'MRS. AMERICA,' THE CHARMING THE TALENTED, JAMES MARSDEN!

THERE HE IS!

LOOK AT THIS GUY!

I'M GOING TO GIVE YOU A CLAP.

HANG ON, LOOK!

( CHEERS AND APPLAUSE ) LOOK AT THAT.

HOW ARE YOU, JAMES?

ARE YOU WELL?

>> I'M GREAT.

YOU KNOW, ALL THINGS CONSIDERED, IT'S THE UNSPOKEN ALL THINGS

CONSIDERED WE ALWAYS HAVE TO SAY, RIGHT?

I CAN'T COMPLAIN.

I'M DOING WELL.

HOW ARE YOU?

>> James: YOU'VE HAD QUITE THE YEAR BECAUSE YOU'VE MOVED TO

AUSTIN, TEXAS.

SO YOU DID THAT SORT OF, I THINK, JUST INTO -- I THINK WHEN

QUARANTINE JUST STARTED.

WHAT MADE YOU WANTED TO MOVE THERE?

HOW IS IT GOING?

ARE YOU ENJOYING LIFE THERE?

>> I'M -- I AM ENJOYING IT HERE.

I GREW UP IN OKLAHOMA CLOSE BY, SO I'M BACK IN THE REGION, AND

I'VE ALWAYS VISITED AUSTIN THE LAST 20 YEARS OF MY LIFE, ALWAYS

TAKEN MY KIDS DOWN HERE, ALWAYS WANTED TO GET A RAMP, BUILD ON

SOME LAND, AND NOW I'M KIND OF -- THIS LAST YEAR HAS MADE ME

REALIZE THAT MAYBE NOW IS TIME FOR A LITTLE CHANGE AND, HEY, GO

DO IT.

SO I'M DIVING IN HEAD FIRST.

NOTHING IS IRREVERSIBLE.

IF IT DOESN'T WORK OUT, I CAN ALWAYS COME BACK.

BUT I'M ENJOYING IT.

>> James: YOU'VE HAD SUCH AN INCREDIBLE CAREER TO THIS POINT.

YOU'VE MADE SO MANY INTERESTING AND BRILLIANT CHOICES.

WHEN YOU FIRST GOT TO LOS ANGELES, WHAT WERE THOSE

FIRST YEARS IN L.A. LIKE FOR YOU?

>> I LOVED IT.

I LOVED IT.

LIKE I SAID, I GREW UP IN OKLAHOMA, I LEFT WHEN I WAS 19.

MY PARENTS SUPPORTED MY FINANCIALLY.

THEY SUPPORTED MY DECISION TO MOVE TO L.A. TO BE AN ACTOR FOR

A YEAR.

IF IT DIDN'T WORK OUT AND I WASN'T ABLE TO SUPPORT MYSELF,

THEY WOULD SAY COME BACK AND FINISH SCHOOL.

IT WAS AWESOME, IT WAS THRILLING.

IT WASN'T SCARY TO ME.

I ENJOYED ALL OF IT.

I GOT REALLY LUCKY EARLY ON.

I GOT OFFERED TO BE ON "DAYS OF OUR LIVES," SIGNED A THREE-YEAR

CONTRACT ON "DAYS OF OUR LIVES" TO WHICH MY MANAGER SAID AT THE

TIME WE GOT A LOT OF GOOD FEEDBACK FROM OTHER PROJECTS,

MAYBE JUST DON'T DO THIS RIGHT NOW.

I CAME FROM MOWING LAWNS IN OKLAHOMA AND GOING WHY AM I

IT WAS BASICALLY YOU DON'T WANT TO GET LOCKED IN AND KEEP YOUR

OPTIONS OPEN AND BE SMART.

SOMETIMES SAYING NO IS A BETTER THING.

THERE ARE A FEW THINGS IN MY PAST I WAS HAPPY TO SAY NO TO,

AND A FEW OTHER THINGS I MAYBE WOULD HAVE DONE IT OVER.

>> James: WHAT HAVE YOU PASSED ON THAT YOU WISHED YOU WOULD

HAVE DONE?

>> NOW THAT HE'S SAYING THAT, I'M BLANKING.

I WAS OFFERED A ROLE IN "MAGIC MIKE."

>> James: REALLY?

YEAH, I HAD THE FEAR THAT I WOULD BE EDIT OUT OF THE MOVIE

AND I WOULD JUST -- ALL MY LINES WOULD BE CUT OUT AND I WOULD BE

AN EXTRA RUNNING AROUND IN A G-STRING.

SO I THINK IT WAS A LACK OF COURAGE ON MY PART.

BUT THEN I WAS, LIKE, WHAT AM I DOING?

I JUST SHOULD HAVE DONE IT.

BUT I STILL HAVE FAMILY AND FRIENDS WHO THINK IT WAS A NICE

THING NOT TO DO IT BECAUSE THEY DON'T WANT TO SEE ME LIKE THAT.

I COULD HAVE JUMPED IN AND HAD FUN WITH THAT.

BUT MORE LIKELY THAN NOT I AVOIDED PITFALLS.

ER.

>> James: IN "THE STAND," TELL EVERYONE WHO YOU PLAY.

>> ONE OF HIS MASTER PIECES FROM THE LATE '70s, I PLAY STU

REDMAN, A GUY FROM EAST TEXAS, SMAWFL-TOWN, BLUE-COLLAR WORKER

WHO IS IMMUNE TO THE VIRUS WIPING OUTT 9% OF THE POPULATION

IN TWO WEEKS CALLED CAPTAIN TRIPS, AND THERE ARE A HANDFUL

OF PEOPLE WHO ARE IMMUNE TO THE VIRUS AND THEY START TO

CONGREGATE TOGETHER IN THESE CAMPS, ONE IN BOULDER, ONE IN

LAS VEGAS, AND ALEXANDER SCARSGUARD IS THE EPITOME OF

EVIL AND COMES TO PEOPLE IN THEIR DREAMS.

MOTHER ABIGAIL PLAYED BY WHOOPI GOLDBERG IS THE MOTHER OF DREAMS

WHO IS GOOD.

SO WHILE IT'S ABOUT A GLOBAL PANDEMIC, IT'S A STORY MECHANISM

OF TELLING THE BIGGER STORY OF GOOD VERSUS EVIL.

>> James: YOU RAPPED PRODUCTION IN MARCH LAST YEAR,

JUST AS SHUTDOWNS WERE STARTING FROM COVID.

GIVEN THE SUBJECT MATERIAL, HOW PARANOID WERE YOU WHEN, YOU

KNOW, COVID STARTED TO JUST ENTER ALL OF OUR LIVES?

>> RIGHT, YEAH, WELL, YOU KNOW, WE WERE SHOOTING IN VANCOUVER,

AND YOU STARTED TO HEAR ABOUT IT LATE DECEMBER AND THEN INTO

JANUARY, AND WE SHOT UP UNTIL MARCH, AND IN FEBRUARY YOU'D

START TO SEE A MASK OR TWO ON SET AND, YOU KNOW, SOME HAND

SANITIZER COME OUT, AND THEN THERE WERE STRICTER MEASUREMENTS

TAKEN.

BUT IT WAS JUST STRANGE, HAVING FINISHED SIX MONTHS OF DOING A

SHOW ABOUT A PERCHING AND NOW THIS IS ACTUALLY, YOU KNOW,

HAPPENING.

OBVIOUSLY, MARCH IS WHEN IT SORT OF WENT, YOU KNOW, REALLY REALLY

HEAVY WITH THE LOCKDOWNS AND EVERYTHING, BUT WE WERE ABLE TO

WRAP UP THE 15th OF MARCH, FLEW BACK TO LOS ANGELES AND,

YOU KNOW, GO INTO LOCKDOWN IMMEDIATELY.

SO IT WAS A STRANGE, STRANGE THING FOR SURE.

I MEAN, YOU KNOW, IT'S -- IT'S -- IT'S PROBABLY NOT THE

BEST TIMING, BUT -- >>James: I THINK IT IS,

THOUGH, I DO, BECAUSE I THINK WATCHING A SHOW LIKE THAT, QUITE

OFTEN YOU THROUGH THOSE THINGS AREN'T GOING TO HAPPEN, AND I

FEEL LIKE IT ROOTS IT, IT GROUNDS IT SOMEHOW, I REALLY DO,

AND I THINK YOU ARE FANTASTIC IN THE SHOW.