James Marsden Enchanted Interview

05 December 2007

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The innocent country maiden arrives in New York’s Times Square to discover that there are definitely no fairy tale endings although life can be very exciting.

When his beautiful bride vanishes, Edward is beside himself with anguish and decides to follow her to New York (which he rapidly discovers is a very strange city, not at all to his liking) and much more difficult to navigate than his home, Andalasia, where everything is plain sailing.

In New York he has to contend with all kinds of difficult problems, many of them, emotional, not to mention Queen Narissa’s insecure and duplicitous henchman, Nathaniel, (played by Timothy Spall) as well as a chipmunk with an attitude.

James Marsden is a versatile actor who has starred in a wide range of films including the X-Men movies, Disturbing Behavior, Superman Returns, The Notebook and Hairspray. He will be seen next year in the romantic comedy, 27 Dresses.

The following interview with James Marsden was conducted in Los Angeles. The handsome actor was very friendly and with a self-deprecating sense of humor, as he sat down to talk about his portrayal of this classic Disney prince.

How did you approach Edward?

It was important to make sure that Edward did not come across as too arrogant because he is quite a conceited character. He is very loud - any thought that comes into his mind, needs to be declared or sung, he does not have a filter.

I love that about him because he comes from a very simple world, things happen very easily for him at home and he is thrust into an environment where things are not that simple, they are very complex and he doesn’t like it.

He is not as curious about this new world of New York as Giselle is. She is open to change; we see an evolution of her character. The prince on the other hand, dislikes New York, he thinks to himself: ‘this is disgusting, it smells and I want to get back home, because I have to get married.’ I love his black and white clarity.

How interesting was it to play Prince Edward and make him come alive without being too extreme?

I always describe him as having an innocent narcissism about him. He is very confident, he is very full of himself, but in the most innocent way. He is naïve and a bit of a buffoon, but a loveable buffoon.

In one scene in New York, Nathaniel, who is insecure, asks him: ‘Do you like yourself?’ And Edward replies: ‘sure what’s not to like?’ That is such a good line for Edward, he is not being vain, just honest and it was important not to play him as a guy who thinks: ‘I am the greatest thing in the world,’ I tried to deliver the line straight. He is saying: ‘honestly, yeah, I do like myself’. It was very clear to me, how to play him.

What is the film all about is there a theme do you think?

I think what the movie sets out to achieve is the notion that true love can be unexpected and it will sometimes defy any preconceived ideas.

So it seems to me that Patrick’s character, Robert, was trying to convince himself that he was in love with his girlfriend, Nancy (Idina Menzel). He thinks that she is the woman he really needs, the woman for him.

Giselle and Nancy, and my character Prince Edward, are all learning that love can be unexpected and very different from what they imagined, or had planned. Robert learns that somebody he thinks is completely nuts at first glance, is wonderful.

When he first meets Giselle, she is a strange woman in a wedding dress, but then he gets to know her and finds out who she really is. She learns from Robert what real relationships are all about.

My character changes the least of any them throughout the film, (laughs); he doesn’t want to change, because everything is very clear to him. By the end of the movie though, a light bulb goes off and for once he puts somebody else before himself and learns how that feels.

It sounds corny, but for him it is a big step and that is his evolution. I always describe the Prince as not necessarily being in love with Giselle, but being in love with being in love. He just wanted to be in love, he is a romantic and Giselle is the tangible, physical shape of his romantic ideal princess.

It must have been wonderful as a father of young children, making a Disney film?

I did think it was a great opportunity to do a film my kids can see. My two year-old daughter is still too young for the film, but my six-year-old son has seen the movie and really liked it. He is now starting to enjoy seeing me on screen. Until now it was a strange concept for him. When small children watch a movie it is real to them. Even if you explain that it is pretend and a fake reality, to them it is reality. So my son thought to himself: ‘why is Dad on screen in puffy sleeves and tights, chasing a woman who is not mom? But he is getting old enough to understand that it is an illusion and of course we have explained all that to him.

How much research did you do on animated Disney films?

Well I do watch a lot of Disney because of my kids that is really the best preparation for doing a role like this, because you watch those films over and over and over again. As an adult it reminds you of your own childhood, for me at least it has been wonderful watching them again, because I grew up with all those classic Disney films and there is a magic to them, that Disney magic is so wonderful in many of those films, such as Snow White and Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty and I think we have brought some of that magic into Enchanted.

There was so much artistry in those films and I love revisiting them through the eyes of my son. It prepared me unbelievably well for this role. My character is a classic Prince Charming, but tonally he is very different from all the animated princes.

Often, the old fashioned animated princes were charming but vapid, without a lot personality going on. I do like Prince Philip in Sleeping Beauty, though, because he has personality.

How thrilling was it making this film?

It was thrilling, but when I was standing on top of a bus in Times Square wearing puffy sleeves, I realized I was being immortalized on film and hoped that immortalization would be a good thing. By the way it was real New York, we were really there, filming in Times Square with real people. We were separated from tourists and New Yorkers and everyone in the crowd of course, but they were definitely in earshot and we got our fair share of hecklers.

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