ELLE CHERCHEZ LA FEMME
MIND OF A MARRIED MAN
Actor James Marsden talks with Andrew GoLdman about sex after children and why he likes to do everything with his wife (even this interview)
Though James Marsden may be blessed with the looks of a guy who has never known rejection, Hollywood has deemed him plausibly dumpable—in The Notebook and Superman Returns, he was bested by Ryan Gosling’s brooding pauper, then by Brandon Routh’s flying Kryptonian. But after seeing the 34-year-old Oklahoman in X-Men and Hairspray, who could rebuff a guy who can dance and melt stuff with laser eyesight? And even if Patrick Dempsey does win the princess in Disney’s fairy-tale-come-to-Manhattan fantasy, Enchanted, Marsden will always have wife Lisa Linde to love him, honor him, and assist him with tough interviews.
ELLE: If we assembled in one room all the girls you ever dated, and wouldn’t let them leave until they agreed on one thing to say about you, what would it be?
JAMES MARSDEN: First, there would only be about two of them in that room, and I would hope that they’d say I was
always straightforward, honest, and a good kisser.
ELLE: So what’s the deal with that room being so empty?
JM: I was with my wife for five years before we got married, so we’ve been together since I was 22. Before that I had a girlfriend for about four years of high school and college. So I was always in these long relationships.
ELLE: Do you feel you were deprived of the quintessential famous-actor experience of sleeping with scads of women?
JM: No, I always feel like I dodged a lot of bullets in not having to go on blind dates or having to ask girls out. I think the whole dating thing is rough.
ELLE: Really? I just find it hard to believe there aren’t moments where you want to say, Honey, can I take a night off of marriage and feel what it’s like to be young, famous, and single?
JM: If we ever decided that there was room for that in our
relationship, it would be like in Curb Your Enthusiasm, when for Larry’s 10-year wedding anniversary he gets to sleep with somebody else. It would probably take that form—you get one, and I get one.
ELLE: So, easy one first: Who’s your wife taking?
JM: Maybe Brad Pitt, George Clooney. I could ask her, actually. I’m finding her now. Lisa! Where are you?…What? Yours would be Josh Hopkins?
ELLE: Wait, who’s Josh Hopkins?
JM: He’s my best friend. He’s on a new show called Swingtown.
ELLE: Controversial. Ask her who she thinks yours would be.
JM: She says Jessica Alba, but I don’t know.
ELLE: She just gifted you Jessica Alba and you’re ambivalent?
JM: No, I’m not ambivalent. Let me think…. Angelina Jolie does nothing for me. Yeah, I’ll just stick with Jessica Alba.
ELLE: Since she’s there, tell me, when your wife is with her friends, what about you do you think she complains about?
JM: I’m going to see if I can guess this right. Not helping as much with the kids as I should? She says no. Wanting sex too much? Not that either. Oh, that’s it: When I’m getting ready to start work on a job, I turn into a vegetable, like I’ve gotten a lobotomy. I always think that I’m going to mess it up and it will be my last job. So I check out for a couple weeks before I start. It drives her crazy.
ELLE: Please provide a snapshot of your worst date ever. Your wife can help you out if you like.
JM: I don’t actually even remember going on any dates. What, Lisa? Oh, yeah, that was a bad one. My wife and I had been going out for four years, and for her birthday I took her out to a nice restaurant. Then I gave her a tiny box that looked like a ring box, and inside were diamond earrings. I was so proud of myself that I’d gotten her jewelry for her birthday, I never even thought that she might be expecting something else—like a ring. There’s actually a Polaroid of us taken at the dinner table, and you can see the little tears in her eyes.
ELLE: Did she share her disappointment with you?
JM: No! She didn’t tell me until three weeks ago. It never occurred to me. That’s how ridiculously ignorant I am.
ELLE: Do you recall the first words you spoke to your wife?
JM: “Hi, I’m Jimmy.” We were friends for about a year and a half before going out. She was actually dating a friend of mine.
ELLE: Is the friend still a friend?
JM: Ah, no. That was pretty much the end of it. He was a struggling actor then, but he went on to book a big TV show afterward, so I think he sees it as a blessing in disguise.
ELLE: Let me think. Big TV show. Was it…Isaiah Washington?
JM: From Grey’s Anatomy? No, it was a show on the WB. Lisa just said, ‘I wish it was him.’
ELLE: Are there any unlikely places that make you amorous?
JM: Eating at Nobu. But really, anytime I’m alone with my wife away from the kids gets both of us excited, because those times are so few and far between.The key is having a secret place in your house where you can sneak off to give each other love.
ELLE: So just where is this secret place?
JM: Any place with a flat surface where they’re not.
elle.com
MIND OF A MARRIED MAN
Actor James Marsden talks with Andrew GoLdman about sex after children and why he likes to do everything with his wife (even this interview)
Though James Marsden may be blessed with the looks of a guy who has never known rejection, Hollywood has deemed him plausibly dumpable—in The Notebook and Superman Returns, he was bested by Ryan Gosling’s brooding pauper, then by Brandon Routh’s flying Kryptonian. But after seeing the 34-year-old Oklahoman in X-Men and Hairspray, who could rebuff a guy who can dance and melt stuff with laser eyesight? And even if Patrick Dempsey does win the princess in Disney’s fairy-tale-come-to-Manhattan fantasy, Enchanted, Marsden will always have wife Lisa Linde to love him, honor him, and assist him with tough interviews.
ELLE: If we assembled in one room all the girls you ever dated, and wouldn’t let them leave until they agreed on one thing to say about you, what would it be?
JAMES MARSDEN: First, there would only be about two of them in that room, and I would hope that they’d say I was
always straightforward, honest, and a good kisser.
ELLE: So what’s the deal with that room being so empty?
JM: I was with my wife for five years before we got married, so we’ve been together since I was 22. Before that I had a girlfriend for about four years of high school and college. So I was always in these long relationships.
ELLE: Do you feel you were deprived of the quintessential famous-actor experience of sleeping with scads of women?
JM: No, I always feel like I dodged a lot of bullets in not having to go on blind dates or having to ask girls out. I think the whole dating thing is rough.
ELLE: Really? I just find it hard to believe there aren’t moments where you want to say, Honey, can I take a night off of marriage and feel what it’s like to be young, famous, and single?
JM: If we ever decided that there was room for that in our
relationship, it would be like in Curb Your Enthusiasm, when for Larry’s 10-year wedding anniversary he gets to sleep with somebody else. It would probably take that form—you get one, and I get one.
ELLE: So, easy one first: Who’s your wife taking?
JM: Maybe Brad Pitt, George Clooney. I could ask her, actually. I’m finding her now. Lisa! Where are you?…What? Yours would be Josh Hopkins?
ELLE: Wait, who’s Josh Hopkins?
JM: He’s my best friend. He’s on a new show called Swingtown.
ELLE: Controversial. Ask her who she thinks yours would be.
JM: She says Jessica Alba, but I don’t know.
ELLE: She just gifted you Jessica Alba and you’re ambivalent?
JM: No, I’m not ambivalent. Let me think…. Angelina Jolie does nothing for me. Yeah, I’ll just stick with Jessica Alba.
ELLE: Since she’s there, tell me, when your wife is with her friends, what about you do you think she complains about?
JM: I’m going to see if I can guess this right. Not helping as much with the kids as I should? She says no. Wanting sex too much? Not that either. Oh, that’s it: When I’m getting ready to start work on a job, I turn into a vegetable, like I’ve gotten a lobotomy. I always think that I’m going to mess it up and it will be my last job. So I check out for a couple weeks before I start. It drives her crazy.
ELLE: Please provide a snapshot of your worst date ever. Your wife can help you out if you like.
JM: I don’t actually even remember going on any dates. What, Lisa? Oh, yeah, that was a bad one. My wife and I had been going out for four years, and for her birthday I took her out to a nice restaurant. Then I gave her a tiny box that looked like a ring box, and inside were diamond earrings. I was so proud of myself that I’d gotten her jewelry for her birthday, I never even thought that she might be expecting something else—like a ring. There’s actually a Polaroid of us taken at the dinner table, and you can see the little tears in her eyes.
ELLE: Did she share her disappointment with you?
JM: No! She didn’t tell me until three weeks ago. It never occurred to me. That’s how ridiculously ignorant I am.
ELLE: Do you recall the first words you spoke to your wife?
JM: “Hi, I’m Jimmy.” We were friends for about a year and a half before going out. She was actually dating a friend of mine.
ELLE: Is the friend still a friend?
JM: Ah, no. That was pretty much the end of it. He was a struggling actor then, but he went on to book a big TV show afterward, so I think he sees it as a blessing in disguise.
ELLE: Let me think. Big TV show. Was it…Isaiah Washington?
JM: From Grey’s Anatomy? No, it was a show on the WB. Lisa just said, ‘I wish it was him.’
ELLE: Are there any unlikely places that make you amorous?
JM: Eating at Nobu. But really, anytime I’m alone with my wife away from the kids gets both of us excited, because those times are so few and far between.The key is having a secret place in your house where you can sneak off to give each other love.
ELLE: So just where is this secret place?
JM: Any place with a flat surface where they’re not.
elle.com
him in hairspray
His wife is one lucky woman.
I'm probably gonna wait for the dvd for that one though...
