This $165 Million Rom-Com From 16 Years Ago Proves Hollywood Has Failed James Marsden In 1 Key Way

A beloved romantic comedy from 2008 proves that Hollywood has let down James Marsden in a major way – but it’s not too late to rectify those mistakes and give Marsden his due. Marsden has always been a talented, charismatic actor that audiences have enjoyed watching. He played the iconic superhero Cyclops in the X-Men movies and breathed life into the historical icon that is John F. Kennedy in The Butler. He’s adept at both goofy comedic roles and nuanced dramatic roles, finding the truth in both of them.

Marsden is a very successful actor with a very impressive filmography, but he arguably hasn’t had the leading-man career that he’s always deserved. He’s often relegated to supporting roles like Prince Edward in Enchanted and Jack Lime/Lame in Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues. He was cast as the human foil for a CG animal in both Hop and the Sonic the Hedgehog movies. Marsden’s turn in a fan-favorite romcom from 16 years ago proves that he should’ve been given more starring roles in the genre.

27 Dresses Proves James Marsden Should Have Been A Lead In Way More Rom-Coms

Marsden’s turn as Kevin Doyle in 27 Dresses proves that he should’ve been cast as the lead in a lot more romantic comedies. Kevin initially infuriates Katherine Heigl’s lead protagonist, Jane Nichols, with his pessimistic views on marriage, but he turns out to be a hopelessly romantic news reporter who writes wedding announcements under the pseudonym “Malcolm.” Marsden did a great job of both digging into the complexities of Kevin’s character and sharing endlessly watchable on-screen chemistry with Heigl.

In the years since, Marsden has played supporting roles in a handful of romantic comedies. He played the bad guy in Accidental Love. He played the best man in Bachelorette. He reprised his role as Prince Edward, now the King, in Disenchanted. But in terms of lead roles in a hit romcom, the only one he can boast is 27 Dresses, which he was great in and remains one of Marsden’s best movies. Hollywood should’ve given Marsden a lot more leading roles in romcoms.

In the past few years, Marsden has enjoyed a major career resurgence on TV with the success of mockumentary hit Jury Duty, in which he plays a parodic version of himself as a real-life juror, and Dead to Me, in which he plays dual roles as identical twin brothers. Marsden’s recent TV success means that now is the perfect time to cast him as a leading man in another romantic comedy. It’s not too late to salvage James Marsden’s promising career as a romcom lead.

27 Dresses

Director

Anne Fletcher

Cast

Brian Kerwin , Charli Barcena , Peyton List , Jane Pfitsch , Katherine Heigl , Jennifer Lim