It comes as no surprise that James Marsden remains a familiar face on-screen. With a charming smile and a charismatic on-camera presence, Marsden continues to give standout performances in his roles. The Oklahoma-born and bred actor discovered he had a passion for performing during the time he went to college to study Broadcast Journalism. He then dropped out of school and set his sights on a career in Hollywood. He got his start in the 1990s sitcom The Nanny as Margaret Sheffield’s boyfriend, Eddie. From then on, he became a perennial guest star in teen shows such as Blossom, Party of Five,and Saved by The Bell: The New Class. Since then, Marsden has reached movie and television star status.
It seems as if the actor can jump from genre to genre, having been in the psychological horror film Disturbing Behavior opposite Katie Holmes, X-Men, one of the most popular superhero franchises in Marvel history, and starring in the musical comedy Hairspray, where he showcased his singing ability as TV host Corny Collins. Throughout the years, he has also stolen the hearts of many in his romantic-comedy roles. The actor has been nominated for multiple SAG Awards since 2008. Most recently, you may have caught him in Amazon Freevee's Jury Duty. He is set to appear in the upcoming film Unfrosted: The Pop Tart Story, per Comicbook.com; until we hear more details, here is a look back at the best movies and TV shows Marsden has worked in so far.
10 Disturbing Behavior
Disturbing Behavior was released in the summer of 1998. This film is one of Marsden's first yet forgettable film roles; the actor leads the film opposite Katie Holmes, Nick Stahl, and Chad Donella. Marsden portrays Steve Clark, a recent high-school aged transplant from Chicago. After moving to the Puget Sound with his family, Clark befriends three students, Rachel Wadgner (Holmes), U.V. (Donella) and Gavin Strick (Stahl). The film had a less-than-stellar performance at the box office, and while it was able to recoup, negative press obviously did more harm than help. The film was also cut down by MGM studio to an 84-minute theatrical run time versus the original 115-minute version that director David Nutter had wanted.
9 Superman Returns
The 2006 premiere of Superman Returns marked a new addition to a lineage of Superman sequels. While society has had to adjust to the absence of the superhero they once knew and loved, supervillan Lex Luthor (Kevin Spacey) plots to destroy the superhero again when he eventually returns. Superman tries to find a way to reconnect with Lois Lane (Kate Bosworth) while understanding that the world may no longer need his assistance. Marsden plays the dapper Richard White, the nephew of Daily Planet editor-in-chief Perry White and fiancé to Lois Lane. There's not much to say about Marsden's character other than that he fulfills the role well and brings a certain charm to the character that other actors may not have been able to convey.
8 30 Rock
30 Rock is a staple in the sitcoms of the mid-2000s. 30 Rock is centered around Liz Lemon, played by Tina Fey, the head writer and show runner of the NBC sketch comedy series TGS with Tracy Jordan produced in Studio 6H in 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City. The sitcom employed Marsden as Criss Chros, the dim-witted and always under-employed fiancé, and later husband, of Liz Lemon. Not too much is known about Chros other than that he attended school at Wesleyan University, a liberal arts college in Connecticut to study ethnomusicology. If you catch an episode with him in it, you'll normally see his character playing guitar and singing songs that he writes songs for Liz in order to be perceived as "romantic," much to Liz's chagrin.
7 Enchanted
Enchanted has stolen the hearts of many young viewers when it was released in 2007. The fantasy movie is about a young princess named Giselle (Amy Adams) from a land called Andalasia, who is prepared to be wed, but is instead exiled and sent away to New York City by an evil Queen, where she falls in love with a lawyer, Robert Philip (Patrick Dempsey). Her then-soon-to-be lover, Prince Edward finds a way to also get to New York City. Even more so, the pure-hearted yet naive prince also has narcissistic tendencies which end up hurting him in the end, and multiple times throughout the film.
The film is both a homage to and a self-parody of Disney's classic features, mixing live-action filmmaking with traditional animation and CGI. The film's success and massively positive box-office performance also spawned a 2022 sequel on Disney+, Disenchanted, in which Marsden reprised his role as Prince Edward.
6 Death at a Funeral
Death at a Funeral is the black comedy you need to watch. The film is directed by playwright Neil Labute as a remake of the 2007 British comedy of the same name. Preparing for a funeral is never pleasant, but for Aaron, it is shaping up to be the worst day of his life. Sibling rivalry, meddling family members, and a little stranger with a big secret threaten to blow the lid off the coffin when Aaron struggles to give his late father a proper memorial.
Marsden plays Zoe Saldana's character's husband, Oscar, who is on a self-induced acid-trip during the happenings of this funeral. The film received mixed positive reviews, specifically from film critic Roger Ebert, who considered the film "the best comedy since The Hangover".
5 Hairspray
The film Hairspray is based on the 2002 stage musical of the same name. This 2007 adaptation takes a fresh spin on the 1980s source film. The film is set in 1960s Baltimore, where teenager Tracy Turnblad (Nikki Blonsky) auditions for a spot on "The Corny Collins Show." After winning a spot, she not only becomes the talk of the town, but in the country as well, and her newfound status as a teen sensation is enough to steal the crown off the reigning dance queen and help eliminate racial segregation on television.
Hairspray features a stellar cast that includes John Travolta, Amanda Bynes, Zac Efron, Allison Janney, and Queen Latifah, among others. Marsden steps into the character of Corny Collins, the politically progressive teen dance show host who opposes the segregation undertones of the film. His character is based on a real-life Baltimore TV personality named Buddy Deane, who hosted a local show of a similar style in the late-50s and early-60s.
4 Sonic the Hedgehog
Sonic the Hedgehog is one of the most beloved video game characters, who had its feature film debut back in 2020. Billed as an action-adventure comedy movie, the story initially takes place in Montana, where Marsden's sheriff character, Tom Wachowski, is acquainted with Sonic the Hedgehog (Ben Schwartz). After meeting and teaming up with Tom, Sonic resolves to use his super-speed to fight and to put to stop and prevent Robotnik (Jim Carrey) from getting his hands on his supersonic speed powers for his plans of conquering the Earth.
Marsden's character becomes somewhat of as a surrogate father for the anthropomorphic hedgehog. This added to the film's mostly positive reviews from critics, who praised the action sequences, visual effects, and, of course, the performances.
3 Westworld
The 2016 Westworld series is based on the 1973 dystopian sci-fi film of the same name. The series cast heavy-hitters in the lead roles, including Evan Rachel Wood as Delores Abernathy, Thandiwe Newton, Jeffery Wright, and Anthony Hopkins. Marsden plays Teddy Flood, one of the hosts in Westworld, and can be described as handsome and brave. The show is also known for its exceedingly high budgets, eventually having had $160+ million shelled out for the fourth and final season.
2 Dead to Me
Dead to Me graced the small screen on Netflix in 2019 and had its final season end in the fall of 2022. The show stars Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini as two women in a budding friendship after they meet in unfortunate circumstances in a grief support group. Marsden takes on double duty as the season 1 character, Steve Wood, an attorney involved with the Greek Mafia and the ex-fiancé of Judy. In the final two seasons, Marsden returns as Ben Wood, Steve's twin brother, who is a chiropractor and becomes Jen's new love interest. The responsibility of having to play a dual role in this type of storyline provided audiences with a refreshing
1 X-Men
As we have seen, Marsden is no stranger to comic-book franchises. X-Men is, and most likely will always be, the fan-favorite in this list. The year 2000 kicked off the start of a long-lived franchise that includes Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, and Sir Patrick Stewart, among others. Marsden plays Scott Summers/Cyclops, Professor Charles Xavier's second-in-command. Marsden may be best known for this role and reprises his character in X2: X-Men United, X-Men: The Last Stand, and X-Men: Days of Future Past.
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