Take him right down to the paradise metropolis.
James Marsden stars as President Cal Bradford within the Hulu sci-fi present “Paradise,” which releases new episodes on Tuesdays.
Created by “This Is Us” mastermind Dan Fogelman, “Paradise” is a dystopian political thriller set in a city-sized underground bunker after a doomsday occasion. The plot follows Xavier Collins (Sterling Ok. Brown), a Secret Service agent who’s looking for out who murdered President Bradford (Marsden).
“We know he’s dead from the first five minutes. But I looked at it as a challenge of, ‘How do we make this interesting, knowing that the audience already knows the outcome?’” Marsden, 51, informed The Submit.
Marsden was nonetheless getting scripts as he was taking pictures and didn’t know all of the plot factors.
“So, that’s what makes it fun for me,” he defined. “But also it allows some latitude creatively for interpretation as you move along.”
Through the years in his profession, Marsden has performed each stalwart heroic sorts (“Westworld,” “X-Men,” “The Notebook,” “27 Dresses”) and jerks (“Jury Duty,” “Sex Drive.”)
“I guess it’s fun to play a jerk,” mentioned Marsden.
“Or, a character like ‘Jury Duty’ where I’m a version of myself, but a bit of a clown… But then I also like roles that allow me to [use] my natural self. There’s a lot of me in Cal. There’s a lot of his playfulness, his spirit. He gets a bit darker than I do.”
“Paradise” has already been renewed for a Season 2. Season 1’s penultimate episode, out Tuesday Feb. 25, reveals that President Bradford was partially liable for the state of society within the “present” day of the present, and he’s additionally partly culpable in Xavier dropping his spouse amidst the catastrophe.
“He has a deeper sadness there,” mentioned Marsden. “He carries a lot of regrets with him, but it makes him that much more interesting. So, I do feel like it was the spectrum of color that I get to play with. This character was really broad and I get to pull from different roles I’ve played before, and then kind of insert that into this portrayal.”
Marsden, who’s the daddy of three youngsters – two together with his ex-wife, Lisa Linde, and one together with his ex-girlfriend, Brazilian mannequin Rose Costa – mentioned that he and Brown didn’t spend a lot time collectively away from the set.
“He’s got kids, I have kids. We value our family time. Once work was over with, we would go home to our families and be with them,” he defined. “But, there was plenty of time on set for us to bond and hang out.”
Marsden, who confirmed off his singing chops within the 2007 film “Hairspray,” added, “There’s a real joyous nature to Sterling…we bonded over some ‘90s R&B. There was a lot of singing on set. We were doing duets together – which is nice. Sometimes when you have heavy scenes it’s nice to kind of forget about them for a bit, and take your mind and your spirit to another place – so that you don’t overthink the heavy stuff. We had a really good time together.”
Since “Paradise” initially didn’t reveal its plot twist – that it was a dystopian present set in a bunker – Marsden mentioned he largely stored that to himself.
“I think I might have told a few people close to me that I could trust…But I typically am pretty good about that,” he informed the Submit. “I did tell a few close friends of mine like, ‘It’s more than just a political thriller. It’s more than just a crime mystery drama. It’s science fiction.’”
However Marsden, who has been romantically linked to Dutch mannequin Frederique Brons, 26, since 2023, added, “My girlfriend is like, ‘who killed you?’”
He quipped, “I’m not telling you!”
