Tulsa World: The 1991 alum of the Oklahoma City high school has graduated from one-act plays to movies like the "X-Men" films and "The Notebook" and now "Hop," opposite Russell Brand in the Easter Bunny-based comedy opening Friday in theaters. With a bit of encouragement from his mother and his belief that drama class might be an "easy A" - "I took it as an elective, in all honesty, to try and get my grade-point average up" - Marsden realized how much fun he was having. He went from being a little shy to being social. He found he had an ear for music, to which fans of his acclaimed performances in "Hairspray" and "Enchanted" will attest.
"I was lucky that (PC North) had a wonderful arts program, because you hear stories about schools that give the arts the shaft, and they don't fund any kind of drama program," said Marsden, who returned to his high school last year for an honor and ended up spending a couple of hours talking with drama students. "I was lucky to have a school that really valued that. So it was a really great place for me to explore my passions, and they were very supportive and encouraging. It was the place where it really all started." The big challenge was determining how to make a career of acting, Marsden said, because "we all like to dream of being rock stars and movie stars, but in reality that just doesn't happen. But I challenged that. Why can't it happen?" "Thank goodness I had my wonderful mother and father behind me, supporting me after about three semesters at Oklahoma State for me to move to Los Angeles and get an agent and audition," he said. "For me, it was, 'What do I have to lose?'... I had this blind confidence, because I didn't feel I had anywhere to fall." (Oklahoma native James Marsden talks about his Hollywood dream).
James Paul Marsden (born September 18, 1973) is an American actor, singer and former Versace model. He is best known for playing the superhero Cyclops in the three X-Men films and for his roles in other commercially successful films such as Hop, Superman Returns, Hairspray, Enchanted, The Box, and 27 Dresses. Marsden has been married to actress Lisa Linde since July 22, 2000. They have a son and a daughter. His father-in-law is country music songwriter Dennis Linde. In April 2010, Marsden was added to the Putnam City Schools Wall of Fame by the Putnam City Public Schools Foundation. (Wikipedia).
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