Actor James Marsden Has ‘A Desire To Have More Meaning In My Work’

Over his 30-year career so far, Emmy-nominated actor James Marsden has consistently grabbed our full attention with his many memorable on-screen performances. From playing Cyclops in the X-Men films and “the other man” Lon Hammond in The Notebook to Corny Collins in Hairspray, Prince Edward in the Enchanted films and Teddy Flood on the Westworld series, Marsden, 51, has built quite the impressive career for himself, with plenty of longevity, something many working actors could only dream of happening.

Fresh off of his third box office hit Sonic the Hedgehog film, Marsden can now be seen in the new Hulu series, Paradise, where he plays the President of the United States. Created by This Is Us mastermind Dan Fogelman and co-starring Sterling K. Brown and Julianne Nicholson, Paradise is a wildly gripping political thriller, with several twists and turns, that will keep you guessing until the very end.

Knowing that Marsden is no stranger to playing a President, as he previously played John F. Kennedy in Lee Daniels’ 2013 film The Butler, I wondered what it was about his Paradise character, President Cal Bradford, that intrigued him in making this his next role to take on.

Marsden said, “I think the answer to that question is this was a portrayal of a President in a very unconventional way. He’s kind of rewriting the definition of what a President looks like. We’re getting to see somebody who’s in that position of power, who doesn’t really want the job. I think he was sort of bred to be this – to get into politics by his father and a long line of Bradfords doing exceptional things. I think that decision to get into politics was made for him, not by himself. So, here he is in a position that he doesn’t necessarily want to be in, that I feel like he does feel qualified for on some level, as a man who ultimately when it gets serious, that he will try to make the right decision for the good of the people.”

So, through Marsden’s experiences in filming Paradise and at this stage of his career today, I was curious if he has perhaps noticed that his interests in storytelling have evolved in recent years.

“Yeah, of course,” Marsden said. “I mean, as you grow through life and mature into ‘an old man,’ things come into focus more clearly of what’s really important to you – how you want to spend your time. From a storytelling perspective, what good can you put out there? Whether it’s a laugh – something crazy like Jury Duty with humor. What truly resonates with you? When you’re young, you take jobs and you take work to work. You do the best and I still loved it – you want to make it as great as possible, but you also want to work. As you get older, if you’re fortunate enough, and I feel very privileged to say this, I can take work – it feels like when I really want to, but only when I feel like there’s something to be said. Not a message necessarily, but how I can move somebody with this story. Here’s maybe a feeling or a thought or a story or a character that could put a smile on somebody’s face, or make that person reconsider certain parts about the human experience that they might not have touched on in their experience in life. I want to play less one-dimensional bad guys. I have a desire to have more meaning in my work now.”

Beyond Marsden’s ongoing dedication to his acting craft, he is also a father of three to Jack, Mary and William. So, I asked him – Who is James Marsden in 2025? What motivates you most and brings you the greatest purpose and passion to your days lately?

“Oh man! Well, my children do and they always have. Time does. I think when you’re younger, you don’t value time as much. I love working, but I’ve been sort of slowly reevaluating how much time I do want to be working and how much time I want to be living. One of the things that’s in the job description with being an actor is the feeling that you’re never going to work again. That’s been with me for a really, really long time. What that’s caused is a great fortune in a business that’s been very good to me, but a lot of time away – a lot of time traveling, a lot of time working. I feel like, nowadays, I want to really make sure that I insert value in my time, more than just on the work level.”

Now that Marsden is somewhat seasoned in knowing how to play a President on-screen, following his experiences over these eight episodes of the new Paradise Hulu series, I was curious what Marsden would make his very first plan of action, if he were President, and what he would want to do for the world.

“Get everyone to chill the f—- out,” Marsden said with a laugh. “Let’s all realize that we all breathe the same air and we’re not that different. I feel like things that bring us together: music, love, the feelings of belonging, acceptance, laughter can be unifying. I know that that’s maybe a little bit of a loosey-goosey, sweet thing to say, but it’s powerful. I know there are things in the way that we can’t just ‘John Lennon’ it through life. It’s going to be complicated, but no bloodshed – no wars. That’s enough. I think that’s an antiquated solution and it’s not a solution. That’d be a big one for me. I don’t know if I have the answer to it or how, but I would like to see that done away with. Now with globalization, we are all feeling much closer to each other than we ever did before, that maybe the good of that could be understanding each other a little more.”