How James Marsden bonded with ‘Paradise’ co-star Sterling K. Brown — and who keeps prodding about major death

nypost.com:

“This Is Us” mastermind Dan Fogelman, “Paradise” is a dystopian political thriller set in a city-size underground bunker after a doomsday event.

The plot follows Xavier Collins (Sterling K. Brown), a Secret Service agent who is trying to find out who murdered President Bradford (Marsden).“We know he’s dead from the first five minutes.

But I looked at it as a challenge of, ‘How do we make this interesting, knowing that the audience already knows the outcome?’” Marsden, 51, told The Post.

Marsden was still getting scripts as he was shooting and didn’t know all the plot points.“So, that’s what makes it fun for me,” he explained. “But also it allows some latitude creatively for interpretation as you move along.” Over the years in his career, Marsden has played both stalwart heroic types (“Westworld,” “X-Men,” “The Notebook,” “27 Dresses”) and jerks (“Jury Duty,” “Sex Drive.”)“I guess it’s fun to play a jerk,” he said. “Or, a character like ‘Jury Duty’ where I’m a version of myself, but a bit of a clown … But then I also like roles that allow me to [use] my natural self.