James Corden: I’m more shocked than anyone that I’m a hit in the US
Star speaks exclusively to The Sun ahead of presenting the Tony Awards
WHEN James Corden flew across the pond to make his name in the US he expected to fail.
The small-screen star of Gavin and Stacey had been invited to host The Late Late Show but he was worried.
He told me: “What are the chances of a chubby boy, and I’m being generous, going to America to do a top job like this every night and being anything other than a complete disaster?”
“I’m scared I’ll be the boy from High Wycombe who just couldn’t hack it and had to go back home with his tail between his legs.”
How wrong could he be?
This Sunday he follows in the footsteps of such luminaries as Julie Andrews and Anthony Hopkins as he hosts the Tony Awards in New York.
And ready to applaud him at Broadway’s Beacon Theatre will be Take That frontman Gary Barlow, one of James’s heroes (and now best mates).
The pair have been working on a top secret project that can finally be unveiled.
In an exclusive interview James tells me: “We’re going to open the Tonys with quite a big number — and no one knows that Gary has written it.
“He is flying to New York this week to be with me for the preparation.” It’s the fulfilment of a childhood dream for James, 37.
He spent his teenage years dreaming of joining the Back For Good boyband.
Just 18 months after the chat show invite, James has “made it”.
But he can’t think about that — yet.
First, he has to get through a night that will see him introduce showbiz legends including Barbra Streisand, Steve Martin and Oprah Winfrey.
Related Stories
A Tony winner himself for his role in One Man Two Guvnors in 2012, he admits to being “genuinely terrified”, adding: “I’m going to try my best to not fall over, that’s all I really worry about.
“I’m not even joking, that’s the only thing that’s keeping me up at night.
“If I fall over I don’t know what I will do.”
He had a reputation in the UK as being confident verging on cocky, but in my years of dealings with James I have always found him to be the polar opposite.
In our last interview for The Sun 18 months ago, quoted above, it was clear he was awed at the challenges facing him.
But with the massive success of his hosting stint on The Late Late Show, which goes out on weeknights on CBS, America’s most popular broadcaster, has James now proved himself?
He answers sheepishly: “Yeah, I guess a little bit.
“It has really helped that our show has been received in the manner that it has and the role that the internet has played in our show.”
He’s referring to viral smash, Carpool Karaoke, which has seen James’ YouTube hits soar to over one billion.
Other countries are to make their own versions of it, which could make James and producer Ben Winston a small fortune.
Sadly he doesn’t think he will have time to host a UK spin-off.
He is speaking to me from his office next to The Late Late Show Studios in Los Angeles, where Dancing with the Stars and America’s Got Talent are filmed.
James tells me he will “sometimes see Simon Cowell drive past on a golf buggy”.
But his non-stop routine is taking a toll.
He explains: “Sorry, I’m yawning.
“I did dance class this morning, I’m not joking.”
It’s part of James’ new daily regime, which has seen him work nine to five for the first time in his life.
He starts the morning at 8am as the only man in a one-hour aerobics class packed with Hollywood women.
He enthuses: “You would absolutely love it, if you’re ever here in LA we have to go.
“I know it sounds like your idea of hell because I hate exercise so much too, I just can’t bear it.
“But I’ve found an exercise where I just love it and I do it four times a week.”
He arrives at his office by 9.30am, before spending the day writing and preparing the show which pre-records at 5pm to be ready for broadcast in New York.
He harks back to a guest slot he did for us and says: “It feels like when I came in to edit The Sun — there’s a great feeling to knowing you have to put something out before you go home.
“That feeling of doing it every day can sometimes feel relentless and sometimes incredibly exhilarating.”
We have bouts of homesickness. But I’ve got this little box that connects to your TV so I can always watch Match Of The Day on a Sunday afternoon here.
James Corden
The regularity means James has been able to live a relatively normal life, including quality time with wife Julia and two kids — son Max, five, and 20-month-old daughter Carey.
At weekends they do truly Californian things like hiking around the Hollywood Hills.
He explains: “The great thing is I’m at home every day.
“There’s no sort of sense of going off and leaving my family to film something which I’m very, very grateful for.”
Despite loving his “little adventure”, James has not found it easy to wave goodbye to life in the UK.
He concedes: “We have bouts of homesickness.
“But I’ve got this little box that connects to your TV so I can always watch Match Of The Day on a Sunday afternoon here.
“I find that incredibly comfortable.”
There’s also the reality that his children will grow up with American accents.
He says: “I fear that that is inevitable really.
“My son talks to his friends in school in an American accent and then when he comes home and talks to us he talks in a British accent, which is very, very strange.
“But I guess when you’re that age you just want to fit in really.”
James, who has shed five stone since he was at his heaviest, regularly compares notes with me about our latest healthy-eating regimes.
He sighs: “I feel like I’m on a constant diet since we last had dinner 18 months ago.”
Each day he drinks a “disgusting” vegetable juice called 50 Shades of Green. But he adds honestly: “My biggest thing is bread, man, I don’t know what to do.
“I’ll go out with every intention of eating a really healthy meal and then at the start they’ll present you with this beautiful bread, and I’m like, ‘How am I meant to not eat this?’
“But I am trying, I really, really am.”
One big difference is that he isn’t really drinking any more, explaining: “I feel like I can’t do the job really if I’m in any sort of haze.
“It’s positively frowned upon if you have a second glass of wine here anyway.”
James now socialises on a daily basis with stars from David Beckham to George Clooney, making him one of the most connected men in entertainment.
But what I’ve always found so endearing is that deep down he’s still a fan, someone who can’t believe the life he is leading.
To illustrate that point perfectly, he recalls: “I lost my s*** recently when I was at a party and someone tapped me on the shoulder and we had a big hug — and it was Oprah!
“I don’t ever want to get to a place where I’m at all blasé about how great things are.”
Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at tips@the-sun.co.uk or call 0207 782 4368
