http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/story/428616p-361463c.html
Man in the middle
Actor James Marsden has ringside seat
for the two biggest comic book movies of the year
The back story is almost as dramatic as anything on the pages of the two movies' scripts.
Bryan Singer, director of the first two movies of the lucrative "X-Men" trilogy, abandoned the third installment to helm Warner Brothers' "Superman Returns," opening June 28. His eventual replacement on Twentieth Century Fox's "X-Men: The Last Stand"? Director Brett Ratner, who had previously been assigned to get the Superman film off the ground.
Released just one month apart, the movies also have another built-in rivalry: Superman is the signature property of D.C. Comics; The X-Men are published by that company's arch-rival, Marvel Entertainment.
The two movies, however, did share at least one thing in common: actor James Marsden.
"It was a little schizophrenic," said Marsden, who played Cyclops, the mutant hero who blasts energy beams from his eyes in the three "X-Men" films and Lois Lane's fiancé, Richard White, in "Superman Returns."
"My mind was being tricked because I was on the set of 'X-Men 3,' with all the same cast I'm used to being there with, but with a whole new director and his whole crew," said Marsden. "Then I go work with the director of the first two 'X-Men' movies with a whole different cast.
"And I jumped back and forth [in 2005]. I worked on 'Superman' for most of the year, and then I worked on 'X-Men' and then I went back to 'Superman.' It was a crazy year."
The 32-year-old actor had plenty of time to put everything on perspective on the 14-hour flights from Sydney to Los Angeles, and then on the connecting flight to Vancouver - the respective set locations of "Superman Returns" and "X-Men: The Last Stand." From March to September, Marsden worked with Singer to help bring the Man of Steel out of mothballs, then reunited with his favorite mutants for two months of shooting, before returning to Sydney to finish shooting his scenes as Richard White.
During the whole process, he returned to his Los Angeles home for a one-month break and a three-day pit-stop for the birth of his second child, a daughter, Mary.
But the lure of working with Singer - whom Marsden considers a close friend - was too great, no matter what scheduling headaches ensued.
Marsden describes White as "emotional kryptonite" for Superman - an all-American charmer who could pass for a Kennedy. In a storyline that sees Superman returning to Earth after a five year leave of absence, White has filled the emotional void for Lois Lane - her son even calls him, "daddy." So Marsden had the tough task of making audiences believe this mere mortal could compete for a woman's affections with a man that can leap tall buildings in a single bound.
"It's not about how much can you bench press, it's the fact that Richard is basically saying, 'this guy is hard to compete with, but I'm here, I'm not going anywhere, I'm always here for you,'" said Marsden. "And that's basically his trump card."
It is the type of role that Singer believed Marsden could pull off after watching the actor's turn in "The Notebook" as Lon Hammond Jr., the rich, good-looking other man in the movie's love triangle.
"I just think it adds a more interesting element to what could easily be a very special effects driven action movie," said Marsden.
Even before "Superman Returns" reaches theaters, the success of "X-Men" The Last Stand" gives Marsden a legitimate reason to see the world through rose-colored glasses - of the optimist's variety, not the ruby-quartz kind that keep Cyclops' powers in check. The movie has raked in more than $216 million to date, making it the top grossing picture of the year, according to Variety.
[SPOILER ALERT!]
Just as Marsden felt he was hitting his stride with the character, however, Cyclops (aka Scott Summers) isn't in the film for a cup of coffee before being unceremoniously atomized. And it isn't even one of those big glorious comic book deaths either - it doesn't happen in battle or even on camera.
"Would I have liked to come back in the final battle and help the X-Men fight and everything? Absolutely," said Marsden. "But I'm pretty realistic."
Explained Marsden: "I always knew that Hugh [Jackman,] that Wolverine would be the focus and rightly so. I always knew that Halle [Berry,] if she came back for a third one, obviously would have a more substantial role. And I knew that they would be introducing all of these new characters. So I never anticipated that I would have some big role in the third film."
If the actor has a real-life mutant power, it's the ability to maintain his graciousness in the face of a reporter's prodding over any lingering resentments over the treatment of his character. Marsden lavishes praise on Ratner for doing a "miraculous job" at a fast clip and with just six weeks prep time in order to meet the film's inflexible release date; he says he "hit the lottery" to work with such an accomplished ensemble cast and how his schedule may have forced the screenwriters' hands; he talks about fulfilling his childhood fantasy of starring in big action blockbusters.
But many X-fans are not so kind. Message boards are awash with anger over the killing of a beloved, iconic character that has been the X-Men's leader since their comic book debut in 1963.
"The idea of killing Cyclops was one of the most stupid ideas in any franchise ever committed to film," said Harry Knowles, founder of Ain't It Cool News. "The way they handled it was sloppy, shoddy and badly shot.... They robbed him of all of the emotion and power of what that character is to the X-Men."
While he appreciates fans' support for the character, Marsden reminds them that in the world of X-Men comic books, death is almost never permanent.
"It was my impression was that if they kill me off screen, it'll be easier for me to come back for another one," said Marsden. "Maybe they'll make another one and I'll be suspended in a telekinetic cocoon [the way Jean Grey survives her seeming demise at the end of the previous movie.]"
In the meantime, Marsden is not keeping his career suspended while waiting. He has two more independent movies due out this year, "10th and Wolf," and "The Alibi." And for this interview, he was reached on a break in shooting for Disney's animated-live action hybrid, "Enchanted."
"Right now I'm in New York in a giant prince suit singing at the top of my lungs to Amy Adams, and riding on the tops of buses and swinging my sword around," said Marsden, laughing.
For a guy that is the first to admit that he didn't read comic books growing up in Oklahoma, Marsden is also savoring his unique opportunity to have been involved in two of the biggest films of the year. He doesn't need to choose between Singer and Ratner, Marvel and D.C., or having his cake and eating it too.
"Look, I feel really lucky to be in both of these movies this summer, so it's difficult to complain," said Marsden.
Man in the middle
Actor James Marsden has ringside seat
for the two biggest comic book movies of the year
The back story is almost as dramatic as anything on the pages of the two movies' scripts.
Bryan Singer, director of the first two movies of the lucrative "X-Men" trilogy, abandoned the third installment to helm Warner Brothers' "Superman Returns," opening June 28. His eventual replacement on Twentieth Century Fox's "X-Men: The Last Stand"? Director Brett Ratner, who had previously been assigned to get the Superman film off the ground.
Released just one month apart, the movies also have another built-in rivalry: Superman is the signature property of D.C. Comics; The X-Men are published by that company's arch-rival, Marvel Entertainment.
The two movies, however, did share at least one thing in common: actor James Marsden.
"It was a little schizophrenic," said Marsden, who played Cyclops, the mutant hero who blasts energy beams from his eyes in the three "X-Men" films and Lois Lane's fiancé, Richard White, in "Superman Returns."
"My mind was being tricked because I was on the set of 'X-Men 3,' with all the same cast I'm used to being there with, but with a whole new director and his whole crew," said Marsden. "Then I go work with the director of the first two 'X-Men' movies with a whole different cast.
"And I jumped back and forth [in 2005]. I worked on 'Superman' for most of the year, and then I worked on 'X-Men' and then I went back to 'Superman.' It was a crazy year."
The 32-year-old actor had plenty of time to put everything on perspective on the 14-hour flights from Sydney to Los Angeles, and then on the connecting flight to Vancouver - the respective set locations of "Superman Returns" and "X-Men: The Last Stand." From March to September, Marsden worked with Singer to help bring the Man of Steel out of mothballs, then reunited with his favorite mutants for two months of shooting, before returning to Sydney to finish shooting his scenes as Richard White.
During the whole process, he returned to his Los Angeles home for a one-month break and a three-day pit-stop for the birth of his second child, a daughter, Mary.
But the lure of working with Singer - whom Marsden considers a close friend - was too great, no matter what scheduling headaches ensued.
Marsden describes White as "emotional kryptonite" for Superman - an all-American charmer who could pass for a Kennedy. In a storyline that sees Superman returning to Earth after a five year leave of absence, White has filled the emotional void for Lois Lane - her son even calls him, "daddy." So Marsden had the tough task of making audiences believe this mere mortal could compete for a woman's affections with a man that can leap tall buildings in a single bound.
"It's not about how much can you bench press, it's the fact that Richard is basically saying, 'this guy is hard to compete with, but I'm here, I'm not going anywhere, I'm always here for you,'" said Marsden. "And that's basically his trump card."
It is the type of role that Singer believed Marsden could pull off after watching the actor's turn in "The Notebook" as Lon Hammond Jr., the rich, good-looking other man in the movie's love triangle.
"I just think it adds a more interesting element to what could easily be a very special effects driven action movie," said Marsden.
Even before "Superman Returns" reaches theaters, the success of "X-Men" The Last Stand" gives Marsden a legitimate reason to see the world through rose-colored glasses - of the optimist's variety, not the ruby-quartz kind that keep Cyclops' powers in check. The movie has raked in more than $216 million to date, making it the top grossing picture of the year, according to Variety.
[SPOILER ALERT!]
Just as Marsden felt he was hitting his stride with the character, however, Cyclops (aka Scott Summers) isn't in the film for a cup of coffee before being unceremoniously atomized. And it isn't even one of those big glorious comic book deaths either - it doesn't happen in battle or even on camera.
"Would I have liked to come back in the final battle and help the X-Men fight and everything? Absolutely," said Marsden. "But I'm pretty realistic."
Explained Marsden: "I always knew that Hugh [Jackman,] that Wolverine would be the focus and rightly so. I always knew that Halle [Berry,] if she came back for a third one, obviously would have a more substantial role. And I knew that they would be introducing all of these new characters. So I never anticipated that I would have some big role in the third film."
If the actor has a real-life mutant power, it's the ability to maintain his graciousness in the face of a reporter's prodding over any lingering resentments over the treatment of his character. Marsden lavishes praise on Ratner for doing a "miraculous job" at a fast clip and with just six weeks prep time in order to meet the film's inflexible release date; he says he "hit the lottery" to work with such an accomplished ensemble cast and how his schedule may have forced the screenwriters' hands; he talks about fulfilling his childhood fantasy of starring in big action blockbusters.
But many X-fans are not so kind. Message boards are awash with anger over the killing of a beloved, iconic character that has been the X-Men's leader since their comic book debut in 1963.
"The idea of killing Cyclops was one of the most stupid ideas in any franchise ever committed to film," said Harry Knowles, founder of Ain't It Cool News. "The way they handled it was sloppy, shoddy and badly shot.... They robbed him of all of the emotion and power of what that character is to the X-Men."
While he appreciates fans' support for the character, Marsden reminds them that in the world of X-Men comic books, death is almost never permanent.
"It was my impression was that if they kill me off screen, it'll be easier for me to come back for another one," said Marsden. "Maybe they'll make another one and I'll be suspended in a telekinetic cocoon [the way Jean Grey survives her seeming demise at the end of the previous movie.]"
In the meantime, Marsden is not keeping his career suspended while waiting. He has two more independent movies due out this year, "10th and Wolf," and "The Alibi." And for this interview, he was reached on a break in shooting for Disney's animated-live action hybrid, "Enchanted."
"Right now I'm in New York in a giant prince suit singing at the top of my lungs to Amy Adams, and riding on the tops of buses and swinging my sword around," said Marsden, laughing.
For a guy that is the first to admit that he didn't read comic books growing up in Oklahoma, Marsden is also savoring his unique opportunity to have been involved in two of the biggest films of the year. He doesn't need to choose between Singer and Ratner, Marvel and D.C., or having his cake and eating it too.
"Look, I feel really lucky to be in both of these movies this summer, so it's difficult to complain," said Marsden.
Holy crap! Well after reading this I have no more questions. Thanx LMason.
