Why The Stand’s James Marsden Regrets Saying No To Magic Mike Role

James Marsden in The Stand

Any actor in Hollywood who has been around for any length of time has been offered a role that they decided not to take in a movie that went on to become a massive hit. We've heard the stories about how Will Smith could have played Neo in The Matrix or how Eddie Murphy could have been in Who Framed Roger Rabbit. James Marsden, currently shining in the new adaptation of Stephen King's The Stand, admits there are roles that he sometimes wishes he hadn't turned down. Including a spot on the stage in Steven Soderbergh's Magic Mike.

The revelation that the former Cyclops could have been in Magic Mike came in an appearance on The Late Late Show with James Corden. Marsden talked about how he was offered a role in Days of our Lives very early in his career, but decided not to do it. He seems to feel now that was still the right choice, but he's less sure about the decision to turn down Magic Mike because he gave up the chance to work with a great director. According to Marsden...

I was offered a role in Magic Mike. I had the fear that I would be edited out of the movie. All my lines would be cut out, and I’d be an extra just rushing 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? This is Soderbergh.’ I should have just done it.

While James Marsden doesn't talk more about the role he would have had in Magic Mike, it certainly doesn't sound like it was a very important one, as the reason he decided against the role was that he thought he would eventually be cut out of the movie. If all his lines could have been cut without impacting the movie, that's certainly not a huge role. Part of him, however, still wishes he'd done it anyway, and that ending up as an extra in a G-string would have been worth it just to work with Steven Soderbergh. Marsden does say that some of his family is still very glad he did not take the role.

Magic Mike does appear to be a rare exception in James Marsden's career. Overall, he says that when he looks back at the various roles he's turned down, he's still very glad that he did so. He doesn't go into any detail on those roles. It wouldn't exactly be nice to bad mouth movies that apparently all turned out just as bad as he feared, but it Magic Mike is really the only one he got "wrong" that's a pretty solid track record. I mean, who actually thought Sonic the Hedgehog would turn out as good as it did?

Dirk Libbey
Content Producer/Theme Park Beat

CinemaBlend’s resident theme park junkie and amateur Disney historian, Dirk began writing for CinemaBlend as a freelancer in 2015 before joining the site full-time in 2018. He has previously held positions as a Staff Writer and Games Editor, but has more recently transformed his true passion into his job as the head of the site's Theme Park section. He has previously done freelance work for various gaming and technology sites. Prior to starting his second career as a writer he worked for 12 years in sales for various companies within the consumer electronics industry. He has a degree in political science from the University of California, Davis.  Is an armchair Imagineer, Epcot Stan, Future Club 33 Member.