James Marsden Reveals the Musical Legend He’s ‘Always Wanted’ to Play
Start spreading the news…James Marsden wants to step into Frank Sinatra’s shoes. The Jury Duty star, who has showcased his vocal talents in movies like Hairspray and Disenchanted, has long hoped to portray Ol’Blue Eyes in a biopic.
Speaking exclusively to Parade in a new interview, Marsden shared, “I’ve always wanted to play Sinatra… I grew up listening to his music. My mom used to play it all the time, and I sort of started emulating him, and it’s how I learned how to sing.”
Marsden pointed out that there are “several stories to tell about” the crooner, noting that “a lot of them [are] really sad ones,” but doing a Sinatra biopic “would be very cool.”
“I would enjoy that. And now I’m like getting to the age where I could sort of buy it,” the actor, 51, said. “When [Sinatra] was complicated.”
Marsden’s latest role has him playing Cal Bradford, the president of the United States, in Hulu’s new must-watch thriller series Paradise, from the creator of This Is Us, Dan Fogelman.
“Normally, I’d feel pretty nervous about taking on the role of the president, but what we get to explore in this interpretation is more the human side of this person who’s certainly not perfect, and has a lot of regrets that he carries with him, and as much as he likes to have fun, and I do think he’s in a position that he doesn’t necessarily want to be in,” Marsden said.
“I would argue that he would rather not be the president, but he’s gonna make the best of it and he’s going to do right by the people as much as he can,” the Notebook star continued. “But I guess I got excited about exploring more about the human element, and seeing the very human side to the president when he’s not behind the desk.”
Off-camera, the Westworld alum is no stranger to being told he looks presidential. “I don’t think I’ll ever hear that enough,” Marsden laughed, admitting, “I’m always very flattered. I don’t think that I do necessarily, but I think that’s what’s fun about this [Paradise] character, as well, is we’re rewriting what that looks like.”
While he’s played presidents onscreen, running for office in real-life isn’t something that Marsden has considered. “Never has crossed my mind,” he said. “No. I don’t think I would want that job. Yeah and I don’t think I would be qualified.”
However, much like his character in Paradise, Marsden would do his “best to do the right thing for the people.” “I really would,” he said. “And I do think my sort of internal moral compass is a good one. And so if that’s it, if that’s all I can deliver, then I’m happy with that. If that’s all we need, then, yeah, maybe I could be qualified, but, boy, by definition alone, the commander-in-chief, that position, you’re gonna have enemies and you’re gonna upset people and you’re gonna be wrong.”
“But maybe that’s sort of [the] lesson of life, is that you’re always going to be, whether or not you’re president, you’re gonna go through life and you’re not gonna be everybody’s friend. You are gonna disappoint people…and it’s how you move through that,” Marsden added. “Yeah, I don’t know. Thank God I’ll never really be there. Unless it really, really, really gets bad, but I feel like there’s gonna be other, more exceptional people to take that position before I do.”
The first episode of Paradise is now streaming on Hulu. The next two episodes will drop on Tuesday, Jan. 28.
Source: Parade