Holidays with his ex-wife and new girlfriend: Inside James Marsden's unusual family life.

Dead To Me actor James Marsden plays a man with a complicated love life on screen.

You’ll have to watch (the very bingeable) Netflix show yourself to find out exactly how complicated, but it got us curious about Marsden’s off-screen relationships.

And while he hasn’t been involved in anything quite as high-drama as the show, Marsden’s love life has definitely been interesting.

On July 22, 2000, a 26-year-old Marsden married 28-year-old actress Lisa Linde. They had began dating when they were in their early 20s – “really young”, as Marsden explained to Men’s Health.

Over an 11-year marriage, the pair had two children. Their son Jack was born on February 1, 2001, and their daughter, Mary James, was born on August 10, 2005.

Linde filed for divorce in October 2011, after more than a decade of marriage, citing irreconcilable differences.

At the time, a rep for Marsden stated the divorce was a mutual decision and the pair were committed to raising their children together.

Reflecting on his divorce in 2018, Marsden said it was "by far the hardest thing" he'd been through. They simply grew into different people and drifted apart, he said, but he worried about feeling like his parents – who divorced when he was nine.

Though tough, it was necessary for growth.

"It’s sad and heartbreaking," he told Men's Health. "I was separating not only from my wife but also my kids and the bonds of home and family. Those are things you’re painfully reminded of every day. It’s like, shit, what lesson is this? What’s to come from this?

"I needed to focus on what was important. So that’s who I am now because of that. I know regrets can be catalysts for good things. Not to talk like a Hallmark card, but it’s true."

What did come from it was a very unconventional family – but it seems to work.

In June 2012, the New York Post's Page Six revealed that Marsden was expecting a child with Brazilian model Rose Costa, who was three months pregnant with his child after the pair briefly dated.

In December of that year, Costa gave birth to their son who they named William Luca Costa-Marsden.

Marsden was briefly linked to model Suki Waterhouse in 2015, but later that year met UK pop singer Emma Deigman, known by her stage name Edei.

They've been together ever since.

The couple, as well as Marsden's kids and ex-wife Linde, all go on holidays together – something he admits looks a bit like a "hippie-dippy commune" from the outside.

"When you have people who care about each other and care about these kids and just want to give love, how can you not welcome that?"

Marsden credits Linde with teaching him how to parent – and he described being a good dad as his greatest achievement.

"Of all my achievements in life, being a father is the one thing I’m most proud of. It is the most fulfilling. I’m always self-deprecating, but I don’t have a problem saying that I am a great dad."

Feature Image: Getty.

Seasons one and two of Dead to Me are available to watch on Netflix now.