Saturday 1 October 2011

James Marsden

James Paul Marsden, born September 18, 1973 is an American actor, singer and former Versace model. He is known for playing the superhero Cyclops in the first three X-Men films and for his roles in other commercially successful films such as Hop, Superman Returns, Hairspray, Enchanted, The Box, and 27 Dresses.



Early life and family


Marsden was born in Stillwater, Oklahoma. His father, James L. Marsden, Ph.D., a professor of animal sciences and industry at Kansas State University, and his mother, a nutritionist, divorced when he was nine years old. Marsden 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 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


X-Men (film series)


Marsden was then cast as Cyclops in the X-Men films, alongside Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Famke Janssen, and Halle Berry. 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 were well received and garnered him a Blockbuster Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.




Breakthrough


In 2007, Marsden played Corny Collins in the film adaptation of the Broadway musical based on the 1988 John Waters movie Hairspray alongside Michelle Pfeiffer, Zac Efron, Nikki Blonsky, Amanda Bynes, Queen Latifah and John Travolta. There he also made his musical debut by singing two of the film's songs, "The Nicest Kids In Town" and "(It's) Hairspray." Both "Hairspray" and the film's soundtrack were critically acclaimed. The soundtrack has sold over 1,200,000 copies to date in the United States, and has been certified Platinum by the RIAA. His next role was in the Disney hybrid animated/live action film Enchanted, playing Prince Edward with co-stars Amy Adams, Susan Sarandon, Idina Menzel, Timothy Spall and Patrick Dempsey. 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 along side Josh Zuckerman and Seth Green. 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.
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, a 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 with $38.1 million.
Marsden played the lead in the 2011 remake of Straw Dogs, re-uniting with Superman Returns co-star Kate Bosworth.




Upcoming work


Marsden has been cast alongside Holly Marie Combs and James Denton in Killer in the Family. The movie is currently in development and scheduled to be released in 2011. It was announced in April 2011, that Marsden will play Charles Manson in Dead Circus. The film will co-star Michael C. Hall and Melissa Leo.




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.
In April 2010, Marsden was added to the Putnam City Schools Wall of Fame by the Putnam City Public Schools Foundation.






Filmography


1993 Ambush in Waco: In the Line of Duty Steven Willis TV film
1993 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
1996 Gone in a Hearbeat Michael Galler TV film
1997 On the Edge of Innocence Jake Walker TV film
1997 Campfire Tales Eddie "The Hook"
1997 Bella Mafia Luka TV film
1998 Disturbing Behavior Steve Clark
2000 Gossip Derrick Webb
2000 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
2001 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
2004 The Notebook Lon Hammond, Jr.
2004 Heights Jonathan Kestler
2006 The Alibi Wendell Hatch
2006 10th & Wolf Tommy
2006 X-Men: The Last Stand Scott Summers / Cyclops
2006 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)
Nominated—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)
2007 Conan: Red Nails Techotl Voice role
2007 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
2008 Sex Drive Rex Lafferty
2009 The Box Arthur Lewis
2010 Death at a Funeral Oscar Nominated—Teen Choice Award for Scene Stealer - Male
2010 Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore Diggs Voice role
2011 Hop Fred O'Hare
2011 Straw Dogs David Sumner
2011 Nailed Scott post-production
2012 As Cool As I Am Chuck Diamond filming
2012 Dead Circus Charles Manson pre-production
2012 Bachelorette Trevor post-production
2012 The Loft Chris Vanowen filming

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