James Marsden at the season 2 premiere of ‘Your Friends and Neighbors’

SPOILER ALERT: This article contains spoilers for the season premiere of “Your Friends & Neighbors,” now streaming on Apple TV.

Just as Coop wants to put his life back together, a new neighbor threatens to tear it apart again.

James Marsden steps into the Season 2 premiere of ‘Your Friends & Neighbors’ as Owen Ashe, a cocky, charming and unfathomably wealthy bachelor. He sends his blue McLaren straight into the drama of Westmont Village, throws a flashy party and gets cozy with the beleaguered Andrew “Coop” Cooper (Jon Hamm) and Samantha (Olivia Munn).

The premiere picks up some time after the end of Season 1, which saw Coop exonerated and reunited with his family after being accused of killing Sam’s husband. Sam was able to plead her case thanks to a few crimes, but she is still a pariah in Westmont’s social circles. Hoping to get a fresh start as a real estate agent, she meets Ashe as a real estate agent for her own home.

While Ashe is a stranger to the country club elite of this fictional New York suburb, Marsden has known his co-stars for a while. The role came to him via text messages from both Hamm and Munn.

“We grew up in Oklahoma City, and she was friends with my sister, who went to the same high school,” Marsden says of Munn. “She said, ‘We’d love to have you in Season 2. It’s a fun role. Please say yes.'”

And although Marsden and Hamm had never worked together before, they regularly face off in a fantasy football league. “I don’t think it was deliberately a Hollywood fantasy football league, but it has become that way over time,” says Marsden. “Chris Evans asked me to join ten or twelve years ago. It’s not very public though. It’s a secret league that we’re all in, but it’s quite relaxed. Not in some Hollywood kind of way. They’re just a bunch of nice guys who happen to be in Marvel movies.”

What were your first impressions of Owen Ashe when you read the scripts for “Your Friends & Neighbors”?

It’s always easier for me to play a character the further away they are from who I am. There are characteristics that I share with this man, but above all he has a lot of energy, high power and a lot of swagger; someone who comes into town and shakes things up, disrupting everything going on in Westmont Village and attracting the attention of the locals, and especially the attention of Jon Hamm’s character. So I got excited to play something different than what I’m used to.

I’ve met people in my life that this character reminded me of, so I kind of tapped into that and took some inspiration from those past experiences – and got to send them in a playful way. But in the end, you just realize that it’s your duty to serve the story. He’s a nice addition to Jon Hamm’s character, and it’s fun to blur the lines as to whether these two will become friends or meet at some point in the season.

What are the subtle keys to playing a charming douchebag?

You can’t go too far into sucker territory. You have to make the man really intelligent and charming. And I think ignorance is the big key: the more unaware someone is of how distasteful or self-gratifying he or she is, the funnier it is. You have to make sure it’s fun for the audience. You don’t want to scare them off or make them think: I just hate this man. They should see his charm and have fun watching him dance. Unconsciousness is actually the most important thing. These people are not aware of how inappropriate they are, or how arrogant it comes across when they talk about their cars, their money, their Italian clothes. Leaning into the humor of it, playing a character that can be laughed at, is what makes it fun.

Why is he so attracted to Samantha?

He’s smart enough to recognize the nonsense. (I’m looking around because my youngest son is nearby.) He’s a smart boy and he sees right through everyone. He can see people crawling towards him because he is rich, and he can tear them apart. He can see if someone is putting up a facade. So when he sees Sam, he is curious why she has been excluded from the social cliques in Westmont Village. From the start, he sees that she is a straight shooter: very direct, unapologetic about her past and not trying to hide anything. She just says, “Yes, my husband committed suicide and I was arrested.” And I think he’s fascinated by that. In Sam he sees transparency, honesty and directness and that appeals to him.

He also has this direct connection to Coop. Does Ashe know more about them and the community he has just joined than he lets on?

I don’t think he knows anything specific about Coop’s history, or Olivia’s history, or anything. He moved to this town to start a new life, and maybe calm down a bit with his daughter. And the biggest weapon in his arsenal is spending money and throwing big parties – that’s his way of introducing himself to the community. But he’s probably hiding some dark details too. A lot of people like to talk about themselves, but Owen is someone who likes to ask questions about other people, and maybe that’s his way of diverting attention from himself. What he does for a living may be legitimate, or it may be a bit shady; maybe he has money in foreign accounts. He’s a savvy guy, so I think he moved to Westmont for some reason.

But I do think there is a lot of good in him. There’s a child inside him: he’s very unfiltered and excited about the future. He is enthusiastically interested in what the lives of these people are like and who they really are. He is attracted to Coop because he is so direct and does not mince his words. But Owen is good at reading people, and when he looks at Coop he sees someone who doesn’t fully show his hand – and that’s always a sign of intelligence to Owen. Like, Okay, what’s this guy’s secret?

Does he see himself in Coop?

He does. He even says, “We’re two singles living together in this town.” He likes guys who paint outside the lines. He sees that Coop tends to drive a little closer to the edge than most people, and that’s something that resonates with him. For Owen, things have to be exciting, and when it gets dull or boring, he moves on. He also sees that with Coop.

I can imagine that that party sequence was recorded over several days. Is it unusual to stay in that mode for so long?

It’s not as fun as it seems, I’ll say that. But it’s not a terrible time. We get there, and it’s this beautiful estate and there’s music playing. You don’t drink real champagne, and you’re in the pool for four hours, whereas in the show you’re in the pool for 25 seconds. That will be a routine. You go, This is what I do for a living. I’m sitting in this pool at four o’clock in a tuxedo — because it’s a night shot, so you’re shooting until sunrise. Socially it is good. You can hang out and chat with some people between takes. It starts to irritate you as you do it for 12 hours. How often should I dance on the dance floor? How often should I jump into the pool with my suit on? It’s never as fun as it seems.

‘Jury Duty’ is back with ‘Company Retreat’. Do you have any ideas for a possible third season?

There are other minds working on that. But if it were me, it would be fun to start a tech start-up. But it should be a place where you can’t have your phones. Maybe a crazy Hollywood party or a weekend masquerade party where no phones are allowed.

This interview has been edited and condensed.