James Marsden

James Paul Marsden (born September 18, 1973) is an American actor.

Marsden was born in Stillwater, Oklahoma, on September 18, 1973, the son of Kathleen (née Scholtz) and James Luther Marsden.

His father, a food safety advisor to LexiGene Industries, and his mother, a nutritionist, divorced when he was nine years old.

He has four siblings: two younger sisters and two brothers.

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.

Marsden left after one and a half years, opting instead to move to Los Angeles in order to pursue his acting career.

Marsden got his first job in a series of episodes of The Nanny as Eddie, Margaret Sheffield's boyfriend.

He then starred in the Canadian television series Boogies Diner, which aired for one season.

Following the end of that series, he guest starred on 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 auditioned for the lead role in 54, which then went to Ryan Phillippe.

He starred in the films 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 sang.

He began his acting career guest starring in the television shows Saved by the Bell: The New Class (1993), Touched by an Angel (1995), and Party of Five (1995).

He also starred in a 1998 episode of "The Outer Limits".

Marsden was cast as Cyclops in the X-Men films.

His character is prominent in the comics; his screen time in the films, however, is reduced in the sequels.

Marsden also appeared in Bryan Singer's Superman Returns.

Singer had dropped out of the third X-Men film to direct Superman and Marsden was cast as Lois Lane's fiancé, Richard White.

Due to schedule conflicts, Marsden's screen time in X-Men: 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 for Best Supporting Actor.

Marsden gained fame for his portrayal of Cyclops in the X-Men film series (2000–2014) and for his roles in the films The Notebook (2004), Superman Returns (2006), Hairspray (2007), Enchanted (2007), and 27 Dresses (2008).

In 2004, Marsden co-starred with Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling, James Garner, and Gena Rowlands in the romantic drama The Notebook as Lon Hammond, Jr., the second man Allie Hamilton (McAdams) falls in love with.

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 the film, he sang two songs, "The Nicest Kids In Town" and "(It's) Hairspray."

Both Hairspray and its soundtrack were critically acclaimed.

His next role was with Amy Adams in the Disney hybrid animated/live-action film Enchanted, playing Prince Edward.

He sang one song as a duet with 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 played guest roles in the sitcoms Modern Family (2011) and 30 Rock (2012–2013).

He starred as a fictionalized version of himself in the mockumentary series Jury Duty (2023), for which he received nominations for a Golden Globe Award and a Primetime Emmy Award.

He portrayed John F. Kennedy in the drama film The Butler (2013) and starred in the comedy films Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (2013), Sonic the Hedgehog (2020) and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2022).

In 2014 Marsden reprised his role of Cyclops in a brief cameo for X-Men: Days of Future Past, as did other actors from the first film including Anna Paquin and Famke Janssen.

Marsden starred in the science fiction series Westworld from 2016 to 2022 and in the black comedy series Dead to Me from 2019 to 2022, for which he received a nomination for the Critics' Choice Television Award in 2023.