AUSTIN, Texas — Stars, they’re just like us!
Video shared on social media shows actor James Marsden channeling his inner rock star earlier this week at Ego’s, a popular karaoke bar on South Congress Avenue.
In the video, posted by TikTok user @sirensrlaughing, the star belts out Billy Joel’s “Piano Man” in a duet with a friend. During the performance, Marsden drops down to one knee, wields the mic stand and plays an invisible piano.
Marsden is known mostly for his performances in romantic films like “The Notebook” and for playing Cyclops in the early 2000s “X-Men” movies. But he has shown his musical chops in films a time or two. Notably, he played Corny Collins in the 2007 “Hairspray” remake, and a well-loved scene in “27 Dresses” sees Marsden and costar Katherine Heigl up on a bar singing impromptu karaoke to – ironically – “Bennie and the Jets” by fellow piano man Elton John.
The TikTok poster who shared the video of Marsden jamming out at Ego’s said it wasn’t his only song of the night. Later on, Marsden and his friend reportedly performed the Academy Award-winning ballad “Shallow” from 2018’s “A Star is Born.”
@sirensrlaughing James Marsden singing karaoke at your neighborhood bar. #jamesmarsden#Austin
Marsden is an Austin resident. The actor told “Live with Kelly and Ryan” in late 2020 that he had moved to the city, and KVUE’s media partners at the Austin American-Statesman reported the actor bought a home in the Common Fords area in 2022.
“I love it [Austin], it’s great. I mean, it’s still got that ‘small town’ feel to it, but it’s definitely booming at the moment,” Marsden told Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest.