For the stars of The Best of Me, James Marsden and Michelle Monaghan, having Luke Bracey and Liana Liberato play their younger selves was a blessing, and for Marsden a bit of a curse!

“It was great to see Luke go in there and sweep her off her feet. He set the bar a little high for me,” Marsden said in our exclusive video interview, as he and Monaghan laughed. “In the gym, too!”

Bracey and Liberato play Dawson and Amanda as young sweethearts who are basking in the glow of first love.

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James Marsden was honored to take over the late Paul Walker’s role in The Best of Me, the handsome actor told Us Weekly in an interview on Monday, Oct. 6.

“All I can say about that is he is just one of those tremendous actors that was even that much more special of a human being,” Marsden told Us when asked about Walker. “There was a wonderful energy about him and he was a terrific actor. You always want to be good stepping into a role like this but [it] felt a little bit more of an honor to play this role because of him,” the X-Men actor shared.

Walker, who died in a car accident in November 2013, was originally cast to play Dawson in Nicholas Sparks’ upcoming romance flick. A month after Walker’s tragic death, the role was offered to Marsden.

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James Marsden, the actor who played mutant hero Cyclops in the original ‘X-Men’ trilogy, has backed his ‘The Best of Me’ co-star Luke Bracey to replace him in ‘X-Men: Apocalypse’.

‘X-Men: Apocalypse’ writer Simon Kinberg exclusively revealed to Yahoo Movies last week that Cyclops, Storm, and Jean Grey would probably have to be recast for the next X-Men film, due to its 1980s setting, and Marsden thinks Bracey – who plays a younger version of himself in ‘The Best of Me’ – could be just the man to fill his distinctive visor.

“Yeah, that’d be great [if Luke Bracey took over as Cyclops],” he explains in our exclusive video below, “Then he could just eventually take over being me. Then I would never get another role as long as I live!”

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Drama, comedy, music… latte art? Is there anything pretty-boy-turned-actor A-lister James Marsden isn’t good at?

Anyone familiar with actor James Marsden’s body of work has probably come away with the notion that he’s got a pretty broad skill set. He can effectively pull off drama (The Notebook), comedy (30 Rock), romantic comedy (27 Dresses), superheroics (X-Men), singing (Enchanted), and dancing (Hairspray). But that’s only the half of it.

Away from the screen, the actor admits he has a passion for perfecting… well, whatever happens to catch his fancy at the moment. “I’m a hobbyist,” he says. “I get into things, and then that’s all I do.” The pursuits at which he’s become a functional expert are many, diverse, and ever-growing, from the understandable to the arcane: triathlons, cycling, fly-fishing, auto racing, Star Wars, guitars, photography, wristwatches… even coffee. “I got this really fancy espresso maker and I had to learn how to pour latte art,” he explains. “I had this professional barista come to my house and show me exactly how to do it. I got obsessed with grinding my own beans.”

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CraveOnline: We always hear about the biographies that actors do for their characters. Your character, Gordon, says he’s a writer of “post-modern romance novels.” Did you come up with some titles and scenarios? Or is that occupation a pickup line?

James Marsden: [Director] Steve Brill and I explored it and I came up with some titles that we didn’t end up using. I’m shooting in New Orleans right now [after Paul Walkers untimely death, Marsden replaced Walker in the Michael Hoffman romance, The Best of Me], ugh, I can’t remember what they were, but they must not have been any good! But Gordon isn’t a character that would lie to anyone. But he does have to believe in it and say that line with conviction so that it isn’t cheesy.

And what is your favorite post-modern romantic literature?

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James Marsden is busy man. After starring in “Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues,” the actor has almost a half dozen films set to come out in 2014.

But that doesn’t mean the father of three doesn’t make time for his kids.

“It’s one of the things I’m most proud of,” the “X-Men” star, 40, told ABC News of being a father. “Work is difficult because you’ve got to spend time away from home, but it’s always nice to come back and not have to do anything, just spend time with them.”

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Mission for Marsden: His career has skyrocketed and with eight movies coming out in the next 18 months, James Marsden can afford a lighthearted look at near misses

It’s fun to play ‘Casting Couch’ with Hollywood actors. And no, not in THAT way, you mucky bunch! That’s a whole other daydream. I refer instead to the roles they either shot down or lost to another; the ones that got away.

Most are aware of certain audition rumours floating about on the interweb. They’re prepared for such enquiries, brushing them off with a ‘Don’t believe everything you read’.

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For years, Mr James Marsden wasn’t considered a funny guy. The actor, who played President John F Kennedy in The Butler and stars in comedy sequel Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, doesn’t exactly have the look, after all. Preparing for a shoot on a crisp Friday morning in downtown LA, he looks more like one of those all-American cheekbones types, the kind who make excellent screensavers for 14-year-old girls.

But then six years ago it all changed.

“I don’t know what happened,” he says, as a make-up guy lovingly blow-dries his hair. “I guess I got funny all of a sudden!”

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PLAYBOY: You’ve had a busy year, with parts on 30 Rock and in 2 Guns, Lee Daniels’ The Butler and now Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues. Are you allowed to pick favorites?

MARSDEN: X-Men fans may be let down, but Anchorman 2 is the first movie in my career I’ve wanted to see after I finished it. I tested for the role of Brian Fantana in the original and was bummed I didn’t get cast. In this one I play Will Ferrell’s nemesis, a rival anchor named Jack Lime. It’s 1980, at the start of the 24-hour-news era, and Ron Burgundy is moving from San Diego to New York. I’m an obsessed Anchorman fan.

PLAYBOY: Were you the quote-spouting movie nerd on set?

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After a run of playing jilted boyfriends in tights – and X-Men – James Marsden is on a roll, with turns in 2 Men, Endangered and as John F Kennedy in the Oscar-tipped The Butler

Regular visitors to Planet Cinema might be forgiven for squinting a little during the frolicsome summer confection 2 Guns. Who is that untrustworthy Naval Intelligence Officer running around after Mark Wahlberg and Denzel Washington? Can it really be James Marsden, the chiselled sometime X-Man, beneath that sneer and buzz-cut?

“It wasn’t just the haircut,” laughs Marsden. “It was an opportunity to do something different. And any role in a movie with Mark and Denzel is a welcome gig.”

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