James Marsden just met his ultimate crush. Let's just say he has dame good taste!
During an appearance on Ellen DeGeneres' daytime talk show Monday, the Westworld star admitted to having a secret infatuation with British icon Helen Mirren. Unfortunately for Marsden, she's been happily married for nearly two decades.
"I just love her. I do. I've had a massive crush on her for years," he revealed. "I was on a flight with her once to Rome and when I got off the flight, I followed her to baggage claim and, in a very voyeuristic creepy way, I took a photo of her while she was walking."
Awkwardly for Marsden, Mirren was waiting in the wings to finally meet him.
The actor's face turned crimson red as he hugged the star and posed for playful photos with her, including one shot from behind akin to the one he took of her.
"You're so handsome, oh my God," Mirren gushed before rushing off the stage. However, she got lost and tried to exit on the wrong side. Fortunately, Marsden was there to gracefully escort her backstage.
"Just had to give her my digits real quick," Marsden joked. "[You] get one shot in life—that was my shot! What a nice Christmas gift that was."
The embarrassment didn't stop there. Next, DeGeneres asked Marsden about turning down a role in Channing Tatum's Magic Mike.
"I was struggling with the idea of me prancing around in a thong with maybe a handful of lines that could have ended up easily on the editing room floor and just become like a naked extra," he explained of his reasoning for turning the movie down. "But, that was also when there was no Magic Mike."
"At the time it was like, 'Is this going to work or is this going to be a disaster?'" he recalled. According to the box office, it became the highest grossing movie in the Dance genre.
How does Marsden feel now? "Yeah, I have some regrets."