James Marsden finds 'Best' in comedy, drama

• Marsden is much chattier in real life than his latest character.
• He enjoys comedy and drama%2C and mixing the two.
• He finds the funniest bits grounded in reality.

James Marsden is a chatty fellow.

Dawson, his character in "The Best of Me," is not. In the film, based on a Nicholas Sparks novel, Dawson is forced to leave behind the love of his life in high school; the circumstances are told largely in flashback, with different actors in the roles.

Still, it was an interesting contrast to see the on-screen Marsden being the strong, silent type, and then listen to him talk about all kinds of things.

Question: Your character is pretty quiet.

Answer: I liked that about him. To me, it seemed like he's obviously a little bit of an introvert, and has never really had anyone in his life from a young age that really cared for him or defined love and showed love to him. It was very absent in his life. Obviously, he had a very rough upbringing and not a great father. He's just one of these people who's very measured about what he says, and lets his actions speak for themselves. I like those kind of people. It adds more weight to when he does speak.

Q: When you're playing a quiet character against a really strong personality, do you ever worry you'll get lost in the shuffle?

A: Sometimes. That's when you just kind of lock into who the guy is. When the cameras start rolling, you shift. You definitely have to keep a sort of limiter on you a bit. It's always about staying present in character. He's not me. I'm much more gregarious and outgoing, and he's more of an introvert. You just have to watch yourself. The good thing is the scenes were written that way. There was never any danger in showing too much of me in Dawson and his careful choice of words.

Q: Yeah, you have to do more with less.

A: Sometimes the more powerful moments are the ones where you're not speaking — how you look at her, or how you react to situations. I try to live my life that way in real life. Somehow when you say too much, it sort of lessons the effect. I like those people who are intelligent about their choice of words.

Q: What are your strengths? How would you sell yourself to a director?

A: I've always seen myself as being someone who doesn't do just one thing exceptionally well, but one of the great things about being an actor is being able to play different characters, and one of my strong suits has been being able to understand comedy and timing and then being able to turn around and do dramatic work or action. That's how I would sell myself. There's more than just the guy who's the leading man or whatever. I've always seen myself as more right for character actors, I guess. I've never been the guy who's got all his (expletive) together. I respond to the characters that don't.

Q: As with a lot of actors, a lot of your comedy seems to come from playing it straight.

A: With comedy, if you let the audience feel like you're in on the joke, it lessens the effect on the audience. The most important thing with comedy is conviction, and to wholeheartedly believe this person is in this situation. That's where the comedy springs from. You have to believe these people are really in this situation, as absurd as it might be.

Q: You're in nine movies this year. Not bad.

A: No, no, no. As an actor you always feel like your last job is your last job. It's the common neurosis of an actor is that you're never going to work again, so I try to keep busy.

Q: It's a mix of comedy and drama. Do you prefer one?

A: I really don't. I didn't do much comedy early in my career, and I always wanted to get into that world a little bit. "Anchorman (2: The Legend Continues)" was a blast, and obviously "Hairspray" and "Enchanted" were so much fun. ... I'm having a lot of fun doing comedies these days. But if you asked me to pick one, I'd have a hard time.

Q: Speaking of, with four kids, "Hairspray" and "Enchanted" have played in my house about 100 times each.

A: I'm sorry (laughs).

Q: "Enchanted" really is a good movie, and it has staying power.

A: That movie, it was a risk. It was an ambitious movie, and just tonally, it's got Disney sending itself up a little bit. It ended up working out really, really well and being special, and being around for a long time. You wish all your movies were like that.

Q: Your character (Prince Edward) is pretty funny. If stupid.

A: I like playing those kinds of characters. It's less interesting from a comedic perspective to play characters who have it all together and kind of do everything right. It's more fun to be the guy who thinks he's doing everything right but is kind of a buffoon. But loveable.

Reach Goodykoontz at bill.goodykoontz@arizonarepublic.com. Facebook: facebook.com/GoodyOnFilm. Twitter: twitter.com/goodyk.