James Marsden Biography

James Marsden
Biography

Birth Name
James Paul Marsden
Date of birth (location)
18 September 1973
Stillwater, Oklahoma, USA

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This handsome leading man made a striking impression as a teen father on the ABC drama series "Second Noah" (1996-97), following that up with strong performances in a handful of "young Hollywood"-type ensemble flicks before breaking through in the role of Cyclops in the hotly anticipated film version of the Marvel comic "X-Men" (2000). A former Versace model, James Marsden began his career in show business after meeting Tiger Beat cover boy Kirk Cameron while their families were vacationing at the same Hawaiian hotel in 1990. After appearing in a production of "Bye Bye Birdie" at Oklahoma State University, Marsden decided he'd had enough of college and set off for Los Angeles. Within two months of his arrival in 1992, he was cast in an episode of the CBS sitcom "The Nanny" and eventually did a second one. Alternately billed as Jimmy or James, he also appeared in episodes of "Saved By the Bell", "Party of Five" and "Blossom" before getting more regular employment on the low-budget syndicated teen series "Boogie's Diner" (1995), then landing "Second Noah.”

Marsden has also appeared in several TV-movies, debuting in the NBC drama "In the Line of Duty: Ambush at Waco" (1993). He was the unpleasant older brother (and son to Robert Hays) in the 1994 The Disney Channel original "No Dessert Dad, Until You Mow the Lawn", and played Doc Barker, son to Ma Barker (Theresa Russell), in the 1996 HBO original "Public Enemy #1". Other roles included a high school valedictorian who abducts Jill Eikenberry in "Gone in a Heartbeat" (CBS, 1996) and a young man in a mental institution who brings life to a troubled young woman in "On the Edge of Innocence" (NBC, 1997). The year 2000 saw Marsden in a trio of different genre movies: "Gossip", an edgy, twisting tale of how a silly rumor started by a few college students blossoms into a deadly mistake; "Sugar and Spice", a black comedy about cheerleaders gone bad; and perhaps his most memorable movie to date, "X-Men", in which he was cast as Cyclops, a crime-fighting mutant who must wear a visor to protect people from the destructive red beams he shoots from his eyes. Marsden's stern, uber-Boy Scout performance made him the perfect foil to Hugh Jackman's brooding Wolverine, his romantic rival for the love of Jean Grey (Famke Janssen). The love triangle's chemistry worked to even greater effect in the superior sequel "X2: X-Men United" (2003), though Marsden would have benefited from more on-screen moments.

In between the first two "X-Men" films, Marsden spent the 2001-2002 season of the Fox hit dramedy "Ally McBeal" playing attorney Glenn Foy, and he had a stint as John Wilkes Booth in the Ben Stiller comedy "Zoolander" (2001). After "X2" he had a delightful turn in the effectively emotional and sentimental film "The Notebook" (2004) in a near thankless role, deftly playing the rich, dashing and handsome romantic rival for the affections of Rachel McAdams—although the story sets up Ryan Gosling as her true love, Marsden's likeable soldier made audiences genuinely wonder which man she'd end up with. Marsden continued to play the likely losing side of romantic triangles when he re-teamed with his "X-Men" director Bryan Singer to play Perry White's dashing son Richard, a potential rival for the affections of reporter Lois Lane, in his revival of the "Superman" franchise. He then appeared in the weighty romantic drama, “Heights” (2005), playing a lawyer whose fiancée (Elizabeth Banks) has second thoughts about their pending marriage, forcing herself and others around her to make life decisions in the course of one night.

Marsden next revived Cyclops for the third installment of the series, “X-Men: The Last Stand” (2006), directed by Brett Ratner. This time, the mutants face a peculiar choice after a cure for their mutations is found: retain their uniqueness and remain isolated from society or give up their strange powers and become human. He was next seen as the Man of Steel’s romantic nemesis in “Superman Returns” (2006), playing the fiancée of Lois Lane, who has moved on after Superman left Earth for several years. Now that Lois is about to marry—and has a son to boot—Superman is left wondering if she has truly moved on while battling his old nemesis, Lex Luther (Kevin Spacey), who plots to render him powerless once and for all.