James Marsden talks about the fan reaction to 'Jury Duty' and how this was a surreal moment for him. Plus, he tells THR about his new film 'Knox Goes Away' with Michael Keaton while on the Spirit Awards red carpet.
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00:00 I feel like we're now at the end of the jury duty ride, maybe a little bit.
00:04 It does feel a little bittersweet.
00:06 Yeah, yeah. I mean, first of all, you took a risk by doing this, people like to say,
00:10 but you knocked it out of the park and got some nominations along the way.
00:14 Now that you've had a few more months to digest and make the rounds with this thing,
00:18 what stands out to you the most about this experience?
00:22 I mean, for me, it's just the show or the performance or the project that I would never have anticipated
00:31 getting this kind of attention for, nominations, globes, Emmys, all this,
00:36 was something that felt like a sort of backyard experiment you do with your friends.
00:42 And I just never thought that this would be the one that would get me those nominations.
00:49 I'm still just sort of, you know, a little upside down about, you know,
00:54 wow, this is the thing after all the-- and playing myself.
00:58 It's very surreal. It's always surreal when you get this sort of attention and people are just--
01:03 you know, you recognize the impact that a special project has on the community and the world or whatever,
01:09 but jury duty was just such-- I mean, I'd never been a part of something
01:12 that was just shot into the stratosphere so quickly and just hit.
01:18 It feels good, you know. I don't know how to--
01:21 you know, like you spent 30 years learning how to be an actor.
01:25 Now you're like, was I doing that in this show?
01:28 Like, this is the thing I'm getting attention for.
01:30 But today I'm excited for all the other cast members because it's an ensemble.
01:35 Yeah, it was such a group effort. It wasn't anybody, just one show.
01:39 And a lot of these people who just hadn't really had that much experience yet,
01:43 and they get to come here and celebrate it.
01:45 And it really wouldn't have worked unless all the sort of links matched up.
01:49 I don't know. It was a nice-- we got really lucky.
01:53 We got lucky with him as well.
01:55 You deserve it. And then the last question for you is you've got to go with Michael Keaton.
01:58 Tell me about working with Michael Keaton.
02:00 Yeah, yeah. So I did this film with Michael.
02:02 I play his son, and he's an aging hitman who's losing his memory quickly.
02:08 But it's him and Al Pacino and Marcia Gay Harden and just like one of these dream jobs.
02:13 And, yeah, it's great to be, one, sharing the screen with him
02:16 and also being directed by him. He directed the film as well.
02:19 So pretty special and, again, one of those sort of career pinch-yourself moments.
02:25 What did you learn by watching Michael Keaton work or being directed by him?
02:29 Boy, you don't have to overdo it.
02:32 You just got to keep it real, keep it real.
02:34 Sometimes the worst thing you can do as an actor is muscle your way through a scene.
02:39 And you know if you're doing that, it's usually not going to end up in the right place.
02:43 But there's an effortless to him and an honesty to everything he does.
02:49 And it's just when you're around it, through osmosis, you sort of absorb it.
02:54 Or at least I think I do.
02:57 And it just kind of makes your game that much better and makes the scene come alive.
03:02 And he's just a special, gifted human being.
03:04 And really caring and kind.
03:07 Getting directed by an actor is always something I look forward to.
03:12 I don't know, something special.
03:13 Somebody who gets it, gets all the imposter syndrome, "I'm a fraud," "I suck," "I got to quit."
03:19 Everyone feels that way.
03:21 And to see your heroes doing it, I don't know, it's just--it was cool.
03:27 He humanized the whole process of being an actor.
03:29 an actor.
03:31 [BLANK_AUDIO]