James Marsden owes Julia Roberts a special thank you. During his virtual visit to The Ellen DeGeneres Show, the Dead To Me star revealed that the Pretty Woman star helped him land his role of Corny Collins in the 2007 remake of Hairspray, telling Ellen that Roberts put in a good word for him. "That role came about – I was sitting down with Adam Shankman, the director, and [producers] Craig Zadan and Neil Meron at the time in an empty restaurant in New York City and we were just talking about, the potential of me playing Corny Collins," he began. "And in the middle of the interview, as I was trying to get the job – I had a tap on my shoulder and it was Julia Roberts." Marsden continued, "And she was standing there and she said, ‘I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt. But, I just wanted to tell you that you're in my favourite movie, The Notebook, and I love what you do in the film. And congratulations on it. Nice to meet you.'" He concluded, "So, I have Julia Roberts to thank for that. She was the one who cemented me getting cast in that role."