“Paradise” centers its murder mystery around Sterling K. Brown’s Agent Xavier Collins and James Marsden’s President Cal Bradford — a complex relationship Marsden describes as reminiscent of “The Odd Couple.”

“I love the fact that they are so different — it’s an odd couple relationship,” Marsden told TheWrap. “[Xavier] is very stoic, very rigid, very by the book. [He’s] a man of of a code [with a] very strong moral compass, and Cal has a lot of those things as well. He is a good human being who tries to do the right thing, but he’s much more loose.”

From the first time Xavier meets Cal, the president immediately disarms Xavier with his brazen disrespect for how the White House should operate, with Marsden explaining Cal “does not subscribe to the idea that just because you are President of the United States, that you can’t drink in the Oval Office, that you can’t have a good time.”

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One week after the 2025 inauguration, America welcomed another new president to the Oval Office: James Marsden.

While the 51-year-old actor isn’t leading the nation off-screen in Washington, D.C., you can catch him calling the country’s shots as President Cal Bradford in Paradise, Hulu‘s new political thriller from This Is Us creator Dan Fogelman.

The idea for the murder mystery series with a major twist predates Fogelman’s popular NBC family drama, but it also stars This Is Us alum Sterling K. Brown as Xavier Collins, a secret service agent to Marsden’s character, and the main suspect in his assassination. Set in a community populated by the world’s most prominent people (including characters played by Julianne Nicholson, Sarah Shahi, Nicole Brydon Bloom, Jon Beavers, and Krys Marshall) Paradise required a specific set of skills to nail its unconventional portrait of a Commander-in-Chief navigating unique circumstances. Right away, Fogelman knew that Marsden was the perfect man for the job.

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Can “This Is Us” collaborators Dan Fogelman and Sterling K. Brown reunite without making viewers cry?

It’s possible in the new TV world of Fogelman’s creation, Hulu’s “Paradise,” which stars Brown as CIA agent Xavier Collins, who is suspected of killing the president, Cal Bradford, played by James Marsden.

But did he? Or is someone else responsible? And is that the only question we should be focused on?

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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.

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ComingSoon Senior Editor Brandon Schreur spoke to Sterling K. Brown and James Marsden about the new Hulu series Paradise. Brown and Marsden discussed working with This Is Us’ Dan Fogelman on the project, collaborating together on set, and more.

“Paradise is set in an upscale community inhabited by some of the world’s most prominent individuals,” the synopsis for the show reads. “But this tranquility explodes when a shocking murder occurs and a high-stakes investigation unfolds.”

The first three episodes of Paradise will premiere on Hulu on January 28, 2025.

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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.”

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From his quiet life as a sheriff in Green Hills to a battle-filled one after meeting Sonic, that also saw him become a fatherly figure, it’s been quite the journey for JAMES MARSDEN’s Tom Wachowski over the course of the last two movies. Ahead of the release of SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 3, we caught up with James to dig into the evolution of the family dynamic between the Wachowskis and Sonic, along with uncovering just some of the high-stake elements of the third instalment…

STARBURST: By the end of Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Tom and Sonic become a family; they really are like a father and son. What can you tell us about the dynamic between Tom, Maddie, and Sonic within this third chapter, and how it compares to what’s come before it?

James Marsden: In the first film Tom and Sonic are on a road trip, and it’s kind of a buddy action comedy. By the end of that movie, you see a father and son thing start to evolve. You remind the audience that this character, who has all of these great superpowers is still a kid, in an environment and in a world that is very foreign to him. He needs guidance, and support, and love. In the second film, you see some flavours of Superman in his Earth father dynamic there. I always found that interesting, because here’s this character that is capable of such great and incredible things who still has self-doubt. The normal things that any kid going through adolescence would be experiencing, and the need for a calming presence, and a support figure in Tom and Maddie. So, it’s evolved into a family, where Tom and Maddie are essentially his parents, and now they also become parents to an echidna and a fox! As playful and fun as it can be on paper, where you see these two parents that are parenting three colourful, animated creatures, you never get the sense that you just have to play it silly. There’s a human component to all of this, and a human element that shines through, and I think that’s one of the reasons why these movies have more depth. Not in a heavy-handed way, but I think there’s more dimension to them. In the third film, Sonic is really starting to build his confidence. He’s got his core group of friends, and he’s now met with a new adversary through Shadow, who’s quite a bit more powerful than he is. He’s having to learn to allow other people to come in and help as well. “You can’t do everything alone!” It’s almost like you’re witnessing him turn into a fully realised adult, with the constant support of love and guidance from his family.

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