James Marsden knows he's not 19 anymore. But the "Best of Me" star's career is still full steam ahead.

In an interview about his leading part in the new Nicholas Sparks romance flick, Marsden revealed that he's still on the search for his "defining role."

Marsden recently told Los Angeles Confidential that he chose to star in another Nicholas Sparks film, opposite Michelle Monaghan, because he viewed the movie as "an opportunity to go back to a fan base that knows me. I haven't done a movie like that in a while, and it was nice, an unabashed love story." 

Swooning fans will recall that Marsden also starred in "The Notebook," as the man who loses Rachel McAdam's character to Ryan Gosling's.

Marsden discussed his struggle to break away from typecast roles with the magazine, revealing that his movie star looks originally hindered him from being taken seriously.

"When I was younger, I was always going to be cast as the preppy, good-looking guy at school," he told Los Angeles Confidential. "It was a good thing when I was 19. That helped me get work, and within those opportunities, I tried to show that there was more ability... more talent. My main struggle was I never bought myself as the cool guy because I wasn't that guy in high school... I see myself more as James Bond's goofy younger brother, as opposed to James Bond."

In terms of the evolution of his career, Marsden admits that he is still on the hunt for a leading role that will truly showcase his talents.

"It's been great to be the guy who is viewed as multipurpose, but the only thing that's absent is that defining role. And that's maybe something I'd want to zero in on," he said.

The actor indicated that he would like his penultimate film role to be something akin to Jeff Bridges' in "The Big Lebowski."  

"I need to find my Dude!" Marsden told the magazine. Maybe that's part of it, now that I'm 40, now that I can't get by on my 19-year-old good looks. You become a man, and those are the roles that you're going to play. For sure they are more interesting," explains the film star.

The actor also talked about his love of making people laugh, revealing that his dream growing up was to have a career in comedy.

"I always did goofy accents or characters from Saturday Night Live-that was the ultimate for me," shared Marsden.

"I never had the mind for going into finance or selling insurance-it was all about doing goofy cartoon voices or little bits and skits," he added.

It seems that his passion for humor is what led him to commit to acting.

"I felt like an outcast, because being an actor in Oklahoma-you can't really make a living off that," said Marsden. "I decided when I was 19, after three semesters of college, to just pack up and move to LA and give it a shot."

We're sure the star's legions of fans are very happy he made that decision.

"The Best of Me" hits theatres on Oct. 17.