James Marsden Remembers Being 'in Love' with Neve Campbell During Short Stint on “Party of Five”

James Marsden might have played it cool, but he was definitely crushing on Neve Campbell when they worked together on Party of Five.

Marsden only appeared on the series once — in the season 1 finale as Griffin Holbrook, the boyfriend to Campbell's Julia Salinger — but he looks back fondly on the experience given the fact that he was admittedly in love with the actress at the time.

"Were you in love with Neve like I was?" Dax Shepard asked the Paradise star, 51, on the Feb. 3 episode of Armchair Expert.

"Yeah, of course," he admitted, before reflecting on his brief stint on the show that made a name for Campbell, 51.

Related: Neve Campbell Says Her Party of Five Character 'Probably Ended Up with Justin' — and Is Still Close with Michael Goorjian (Exclusive)

"She was watching me drink out of a water fountain, and I, like, walked towards her in a sort of sexy, menacing way, or I was trying to be sexy. I'm like, this is not me," Marsden recalled.

The role felt like Party of Five "trying to do what My So-Called Life was doing at the time with Jared Leto — a brooding, mysterious-looking guy. I was like, okay, well, I guess I gotta get my Jared Leto impression down."

Marsden only ended up starring as Griffin "for that one episode, but the character was meant to be a regular. And in fact, he was a regular. But what happened was, after I did that episode, my other show got picked up, and I couldn't do it."

The other show in question was Second Noah, which he starred in alongside Daniel Hugh Kelly. When it was picked up for a season 2, he couldn't continue as Griffin in Party of Five, so Jeremy London took over the role — which ended up spanning several seasons.

Related: Scott Wolf Reveals the Biggest Celeb Party of Five Fan He Ever Met

Campbell, who played one of the five Salinger siblings, who were left to grow up on their own after losing their parents in a car accident, recently told PEOPLE that the show's cast is "all still pretty tight" 30 years after its premiere.

"We played brothers and sisters and siblings, who've gone through a really traumatic time. And it was deep stuff in that show, big questions that the audiences were going along with us on. But we were living that every day."

"We spent more time with each other than any of our own families or friends," she continued of her former onscreen siblings Matthew Fox (Charlie), Scott Wolf (Bailey), Lacey Chabert (Claudia) and Jacob Smith (baby Owen). "So of course you become tight."

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She's also stayed close with Michael Goorjian, who played Justin Thompson, and is now godfather to her sons Caspian and Raynor, who he shares with her partner JJ Feild.

"He's one of our best friends," she said.

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