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James Corden

James Corden at 2015 PaleyFest (cropped).jpg
Corden at the 2015 PaleyFest
Born
James Kimberley Corden

(1978-08-22) 22 August 1978 (age 45)
Hillingdon, London, England
Education Holmer Green Upper School
Occupation
  • Actor
  • comedian
  • singer
  • writer
  • producer
  • television host
Years active 1996–present
Spouse(s)
Julia Carey
(m. 2012)
Children 3
Comedy career
Medium
Genres
Subject(s)

James Kimberley Corden OBE (born 22 August 1978) is an English actor, comedian, singer, writer, producer, and television host. In the United Kingdom, he is best known for co-writing and starring in the critically acclaimed BBC sitcom Gavin & Stacey. In the United States, he is best known as the host of The Late Late Show with James Corden, a late-night talk show that aired on CBS from 2015 to 2023.

Originally airing from 2007 to 2010, Corden co-wrote and co-starred with Welsh actress Ruth Jones in Gavin & Stacey, for which he won the BAFTA Television Award for Best Comedy Performance. He was featured, along with grime artist Dizzee Rascal, on the UK No.1 single "Shout". Corden created his Carpool Karaoke sketch in 2011. He hosted the Brit Awards, in 2009, 2011, and 2014. He hosted the Tony Awards in 2016 and 2019 and the Grammy Awards in 2017 and 2018. From 2010 to 2019, Corden presented the panel show A League of Their Own on Sky One.

Corden has also acted in films such as Gulliver's Travels (2010), Kill Your Friends (2015), and Peter Rabbit (2018) and its 2021 sequel (in which he voiced the title character). He's also acted in the musical films Into the Woods (2014), Cats (2019), The Prom (2020), and Cinderella (2021).

In 2011, Corden starred in the National Theatre one-man show One Man, Two Guvnors, which transferred from the West End to Broadway, where Corden won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play. In 2015, he received the BAFTA Britannia Award for British Artist of the Year. Corden has been nominated for 22 Primetime Emmy Awards, winning 9 in total, including for The Late Late Show, Carpool Karaoke and hosting the 70th Tony Awards. Corden was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2015 New Year Honours for services to drama.

Early life and education

Corden was born in Hillingdon, Greater London, the son of Margaret and Malcolm Corden. His father was a musician in the Central Band of the Royal Air Force, and later became a salesman of Christian books and Bibles. Corden's mother was a social worker. He grew up in Hazlemere, Buckinghamshire, and attended Park Middle School and Holmer Green Upper School. He has two sisters.

Career

1996–2006: Rise to prominence

Corden's first stage appearance was at the age of 18, with a one-line part in the 1996 musical Martin Guerre. His first TV reporter role was on the BBC's Good Morning with Anne and Nick, interviewing Meat Loaf. His early television work included Gareth Jones in the 1999 series Boyz Unlimited. He also starred in Tango advertisements in 1998 and had a role as a bookish student in Teachers and in 2000 a small part in an episode of Hollyoaks. Corden had guest appearances on Little Britain and Dalziel and Pascoe, both in 2004. Corden's early film credits include Whatever Happened to Harold Smith? (1999), Mike Leigh's All or Nothing (2002), Heartlands (2002), and Cruise of the Gods (2002).

From 2000 to 2005, Corden starred on the British television series Fat Friends as Jamie Rymer. He garnered a nomination for the 2000 Royal Television Society Award for Network Newcomer On Screen for his work. Beginning in 2004 Corden played the role of Timms in the original London stage production of Alan Bennett's play The History Boys, as well as in the Broadway, Sydney, Wellington, and Hong Kong productions. He also was in the radio and 2006 film adaptation versions of the play. In 2006, he appeared in the film Starter for 10.

2007–2010: Gavin & Stacey

Ruth Jones Little Britain Gavin and Stacey
Corden co-created the sitcom Gavin & Stacey with Ruth Jones

From 2007 to 2010, Corden co-starred in his own series, the BBC Three sitcom Gavin & Stacey. He co-wrote the series with his Fat Friends costar Ruth Jones; Corden and Jones played the friends of the title characters, with Corden starring as Smithy. The series proved popular and was well-received critically. For the show, Corden won Best Male Comedy Performer and Gavin & Stacey won Best New British Television Comedy at the 2007 British Comedy Awards. At the 2008 Television BAFTAs, Corden won the BAFTA for Best Male Comedy Performance, and Gavin & Stacey won the BAFTA's Audience Award for Programme of the Year. In December 2008, the show won Best TV Comedy in the 2008 British Comedy Awards. Gavin & Stacey also won the award for Most Popular Comedy Programme at the National Television Awards in 2010. In 2019, Gavin & Stacey returned for a Christmas special, with the episode achieving the highest Christmas Day viewership in the UK for more than a decade.

During the two year and seven months run of Gavin & Stacey, Corden's professional endeavours outside the successful series proved somewhat chequered. He guest hosted Big Brother's Big Mouth, with Gavin & Stacey co-star Mathew Horne, in August 2007. In 2008, he appeared in the film of Toby Young's 2001 autobiography How to Lose Friends & Alienate People. He collaborated again with Horne on a 2009 sketch show named Horne & Corden, described by the BBC as a "traditional comedy entertainment show in the style of Morecambe and Wise". The show ran for only one series and was poorly received by the critics, with Corden later admitting "the absolute truth is I wasn't good enough."

In 2009, Corden starred as the lead character in the film Lesbian Vampire Killers, which was not successful. That year he played Clem Cattini in the Joe Meek biopic Telstar, and likewise in the animated Planet 51 along with Mathew Horne. In February 2009, he co-presented the Brit Awards with Horne and Kylie Minogue. In March 2009, he appeared in a sketch for the UK charity telethon Comic Relief giving the England football team a motivational talk, and later presented a section with Horne showing their best bits of comedy from the previous two years along with highlights from the night.

In March 2010, Corden began hosting the Sky 1 comedy/sports panel show A League of Their Own alongside team captains Andrew Flintoff and Jamie Redknapp. In March 2010, he presented Sport Relief 2010 alongside Davina McCall and others, contributing a "sequel" to the 2009 England football team sketch, this time giving a motivational talk to various sports stars including David Beckham and motor racing driver Jenson Button.

In March 2010, Corden took part in Channel 4's Comedy Gala, a benefit show held in aid of Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital, filmed live at the O2 Arena in London. On 5 June 2010, he performed his England World Cup single with Dizzee Rascal on the finale of Britain's Got Talent. The proceeds from the single went to London's Great Ormond Street Hospital.

In June 2010, Corden played Craig Owens in the Doctor Who episode "The Lodger", in which the Doctor moved in with him. Corden returned as Owens in "Closing Time" in the sixth series. In December 2010, This Is JLS, an hour-long Christmas special featuring the boyband and The X Factor runners-up, was aired on ITV1, with Corden writing and producing some of the sketches featured in the special. In 2010, he was in the main cast of the film Gulliver's Travels. In December 2010, he was part of an ensemble voice cast in the English dub of the German animated film Animals United alongside Jim Broadbent, Jason Donovan, Joanna Lumley, Billie Piper, Andy Serkis and others.

2011–2014: One Man, Two Guvnors

Comedian James Corden arrives at Number 10 Downing Street to interview Prime Minister David Cameron (15601005146)
Corden arriving at 10 Downing Street to interview then British Prime Minister David Cameron in March 2014

In February 2011, Corden presented the 2011 Brit Awards. In March, Corden reprised his Gavin & Stacey role as Smithy in a Red Nose Day sketch for the charity telethon Comic Relief. The sketch included appearances by then UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown, JLS, Paul McCartney, and Justin Bieber. The show also saw the first appearance of his Carpool Karaoke sketch, which saw him singing songs with pop star George Michael while driving around London. In 2011, he appeared in The Three Musketeers.

Starting in June 2011, Corden played the lead role in the hit comedy play One Man, Two Guvnors. The play was cinecast worldwide as part of the National Theatre Live cinecasts, and transferred from the National Theatre to the West End after touring. The show received universal critical acclaim and won Best Play at the Evening Standard Theatre Awards for 2011. The Guardian deemed it "A triumph of visual and verbal comedy. One of the funniest productions in the National's history." The Daily Telegraph described it as "the feelgood hit of the Summer"; while The Independent called it a "massive hit", and the Evening Standard "a surefire hit".

Corden made a cameo appearance in the music video for the single "Mama Do the Hump" by Rizzle Kicks, released in December 2011, which reached #2 in the charts. In April 2012, One Man, Two Guvnors transferred to Broadway, with Corden continuing to play the lead. In June 2012, he won the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play for his performance.

In February 2012, Corden hosted the Brit Awards for the third time. Corden starred as the Baker in the Disney film adaptation of the musical Into the Woods (film) (2014). In 2015, Corden narrated Roald Dahl's Esio Trot, a BBC television film adaptation of Roald Dahl's classic novel. Adapted by Richard Curtis and co-starring Dustin Hoffman and Judi Dench, it was broadcast on BBC One on 1 January 2015. In 2016, he appeared in the animated comedy film Trolls as Biggie, a chubby friendly Troll.

For his next project, Corden teamed up with friend and fellow Gavin & Stacey star Mathew Baynton to create, write, and star on The Wrong Mans, a six-part comedy-thriller for BBC Two. The premiere was in September 2013. The series was co-produced by online television provider Hulu.com in the United States and it began airing in November 2013.

2015–2023: The Late Late Show and stardom

Late Late Show with James Corden (29162554400)
The Late Late Show with James Corden set

In March 2015, Corden succeeded Craig Ferguson as host of the American late-night talk show The Late Late Show. Corden's most popular comedic segments included "Drop the Mic", "Fill Your Guts or Spill Your Guts", "Crosswalk the Musical", and "Carpool Karaoke".

Corden's Carpool Karaoke through the streets of London with pop singer Adele, a sketch that was featured on his talk show in January 2016, was the biggest YouTube viral video of 2016. Corden did numerous editions of Carpool Karaoke with singers such as Sir Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Mariah Carey, Madonna, Jennifer Lopez, Harry Styles, and Katy Perry. Apple TV+ adapted the segment into a streaming series Carpool Karaoke: The Series.

Corden's special Carpool Karaoke: When Corden Met McCartney, Live From Liverpool with Sir Paul McCartney was a viral and critical success earning a Primetime Emmy Award nomination and win for Outstanding Variety Special. In the special, Corden and McCartney sang the Beatles songs "Drive My Car", "Penny Lane", and "Let It Be". The pair stopped by a Penny Lane street sign, which McCartney signed, McCartney pointed out various Liverpool landmarks including Saint Barnabas Church, where he had been a choir boy, and also visited his childhood home. The special ended with McCartney and his band surprising a small group of locals at Liverpool's Philharmonic Pub with a 13-song set that included "A Hard Day's Night", "Back in the U.S.S.R" and his new single, "Come On to Me". In April 2022, Corden announced that he would be leaving The Late Late Show in 2023.

Corden hosted the Tony Awards in 2016 and 2019, and the Grammy Awards in 2017 and 2018. In 2018, the Seatbelt Psychic television series was produced by Corden and his production company Fulwell 73 for Lifetime platform.

In 2019, Corden starred in Tom Hooper's feature film adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber's popular musical Cats as Bustopher Jones, which received widespread negative attention. The film starred Jennifer Hudson, Idris Elba, Taylor Swift, Ian McKellen, and Judi Dench. Some critics called it one of the worst films of the year due to its poorly conceived CGI and off kilter comedic performances from Rebel Wilson and Corden. For his performance, Corden received the Razzie Award for Worst Supporting Actor of the year. Lloyd Webber was a vocal critic of the film, specially criticizing Corden's performance adding he "begged for it to be cut".

Corden's leading role in the 2020 musical comedy film The Prom received negative reviews, and was named "one of the worst performances of the 21st century" by Vanity Fair's Richard Lawson. Lawson elaborated writing, "Corden, flitting and lisping around in the most uninspired of caricatures, misses all potential for nuance, and thus never finds even a hint of truth in the role". His portrayal of a gay man while he himself is straight was deemed offensive by many film critics and members of the LBGTQ community with critics adding that the performance perpetuated and capitalized on stereotypes of gay white men. Corden received an even larger amount of backlash when this performance earned him a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy Film.

Corden also received negative reviews for his performance in the 2021 adaptation of Cinderella, a film that he produced. Clarisse Loughrey of The Independent wrote, "James Corden has made a #Girlboss fairytale only a voracious capitalist could love".

Influences

Corden has said that his comedy influences are Graham Norton, Chris Evans, Jonathan Ross, Conan O'Brien, David Letterman, and Stephen Colbert.

Personal life

Corden shared a flat with The History Boys co-star Dominic Cooper for several years. Cooper introduced Corden to his future wife Julia Carey, whom Cooper had known for years. Corden married Carey on 15 September 2012. The Cordens have three children. Corden is a supporter of Premier League football club West Ham United.

Corden traced his life’s ups and downs very frankly on the BBC radio show Desert Island Discs in September 2012 in which he discussed his controversial acceptance speech after receiving a Tony Award that year.

Corden was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 2015 New Year Honours for services to drama. He received the honour from Princess Anne during a ceremony at Buckingham Palace in June 2015.

Corden resides in Los Angeles with his family. He maintains a home in Belsize Park, London, and Templecombe House at Wargrave in Berkshire.

In April 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, Corden paid the salaries of furloughed employees on the Late Late Show. He also launched a fundraising campaign with the NBA to benefit Feed the Children. In January 2022, Corden announced that he had tested positive for COVID-19. He mentioned that he was fine and that he was already fully vaccinated and boosted.

In 2022, Corden was banned from New York restaurant Balthazar by proprietor Keith McNally, after reportedly being "abusive" and "extremely nasty" to staff. The ban was later rescinded after Corden apologised to McNally in private and in public, admitting that he had been "ungracious."

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1997 Twenty Four Seven Carl 'Tonka' Marsh
1999 Whatever Happened to Harold Smith? Walter
2002 All or Nothing Rory
Heartlands Shady
2005 Pierrepoint Kirky
2006 Heroes and Villains Sam
The History Boys Timms
Starter for 10 Tone
2008 How to Lose Friends & Alienate People Post Modern Review Staff #2
2009 Lesbian Vampire Killers Fletch
Telstar Clem Cattini
The Boat That Rocked Bernard Deleted scenes only
Planet 51 Soldier Vernkot (voice)
2010 Gulliver's Travels Jinks
Animals United Billy the Meerkat (voice) English dub
2011 The Three Musketeers Planchet
2013 One Chance Paul Potts
Begin Again Steve
2014 Into the Woods The Baker
2015 Kill Your Friends Waters
The Lady in the Van Street trader
2016 Norm of the North Laurence (voice) UK version
Trolls Biggie (voice)
2017 The Emoji Movie Hi-5 (voice)
2018 Peter Rabbit Peter Rabbit (voice)
Ocean's 8 John Frazier
Smallfoot Percy (voice)
2019 Yesterday Himself
Cats Bustopher Jones
2020 Trolls World Tour Biggie (voice)
Superintelligence Superintelligence (voice)
The Prom Barry Glickman
2021 Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway Peter Rabbit (voice)
Cinderella James Also producer

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1996 Out of Tune Lee Episode: "1.1"
1998 Renford Rejects Razor #1 Episode: "Don Bruno"
1999 Boyz Unlimited Gareth 6 episodes
1999–2000 Hollyoaks Wayne Episode #1.524
2000–05 Fat Friends Jamie Rymer 20 episodes
2001 Jack and the Beanstalk: The Real Story Bran the Giant's son TV movie
2001–03 Teachers Jeremy 9 episodes
2002 Cruise of the Gods Russell TV movie
2004 Little Britain Dewi Thomas Episode: "2.3"
Dalziel and Pascoe Ben Forsythe Episode: "The Price of Fame"
2007–10; 2019 Gavin & Stacey Smithy 21 episodes; also creator, writer, associate producer
2009 Horne & Corden Various characters 6 episodes; also writer
2009 Brit Awards Himself (co-host) TV special
The Gruffalo Mouse (voice) TV special
2010 James Corden's World Cup Live Himself (host) 14 episodes
2010–11 Doctor Who Craig Owens 2 episodes: "The Lodger" and "Closing Time"
2010–19 A League of Their Own Himself (host) Series 1–14
2011 Little Charley Bear Narrator (voice) 22 episodes
2011 Brit Awards Himself (host) TV special
The Gruffalo's Child Mouse (voice) TV special
2012 Stella Steven Episode: "1.10"
2012 Brit Awards Himself (host) TV special
2013 2013 Brit Awards Himself (host) TV special
2013–14 The Wrong Mans Phil Bourne 8 episodes; also creator, writer
2014 2014 Brit Awards Himself (host) TV special
Celebrity Deal or No Deal Himself (contestant) Won £32,000
2015 Roald Dahl's Esio Trot Narrator TV movie
The Price is Right Himself/Guest Model Episode: "Big Money Week Day 1"
2015–2023 The Late Late Show with James Corden Himself (host) Also writer and producer
2016 70th Tony Awards Himself (host) TV special
Beat Bugs Morgs the Stick Bug (singing voice) Episode: "I'm a Loser"
Matilda and the Ramsay Bunch Guest Series 2 Episode 4
2017 59th Annual Grammy Awards Himself (host) TV special
Trolls Holiday Biggie (voice) Christmas special
2017–present Carpool Karaoke: The Series Himself Also executive producer; appeared in 3 episodes as a guest
2017–2019 Drop the Mic Himself Also executive producer; appeared in 3 episodes as a guest
2018 60th Annual Grammy Awards Himself (host) TV special
Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway Himself (guest announcer) Episode #15.3
Happy Together Himself Episode: "Pilot"
Us & Them 7 episodes; executive producer
2018 Seatbelt Psychic Producer / Creator Worked on all of 2 seasons
2019 The World's Best Himself (host) 12 episodes; also executive producer
73rd Tony Awards Himself (host) TV special
Saturday Night Live Boris Johnson / Himself Episode: "Jennifer Lopez/DaBaby"
2020 Breakthrough Prize Ceremony Himself (host) TV special
2020 Game On! Himself Episode: "James Corden and Landon Donovan"; also executive producer
2021 Friends: The Reunion Himself (host) TV special
2022 Mammals Jamie Also executive producer

Theatre

Year Title Role Location
1996 Martin Guerre (bit part) Prince Edward Theatre, West End
2004 The History Boys Timms Lyttelton Theatre, Royal National Theatre, London
2006 Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, Hong Kong
St James, Wellington
Sydney Theatre, Sydney
2007 Broadhurst Theatre, Broadway
A Respectable Wedding Friend Young Vic, South Bank, London
2011 One Man, Two Guvnors Francis Henshall Lyttelton Theatre, Royal National Theatre, London
Waterside Theatre, Aylesbury
Theatre Royal, Plymouth
Lowry Theatre, Salford
New Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham
King's Theatre, Edinburgh
Adelphi Theatre, West End
2012 Music Box Theatre, Broadway

Video games

Year Title Voice
2008 Fable II Monty

Music videos

Year Title Artist
2011 "Happy Now" Take That
"Mama Do the Hump" Rizzle Kicks
2013 "Queenie Eye" Paul McCartney
2016 "Can't Stop the Feeling! (First Listen)" Justin Timberlake

Advertising

Year Title Role
1998 Tango TV Ad Bullying Victim
2012 Windows Phone (Microsoft) N/A
2014 Cadbury's Free the Joy N/A
2015 Samsung Galaxy Note Edge Alter-ego Wilf
2016 Apple Music N/A
Sainsbury's N/A
2016–2018 Confused.com Himself
Source:

Discography

Singles

List of singles, with selected chart positions
Title Year Peak chart positions Album
UK IRL
"Shout"
(as Shout for England with Dizzee Rascal)
2010 1 41 Non-album single
"Only You"
(with Kylie Minogue)
2015 Kylie Christmas
"The Greatest Gift"
(with Bret McKenzie)
2016 Non-album singles
"I Promise You"
2018
"Percy's Pressure"
"—" denotes items which were not released in that country or failed to chart.

Other appearances

Title Year Album Other artist(s)
"Bustopher Jones: The Cat About Town"
2019 Cats: Highlights from the Motion Picture Soundtrack N/A
"The Kind of Friend I Need"
2020 Music Played by Humans Gary Barlow

Published works

  • Corden, James (2011). [James Corden at Google Books May I Have Your Attention, Please?: The Autobiography]. London: Century. ISBN 978-1846059353. OCLC 751720297. James Corden at Google Books.

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: James Corden para niños

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