James Marsden Biography

JAMES MARSDEN

Date of Birth: September 18, 1973

James Marsden was born in Stillwater, Oklahoma but moved to Los Angeles to be closer to the action. Before leaving, he attended Oklahoma State University, where he was a member of the Delta Tau Delta fraternity and sang in the college choir. However, school didn't hold his interest and he dropped out in 1993 to pursue his acting career.

James starred with Nastassja Kinski and Vanessa Redgrave in the highly lauded miniseries Bella Mafia. He was also a series regular on Second Noah, 919 Fifth Avenue and Boogie's Diner. He played a recurring role on the series The Nanny and has made guest starring appearances on Touched By An Angel, Blossom and The Outer Limits.

Breaking into film was not as easy for Marsden. He auditioned for roles in Starship Troopers, 54 and Primal Fear, but came up short in all of them. Instead, he got to work on HBO movies such as The Bloody Barkers and The Gift. His television MOWs include Ambush in Waco, Taken Away, Search And Rescue and On The Edge of Innocence.

In 1998, he was cast in his first starring role. The film was the teen horror flick Disturbing Behavior, and he played Steve Clark, an outsider who hooks up with the town outcasts, played by Nick Stahl and Katie Holmes.

Following this strong performance, MJames lined up a number of films for 2000, including playing the mischievous Derek in Gossip, a star quarterback who gets a cheerleader pregnant in Sugar and Spice, and the mutant team leader Scott Summers/Cyclops in the summer sizzler, X-Men. He won a Blockbuster Entertainment Award for his role in the latter. He played the key role of Lon Hammond in the hit film The Notebook (2004).

He went on to reprise the role of Cyclops in X2: X-Men United (2003) and X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) and starred as Richard White in the summer blockbuster Superman Returns (2006). He showed a flair for comedy (and a great singing voice) in Enchanted (2007), then played opposite Katherine Heigl in the romantic comedy 27 Dresses (2009).

James was also seen in the 2012 comedy Robot & Frank and on the hit television series 30 Rock. He starred in the romantic drama The Best of Me (2014), based on the novel by Nicholas Sparks and in the comedy Welcome To Me (2015) alongside Kristen Wiig. He played a Washington reporter in Rob Reiner's Shock and Awe (2018), and then joined Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio in Quentin Tarantino's drama, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019). In 2020, he starred in the action/adventure film Sonic the Hedgehog.

James married Days of Our Lives actress Lisa Linde in July 2000. They have a son, Jack, born February 2001 in Los Angeles and a daughter, Mary James, born August 10, 2005.

Filmography:

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019)
Sonic the Hedgehog (2019)
Henchmen (2018)
Shock and Awe (2018)
The D Train (2015)
Into the Grizzly Maze (2015)
The Loft (2015)
Nailed! (2015)
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (2015)
Unfinished Business (2015)
Welcome to Me (2015)
The Best of Me (2014)
The Loft (2014)
Walk of Shame (2014)
2 Guns (2013)
Robot & Frank (2012)
Bachelorette (2012)
Straw Dogs (2011)
Hop (2011)
Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore (2011) (voice)
Death at a Funeral (2010)
The Box (2009)
Sex Drive (2008)
27 Dresses (2008)
Enchanted (2007)
Hairspray (2007)
Superman Returns (2006)
X-Men 3: The Last Stand (2006)
10th & Wolf (2006)
The Alibi (2006)
Heights (2005)
The Notebook (2004)
The 24th Day (2004)
X-Men 2: X-Men United (2003)
Interstate 60: Episodes of the Road (2002)
Zoolander (2001)
Sugar & Spice (2001)
X-Men (2000)
Gossip (2000)
Disturbing Behavior (1998)