![]() A history of ostensibly dull, disposable characters-the hapless Prince Edward in Enchanted the humiliated Cyclops in the original X-Men trilogy Lois Lane’s doomed ex-boyfriend in Man of Steel-belies that Marsden has been quietly killing it the whole time. Instead of a staid cliche, Dead to Me’s twin twist forced us to consider how much we might have misjudged Marsden throughout the first decade or so of his career. ‘Dead to Me’ Found a Brilliantly Soapy Way to Bring Back James Marsden in Season 2 “In the hands of a lesser actor,” creator Liz Feldman told the LA Times in 2020, following the show’s second season premiere, “it might not have transcended the trope.” Yet Dead to Me pulled it off, in no small part due to Marsden’s acting chops. Having Marsden play his character’s twin was a risky, almost soap opera-like move. In Season 2, Marsden manifests his own comeback, returning to play Steve’s goofy, lovable, alcoholic twin brother Ben. In Westworld, Marsden is challenged to keep up with the show’s devolution into a subversive mess, while in Dead to Me, his clean-cut image is laced with jock-like aggression and abusive behavior that ultimately gets Steve killed. But in both of these shows, Masrden’s characters gain an edge. In Dead to Me’s first season, he’s Judy’s rich, successful, villainous ex-fiancé. In Westworld, Marsden appears as the stereotypical cowboy lead: handsome, mostly jawline, and looks like he’s got nice arms. Initially, none of these roles felt unique from the typical James Marsden flavor when the shows premiered. Five months later, he reprised his dual roles in Dead to Me’s final season, playing a pair of identical twins. Marsden returned as beautiful cowboy Teddy Flood, in Westworld’s fourth (and final) season back in June. His television turns this year have particularly stood out. I become that meme of Leonardo DiCaprio in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, pointing at his TV screen: “Hey, isn’t that Cyclops?” When he pops up as a handsome, successful, somewhat cookie-cutter secondary lead, I instead think of where we have seen him before. Case in point: While working on this story about how wonderful James Marsden is, I’ve written the name “Patrick Wilson” more than once.įor most of his career, Marsden has felt peripheral to the cast, even when he’s the lead role. But then, it’s easy to forget James Marsden. I didn’t even mention that this means no more James Marsden, who’s killed it right alongside his co-stars for all three seasons of the Netflix black comedy. And that cat! With the little collar! WITH A BELL! I’m even going to miss Jen’s horrible children. No more Jen (Christina Applegate) and Judy (Linda Cardellini) no more death metal no more reeling at the bizarre idea that some cops are nice no more just enjoying two best friends having a great time. Rendon/The Daily Beast/HBO/Netflix/Disney/Paramountĭead to Me is over, and I’m a wreck.
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