Marsden's Interstate ride
Source: jam! Showbiz

By BOB THOMPSON
Toronto Sun

TORONTO -- Young, finicky actors might get distracted, even annoyed, by the noise and the commotion, but not James Marsden.

He's taking a fresh-air break from shooting some interior diner sequences for the film Interstate 60 at a restaurant near Hwy. 401 and Kipling.

It might be a beautiful Tuesday afternoon, but the droning hum of rush-hour traffic 50 yards away, combined with the jets approaching Pearson Airport overhead, make for a mind-numbing din.

"It's okay," Marsden said, happily obliging while sitting on a chair. "I'll project."

Project he does, in humble tones. And the 27-year-old actor really doesn't have a great deal to be humble about.

Marsden is on the verge of some big things after his performance as the optic blaster Cyclops in this summer's blockbuster hit, X-Men.

Writer-director Bob Gale's Interstate 60 will be Marsden's first lead role after some decent co-starring portrayals in forgettable movies such as Gossip and Disturbing Behavior.

In the picture shooting in Toronto, the Oklahoma City native plays a wanderer on a road trip down an interstate that may or may not exist.

Along the way, Marsden's journeyman encounters a Leprechaun's distant cousin, a girl that lives on a billboard, and a human-bomb crusader for justice. Gary Oldman and Amy Smart also star. Christopher Lloyd and Michael J. Fox have cameos.

"The movie's definitely different," Marsden said, grinning in agreement at his Interstate 60 understatement. "Okay," he continued, "it's insanity. And it's surrealistic."

Gale, who co-wrote the Back To The Future series, knew that Marsden was the perfect down-to-earth guy you could trust as a guide. And Marsden appreciated the fact that Interstate 60, a Fireworks/Seven Arts production, was made to order for him at this early stage of his career.

That acting thing began when he moved from Oklahoma City to L.A. in 1992, landed a small part on the pilot for Fran Drescher's The Nanny, then gained some notoriety as a cast member of the family-oriented TV series, Second Noah.

"I like changing things up," said Marsden, who returned here to do Interstate 60 after shooting X-Men in this area last winter. "I signed to do this one before I even heard of X-Men, but I remained loyal to it because I believed in Interstate 60."

That's not to say he wasn't pleased with how Bryan Singer's movie version of the comic book X-Men turned out.

"I haven't got a phone call yet to do the next one," Marsden said. "They need to get a script together first, but I'm ready to go."

Just maybe the X-Men cast and crew will have more time and money to spend on the sequel.

"Yeah, the turnaround was crazy," he says.

The Singer film finished production here in February and was theatrically released by mid-July.

"They came up with a comic book movie that wasn't campy or silly, and I think it was the first movie in history to be criticized for being too short."

So what's next for Marsden? He'll be a new dad in January. "I'm excited," he said optimistically.

Such a positive fellow. He's even "flattered" by some squealing fans who have recognized him around the city.

"Its just perfect right now," he said of the fame game. "It doesn't happen that often to bug me, but it happens enough that I don't go, 'Hey, wait a minute, nobody likes me anymore.' "

Marsden chuckled when he was told that his sunny honesty is refreshing. "I can't believe I get paid for this," he said through the traffic's noise, "so there is no option but to have fun."