Hollywood actors James Marsden and Michelle Monaghan are in town. While James is known for his turn as Cyclops in the X-Men franchise and films like 21 Dresses and Enchanted, Michelle recently won rave reviews for her role in the the hit TV series True Detective. “I visited the Siddhivinayak temple and it was a beautiful experience,“ Michelle told Mirror over tea at a South Mumbai hotel. It is the Hollywood duo's first visit to India and they are “bowled over by the Indian hospitality.“

The duo features in the romantic drama, The Best of Me, an adaptation of a Nicholas Sparks novel of the same name “I had a great experience working on The Notebook, another movie adapted from a Sparks novel. It went on to become a phenomenon, so I was more than happy to come back for another of his adaptations,“ says James.

Michelle who has acted in action thrillers like Source Code and Mission Impossible, maintains that romance is a favourite genre. “I enjoy good stories, especially romantic ones. Also, I had not done a love story in a long time, so I jumped at the opportunity. Although I'm not an avid reader of Nicholas Sparks, I started following his work after The Notebook. For this film, I told Nick that I'm not going to read the book as the matter had substantially changed,“ she asserts.

The film revolves around two high-school lovers who meet two decades later and romance blooms all over again. The film was originally supposed to go on the floors with Paul Walker in the lead role, but following his untimely death in a car accident, the makers cast James. How does the actor feel about that? “Paul was a great actor and a wonderful human being. It was tragic that nobody saw the end coming. I feel I've given the role more importance in honour of Paul,“ he says, visibly moved.

Both the actors currently feature on two different TV shows airing in India. While Michelle features in the Matthew McConaughey-Woody Harrelson starrer True Detective, James stars as Tina Fey's love interest in 30 Rock. “There's no stigma attached to doing TV anymore. True Detective was like shooting a very long movie. I am so proud to have been a part of the show,“ says Michelle.

Moving on, are the actors familiar with Bollywood? Without mincing words, they both reveal that they haven't seen any Hindi films. “I hear Happy New Year is a good film,“ Michelle says, unsure if she's got the name of the movie right.

“I am battling a terribly jetlag, so my mind is foggy and I can't recall any names!“ James laughs before signing off with, “I like Bollywood. I think I can sing more than I can dance. Will that work here, I don't know!“