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One could use many adjectives to describe Marsden.Average-lookingis not one of them.
When they brought his name up, my first thought was,Oh, hell never do this.
Feldman nevertheless called up Marsden that July while he was shootingSonic the Hedgehogin Vancouver.
Liz was like, Its this guy, hes kind of a douchebag.
And I was like, What kind of douchebag?, Marsden remembers.
Is it a guy that, when hes onscreen youre like,Oh, fuck you.
Just get off the screen.
I dont even like watching you?
Because if thats the case, Im not that interested.
But if I can make fun of this guy, Im all in.
That way, he could work on a fun project without being locked into a long-running series.
Feldman was thrilled to have him in the role.
And with Cardellini by then cast as Judy, it felt right to have Marsden play her ex-husband.
You could immediately see them together as this aspirationally, ridiculously gorgeous couple, she says.
Once the cameras started rolling on season one, he remained a charming man hiding a sinister side.
When youre playing a bad guy whos just bad to be bad, its not fun, he says.
But if you’re able to inject humor into it somehow and make him look like a buffoon …
The first defining moment happens during Steves introduction in the pilot.
Jen is confused and reeling, but her concerns are of no concern to Steve.
Im running a bath.
Hes not going to waste his time talking to some lady at the door.
The contrast is deliberately ridiculous.
Hes soweird, Marsden says.
Hes like a weird psycho.
But by the season finale, Steve is just a psycho psycho.
When cornered, Steve turns ruthless and cruelly berates her.
Liz was like, I need you to be more despicable.
Just absolutely demean her and be the worst person that you could be right now, Marsden recalls.
He felt in-his-bones terrible even having to pretend to be that kind of man.
He just had such a sweet and sensitive approach to playing this monster.
That inherent sweetness helped make Steve likable even when all evidence suggested he wasnt.
Is there a way?
I mean, is he really dead?
Feldman was touched, amused and then inspired.
I did immediately think,twin, she says.
We looked at each other, and we were both like, Twins?
First, I went, Well, that could be hilarious, Marsden says.
Two, that could be a disaster.
How can I pull that off, you know?
Because Ive never done that before.
He agreed right there on the phone that it was something he wanted to do, Feldman says.
I saw Christina, and I hadnt seen her in ages, he says.
Shes like, No pressure, Marsden, but the season is kind of depending on you.
Applegate was joking, but Marsden knew Ben needed to seem like a totally different person.
He was just a little stiffer with everything, Marsden says.
Words would fall out of his mouth like bricks instead of floating on the air.
Marsden asked Feldman to flag him any time he dipped back into the old Steve habits.
She was like, Maybe cheer her up but with a little less confidence, he recalls.
Ultimately Feldman told him to just improvise and be silly.
I was possessed by Ben at that point, he says.
I was like,What would he give a shot to do that would fail?
Theres a humility on display that Steve and his massive ego could never summon.
Ben thinks the cops might have found his brothers body, but they havent.
Afterward, he breaks down in tears, apologizing to Jen as he does so.
Maybe Im a sick individual, but I often find crying to be quite funny.
That was a pretty great encapsulation of Ben.
Id be like, Whats up, fuck sticks?
Im done with the Ben thing.
Only the strong survive, motherfuckers!
Of course, [everyone was] like,Great, he just couldnt stay dead, could he?
Marsden may get to be a jerk yet again, even in the guise of Ben.
Whether or not he remembers that accident is up for question, Marsden says.
