“People think I’m the guy who never gets the girl,” James Marsden says, and he has a point. Over the course of two decades, he has established an on-screen reputation as the amiable, boy next door who’s sweet enough to take home, but just square enough to leave behind.

In “The Notebook,” “Enchanted” and even “X-Men,” Marsden ends up getting passed up for someone else. That’s one reason his performance in “Straw Dogs,” director Rod Lurie’s remake of the 1971 Sam Peckinpah classic, stood out: Marsden may start out as the passive, infuriatingly polite husband of Kate Bosworth, but by the end [SPOILER ALERT] he has undergone a savage transition from milquetoast to murderer.

Marsden also mixed things up in 2011 by returning to television — where he got his start way back in the 90’s on “The Nanny” — with a cameo role in “Modern Family.” And on Jan. 12, he begins a six-episode run on “30 Rock,” playing Liz Lemon’s latest love interest. (Apparently, being a nice guy has its perks.)

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The midseason return of “30 Rock” kicks off Thursday, Jan. 12, and with another season comes another love interest for Tina Fey’s quirky onscreen persona, Liz Lemon.

Anyone else think she has more game — and probably as many losers — than Carrie Bradshaw? We’ve seen her fall for Dennis (Dean Winters of “Oz,” “Rescue Me”), the beeper-selling dude who called Liz “dummy; there was Floyd (“SNL’s” Jason Sudeikis), the “flower guy” who moves to Cleveland; Drew (played by “Mad Men’s” dapper Jon Hamm), the doctor completely oblivious of his good looks; and the pilot with the unfortunate name, Carol Burnett (played by Matt Damon). And that’s just naming a few. (An honorary mention should go to her imaginary boyfriend, Astronaut Mike Dexter.)

This season, Liz fancies a guy who hawks meat on the street. And the show has enlisted James Marsden, known for his roles on “X-Men” and “The Notebook,” to be that guy. Marsden will appear in a six-episode arc as a laid-back hot dog vendor. Show Tracker spoke to the actor on playing in the TV pond, what we can expect from his “30 Rock” stint and his playing a game that has proved troublesome for “30 Rock” stars in the past: Words With Friends.

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Tell someone you’re going to be interviewing James Marsden and the first thing they’ll probably say is, “Ask him about Enchanted!”

That’s what happened to me the other day.

Specifically, everyone wants to know where in the world is the sequel to that fairy-tale blockbuster? Weren’t he and Amy Adams signed on to reprise their roles as Prince Edward and Giselle?

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James Marsden has made a career out of playing the guy you want the leading lady to end up with (think Enchanted or 27 Dresses). But in his latest film, Straw Dogs, he plays such a deeply insecure and unpredictable guy that you can’t decide if the guy with the dynamic cheekbones and killer smile is actually “good” for our leading lady.

Moral greyness is a major theme throughout the thriller, a remake of Dustin Hoffman’s 1971 classic — both of which proved to be major selling points for Marsden when it came time to sign on. The actor recently spoke with ETonline about his attraction to the project, why going a little mad sometimes can be good for an actor and why he still longs to slip back into his X Men uniform one day.

ETonline: What was it about this script that spoke to you?
James Marsden: It really was the role itself. There’s an actors feast there. I was very aware of the affection many people have for the original – specifically Dustin Hoffman’s performance. He’s about as perfect as one can get in that film, yet I couldn’t stop thinking about what a great role it is for an actor and at the end of the day, I couldn’t turn that down.

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Rod Lurie directs the controversial remake of Sam Peckinpah’s Straw Dogs, which finds a young couple (James Marsden and Kate Bosworth) moving to a quaint southern town. Soon, though, their perfect getaway turns into a living hell when dark secrets and lethal passions spiral out of control. Trapped by a pack of depraved locals led by a ruthless predator (Alexander Skarsgård), they face a night of agonizing suffering and endless bloodshed. Their only hope for survival is to become more savage than their merciless tortures.

Straw Dogs makes its awaited debut on Blu-ray and DVD today, Tuesday, December 20th. To celebrate this release, we caught up with star James Marsden to go in-depth into the making of this modern day classic thriller.

Here is our conversation.

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James Marsden may be one of the dreamiest men on the planet, but he never gets the girl. “27 Dresses” aside, he’s almost always the nice guy in films who can’t catch a break when it comes to love. Need examples? Just watch “The Notebook,” “Enchanted” or “Superman Returns.”

But maybe now Marsden’s finally getting lucky — he’s guest starring alongside Tina Fey on “30 Rock” when it makes its mid-season return. However, the actor was terribly tight-lipped about his stint on the NBC comedy when asked at the Savannah Film Festival last week.

“I can’t tell you anything. I am doing a six-episode stint on the show, kind of like what Matt Damon did last year,” Marsden told The Huffington Post.

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James Marsden moved to Los Angeles when he was 19 to pursue a career in acting. He’s currently 38.

“So I just realized that I’ve been doing this for half of my life, exactly,” Marsden told me during a casual one-on-one Friday evening.

Those years spent honing his craft explain why organizers at the Savannah Film Festival chose Marsden as the recipient of this year’s Spotlight Award, which was handed to him on stage at Trustees Theater prior to the Director’s Choice screening. A montage of clips highlighting Marsden’s work emphasized his range: Stoic superhero in the “X-Men” trilogy; Easter Bunny guardian in “Hop;” exuberant dance-show host in “Hairspray,” and; henpecked husband pushed to the brink in “Straw Dogs.”

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ConnectSavannah.com has posted a new interview from Jimmy, thanks to b for the tip!

Is there a plus or a minus side to being closely identified with the X–Men franchise? A typecast point where you’d say “I don’t want to be the guy who’s in all the X–Men movies”?

James Marsden: I would never say I don’t want to be the guy from the X–Men movies, because my longevity, and the opportunities I’ve gotten in this business, are largely due to being cast in those movies. It was something that certainly put me on the map. As well as being financially lucrative, they also were really well–made movies and were reviewed really well.

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Source: MovieWeb.com

ComingSoon.net talked to James Marsden about playing David Sumner in Rod Lurie’s Straw Dogs, opening in theaters on Friday, September 16. You can watch the interview using the player below!

In the thriller, David and Amy Sumner (Marsden and Kate Bosworth), a Hollywood screenwriter and his actress wife, return to her small hometown in the deep South to prepare the family home for sale after her father’s death. Once there, tensions build in their marriage and old conflicts re-emerge with the locals, including Amy’s ex-boyfriend Charlie (Alexander Skarsgård), leading to a violent confrontation.

Source: ComingSoon.net