James Marsden Biography

James Paul Marsden (born September 18, 1973) is an American actor, singer and former Versace model. Marsden began his acting career guest-starring in multiple television shows such as Saved by the Bell, Touched by an Angel and Party of Five. He would then gain prominence with his portrayal of Scott Summers / Cyclops in the first three films of the X-Men film series and star in 2006's Superman Returns which earned him a Saturn Award nomination.

Following his breakthrough in comic book films, Marsden would then star in numerous comedies including 2007's Hairspray which was both a critical and commercial success and won many awards for its ensemble cast. As Corny Collins, he sang two songs for the film's soundtrack which has been certified Platinum by the RIAA. He would continue his success and star in family friendly films such as Enchanted, Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore and Hop.

Further in his career, Marsden would star in a range of independent films such as Small Apartments, Bachelorette, and Robot & Frank. He also returned to television guest-starring in Modern Family and playing Liz Lemon's love interest, Criss Chros in 30 Rock in a supporting role. Marsden then portrayed President John F. Kennedy in Lee Daniels' The Butler and was cast in a supporting role in Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues.

Early life and family

Marsden was born in Stillwater, Oklahoma, the son of Kathleen (née Scholtz) and James Luther Marsden, Ph.D. His father, a professor of animal sciences and industry at Kansas State University, and his mother, a nutritionist, divorced when he was nine years old. His ancestry includes English, Scottish, German, and French.

He has four siblings: two younger sisters, Jennifer and Elizabeth, and two brothers, Jeff and Robert. He attended Hefner Middle School and Putnam City North High School, in Oklahoma City, and later went on to attend Oklahoma State University, where he studied broadcast journalism. He was also a member of Delta Tau Delta fraternity. However, Marsden left after one and a half years, opting instead to move out to Los Angeles in order to pursue his acting career.

Career

Early career

Marsden got his first job on a series of episodes of The Nanny as Eddie, Margaret Sheffield's boyfriend. He then went on to star in the Canadian television series Boogies Diner, which aired for one season. With the end of that series, he guest starred on other television shows such as Saved by the Bell: The New Class and Party of Five. He later starred in the ABC show Second Noah. He lost out to Edward Norton for a role in Primal Fear and turned down the lead role in 54, which later went to Ryan Phillippe. He then went on to star in Disturbing Behavior opposite Katie Holmes and Gossip opposite Kate Hudson. He also appeared in the television series Ally McBeal, as one of the main cast members during the first half of season 5, where he also showcased his singing abilities.

X-Men films

Marsden was then cast as Cyclops in the X-Men films. His character is prominent in the comics; his screen time in the films, however, is increasingly reduced, particularly in the sequels. Notably, Marsden also appeared in Bryan Singer's Superman Returns. Singer dropped out of the third installment to direct Superman and Marsden was cast as Lois Lane's fiancé, Richard White, but due to schedule conflicts, Marsden's screen time in The Last Stand was reduced, stirring controversy from fans of the comics. Marsden's portrayal of Cyclops in the films was well received and garnered him a Blockbuster Award award for Best Supporting Actor.

Breakthrough roles

In 2004, Marsden appeared as Noah's rival in The Notebook, apparently cast for his close resemblance to James Garner, who played the older Noah, while the actor portraying the younger Noah (Ryan Gosling) looked nothing like Garner. In 2007, Marsden played Corny Collins in the film adaptation of the Broadway musical Hairspray, based on the 1988 John Waters film of the same name. In which he sang two songs, "The Nicest Kids In Town" and "(It's) Hairspray." Both "Hairspray" and the it's soundtrack were critically acclaimed and the latter of which has since sold over 1,200,000 copies to date in the United States, being certified Platinum by the RIAA. His next role was in the Disney hybrid animated/live action film Enchanted, playing Prince Edward. He sang one song as a duet with Amy Adams at the beginning of the film and a duet with Idina Menzel that was cut from the film. Enchanted was well received critically and proved to be a commercial success, earning more than $340 million worldwide at the box office.

Following his successes in 2007's Hairspray and Enchanted, Marsden played the male lead in the 2008 romantic comedy 27 Dresses opposite star Katherine Heigl, which grossed $160 million worldwide. He also starred in the teen comedy Sex Drive. Though the film was a moderate success, Marsden's performance was heavily praised. Marsden also received a Teen Choice Awards nomination for Choice Movie Actor in a Comedy for his roles in Enchanted and 27 Dresses.

In 2009, Marsden also played the male lead in the film The Box, based on the 1970 short story "Button, Button" by author Richard Matheson, which was earlier made into an episode of The Twilight Zone. He starred opposite Cameron Diaz and re-united with Superman Returns co-star Frank Langella. In 2010, Marsden was cast in the comedy Death at a Funeral along with Chris Rock, Luke Wilson, Danny Glover and Columbus Short, which was a remake of the 2007 British film of the same name.

Continued success

Marsden made an appearance on ABC's Modern Family in January 2011, playing a homeless squatter of Cam and Mitchell. In April, Marsden appeared as the male (live-action) lead in Hop, an Easter-themed comedy co-starring Russell Brand as the Easter Bunny. The film was an instant success, opening at the top of the weekend box office and grossing over $100 million in the U.S. box office. Later in 2011, Marsden played the lead in the remake of Straw Dogs, re-uniting with Superman Returns co-star Kate Bosworth and Zoolander co-star Alexander Skarsgard.

In 2012 and 2013, Marsden appeared in a recurring role in the sixth and seventh seasons of 30 Rock, playing Criss Chros, the boyfriend (and later husband) of the series' main character, Liz Lemon. Simultaneously, his range of films were independent films which included Robot & Frank, Small Apartments, Bachelorette and As Cool As I Am. In 2013, he co-starred with Denzel Washington and Mark Walhberg in the action film 2 Guns, which debuted at number one in its weekend release beating out the animated film The Smurfs 2 which came in second. Soon after, he starred in Lee Daniels' historical drama The Butler as President John F. Kennedy. The film, featuring an ensemble, opened at the top spot and received positive reviews. Marsden would then be cast as Jack Lime in Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues as a rivaling reporter to Will Ferrell's Ron Burgandy.

Personal life

Marsden married actress Lisa Linde, daughter of country music songwriter Dennis Linde, on July 22, 2000. Marsden and Linde have two children: son Jack Holden and daughter Mary James. Linde filed for divorce on September 23, 2011. Marsden also has a son, William Luca Costa-Marsden, born on December 14, 2012, with former girlfriend Rose Costa. In April 2010, Marsden was added to the Putnam City Schools Wall of Fame by the Putnam City Public Schools Foundation.

Filmography

Film

Year	Film	Role	Notes and Awards
1993	Ambush in Waco: In the Line of Duty	Steven Willis	TV film
	Princess and Two Peas	Pea Number One	TV film
1994	No Dessert, Dad, till You Mow the Lawn	Tyler Cochran
1996	Public Enemies	Doc Barker
	Gone in a Hearbeat	Michael Galler	TV film
1996	Taken Away	Michael Galler	TV film
1997	On the Edge of Innocence	Jake Walker	TV film
	Campfire Tales	Eddie	"The Hook"
	Bella Mafia	Luka	TV film
1998	Disturbing Behavior	Steve Clark	His first starring role
2000	Gossip	Derrick Webb
	X-Men	Scott Summers / Cyclops	Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Supporting Actor - Science Fiction Nominated"?MTV Movie Award for Best On-Screen Team (shared with Halle Berry, Hugh Jackman, Anna Paquin)
2001	Sugar & Spice	Jack Bartlett
	Zoolander	John Wilkes Booth
2002	Interstate 60: Episodes of the Road	Neal Oliver
2003	X2: X-Men United	Scott Summers / Cyclops
2004	The 24th Day	Dan
	The Notebook	Lon Hammond, Jr.
	Heights	Jonathan Kestler
2006	The Alibi	Wendell Hatch
	10th & Wolf	Tommy
	X-Men: The Last Stand	Scott Summers / Cyclops
	Superman Returns	Richard White	Nominated"?Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor
2007	Hairspray	Corny Collins	Critics' Choice Award for Best Acting Ensemble (shared with the Hairspray cast) Hollywood Film Festival Award for Ensemble of the Year - Musical/Comedy (shared with the Hairspray cast) Palm Spring International Film Festival Award for Ensemble Performance (shared with the Hairspray cast) Nominated"?Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture (shared with the Hairspray cast)
	Conan: Red Nails	Techotl	Voice role
	Enchanted	Prince Edward	Nominated"? 2008 Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actor - Comedy
2008	27 Dresses	Malcolm Kevin Doyle	Nominated"? 2008 Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actor - Comedy
	Sex Drive	Rex Lafferty
2009	The Box	Arthur Lewis
2010	Death at a Funeral	Oscar	Nominated"?Teen Choice Award for Scene Stealer - Male
	Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore	Diggs	Voice role
2011	Hop	Fred O'Hare
	Straw Dogs	David Sumner
	Nailed	Scott
2012	Robot & Frank	Hunter
	Small Apartments	Bernard Franklin
	Bachelorette	Trevor
2013	As Cool As I Am	Chuck Diamond
	2 Guns	Quince
	Dead Circus	Charles Manson
	The Butler	John F. Kennedy
	Endangered	Rowan	post-production, also known as Red Machine
	Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues	Jack Lime	post-production
	The Loft	Chris Vanowen	post-production
2014	Walk of Shame		post-production
	Welcome to Me		filming

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1993	Saved by the Bell: The New Class	Chad Westerfield	Episode: "Homecoming King"
	The Nanny	Eddie	2 episodes
1994	Boogies Diner	Jason	Main role
1995	Blossom	Josh	Episode: "The Date"
	Party of Five	Griffin Holbrook	Episode: "Ides of March"
	Touched by an Angel	Jake	Episode: "Angels on the Air"
1996"1997	Second Noah	Ricky Beckett	Main role, 22 episodes
1998	The Outer Limits	Brav	Episode: "Rite of Passage"
2001"2002	Ally McBeal	Glenn Foy	Regular role, 13 episodes
2002	Bram & Alice	Arnold Cooper	Episode: "Scribbling Rivalry"
2009	Robot Chicken	Jason Chambers / Lion	Voice role, episode: "Especially the Animal Keith Crofford"
2011	Modern Family	Barry	Episode: "Slow Down Your Neighbors"
2012"2013	30 Rock	Criss Chros	Recurring role, 13 episodes

Discography

Soundtracks

Year	Song	Album
2007	"True Love's Kiss" (with Amy Adams)	Enchanted
	"That's Amore"
	"The Nicest Kids in Town"	Hairspray
	"(It's) Hairspray"

James Marsden performed the song "Glow", written by Kevin Houlihan on the soundtrack of the movie "Gossip" in 2000.

Notes:

• Even though Marsden sang on Ally McBeal, he was not featured on any soundtrack released by the TV show.
• Hairspray soundtrack was nominated for Favorite Soundtrack on the 2007 American Music Awards.