplied the function again in 2007. He credit the chance to point out audiences a brand new facet of himself after “X-Males” together with his sudden skilled longevity. “I have been fortunate to have had a profession for nearly 30 years now on this enterprise,” he advised Nerds of Color, “and also you return to 1993 [and ask yourself], would you continue to be working in 2023? I would most likely say, ‘Perhaps not, but when I get a few years out of it, that is nice.'”