in bed with James Corden
The chat-show host jumps into bed with Boyd Hilton to talk about his London shows and getting Benedict Cumberbatch to dress up as a dog
Heat is waiting in the lobby of the ultra-swanky Savoy hotel in London, where we’re due to chat to James Corden about the run of four special London recordings of his Late Late Show airing this week on Sky One. We’re told he’s running late because he’s filming some sketches for them. Suddenly, the sound of a trumpet blares out from somewhere deep in the bowels of the hotel, and in an instant James, bedecked in what looks like a smart bellboy’s uniform, is parading towards the lobby doors, camera crew in tow.
Someone yells “Cut!”, and in a blur, Corden catches our eye, apologises for keeping us waiting, and invites us to join him as he and his crew go up in the lift to the penthouse suite, where two American TV crews are already set up in opposite corners, waiting to talk to James. Then we realise it’s none other than Mark Wright, chillaxing on a sofa – he’ll be conducting one of the interviews for his US showbiz show Extra. Tempted as we are to nab Wrightie there and then for next week’s heat interview, we patiently let the smoothie do his thing, before we get our chance to speak to James.
On top of his regular four-nights-aweek show on US TV and these London specials, Corden will soon be back as host of A League Of Their Own, as well as playing a key role in new movie
Ocean’s 8. And there’s the little matter of the recent royal wedding, at which it’s rumoured he acted as a kind of compere for Meghan and Harry’s post-nuptials bash. But he’d rather not talk about that, because he’s rightly aware that anything
he says at all about that private event will be plastered all over the papers and everyone will accuse him of “making it about himself”. So, instead we talk about everything else we can think of, from President Trump, Roseanne and recent sketches he’s made with Jamie Dornan and Benedict Cumberbatch, to the dream item he’s been waiting to make ever since he first got this Late Late Show gig…
But first there’s the little matter of exactly where, in the enormous penthouse suite, we should conduct our chat. James swiftly makes a beeline for the bedroom. After all, following his filming exertions and being grilled lightly by Mark Wright, he clearly feels a nice lie down would be good, so he invites us to join him under the covers, where our full probing ensues… So, what are you most looking forward to about your London shows? The thing I’m most excited about is what we’re supposed to be filming next weekend, which is something I’ve been wanting to do since we started doing this show. And if we can pull it off, it will be so special… In fact, you’re the first person outside of the show who l’ve told about it. The plan is for us to go to Liverpool, and we’re going to drive around with Paul Mccartney and we’re going to sing the biggest songs he’s ever done in this car, including Penny Lane while we’re driving down Penny Lane, and it will end up with Mccartney and his band performing a surprise gig in a pub. If we pull it all off, it’ll be part road trip, part documentary, part Carpool Karaoke. It’s going to be f**king great…
Wow, that will be amazing. What have been the best “pinch-me” moments you’ve had on the show recently?
We did a sketch with Jamie Dornan when the last Fifty Shades film came out, and I’d never met him before. But he’d seen the thing we did with Sally Hawkins for
The Shape Of Water, where we did a Tinder date with a fish, and he liked it, so he was totally up for something. We recreated the Red Room from Fifty Shades with a giant train set instead of the S&M gear, and he really seemed to enjoy it. Then, with Benedict Cumberbatch, we did a sketch that climaxed with him dressed as a dog singing Who Let The Dogs Out during a performance of Cats! I was watching him and thinking, “This is pretty unreal.” You’ve got guests such as Orlando Bloom, Cate Blanchett, Niall Horan and Cher for these London shows… Yeah, and we did a sketch with the England football team. Do you get more starstruck with footballers? Oh God, yes. After a particularly bad West Ham [James is a fanatical West Ham fan] defeat last year, I got a tweet from [veteran West Ham defender] Angelo Ogbonna and he said, “Don’t give up hope – we’ve got to stick together.” And I was so excited. I was running around, calling my mates, and they were like, “Dude, you were filming with Tom Cruise last week,” and I was like, “Yeah, but this is Angelo Ogbonna!” What do you think about the whole Roseanne Barr situation [when ABC cancelled her show after she made a racist tweet]? You had her on your show, didn’t you? Yeah, she was on a couple of years ago. But this was just racism and there’s no argument about that. ABC did the right thing. I don’t see what else could have been done. And if people start talking about censorship and free speech, they need to realise there’s a difference between free speech and hate speech. Have you met Donald Trump? Yes, I actually pulled him up onstage during the run of One Man, Two Guvnors on Broadway [in 2012],
‘I don’t know how long I’ll be able to do the chat show’
and I spanked him and everything. This was years before he ran for President, of course. Would you have him on your show now? Well, when he was on the campaign trail – and remember he was doing stuff like hosting Saturday Night
Live at that point – someone from his team got in touch with us, saying, “We’d love to create a viral moment with you guys.” And I don’t even know if Trump himself was aware this was happening. I’m sure he wasn’t sitting there on his campaign bus, going, “Get me on
The Late Late Show with Corden!” We bet he was… Ha, maybe. So we came up with an idea for a game to play with him called “Stand By It, or Take It Back”. We wanted him to sit in a chair with two paddles – one saying Stand By It, the other saying Take It Back – and we would read real quotes he’d said during the campaign and give him the chance to take them back. If he did, it would be gone forever because we all make mistakes, but if he stood by his quote, he’d have to explain why. They very swiftly dropped all contact. Well, he doesn’t like to admit mistakes… No, and everything’s so polarised now. Being in America, doing this show and living there for three years, it feels a bit like when you’re invited to a friend’s house after school for tea, and then halfway through the dinner, the mum and dad just start screaming at each other! And you’re like, “But we were having such a nice time…” You’re in Ocean’s 8 – what was filming that like? Fun. I show up in the last 20 minutes of the film and I have a scene with Anne Hathaway and a scene with Sandra Bullock, plus a few other bits and pieces. Sandra Bullock is immense. You forget when you’re in her company how long she’s been in your life, and how many great films she’s done. How do you feel about Jack Whitehall leaving A League Of Their Own? Well, we’re all thrilled! [Adopts jokey conspiratorial tone] I mean, it was sad to see Jack fired in the manner that he was, and I don’t want to talk too much about it because a lot of it is tied up in legal proceedings. Look, was it inappropriate behaviour? It’s not for me to say… Kidding! We’ll miss him hugely. But it’s testament to the show that it will withstand this. Jack has so many opportunities falling at his feet that he has to take them, but I hope he’ll come back one day. You’re not leaving ALOTO any time soon?
No way. It feels like a break for me doing that show, because it’s so much fun to be with Freddie Flintoff, Jamie Redknapp and the team. Freddie is just so handsome and beautiful now, isn’t he? He’s the only sportsman ever, who retired and then went, “Now I have to get really fit!” As we speak, you’ve done 490 episodes of The Late Late Show… Yes, and we’ll be doing our 500th show in London. So, would you like to carry on doing this for years like the legendary American chat hosts who preceded you? Well, I think I’m different to those guys. I’m more of a song-anddance man than a broadcaster or comedian. So, I don’t know how long I can do it. It’ll be more down to my family and what they think. I was watching Judd Apatow’s amazing documentary about [American comedian and chatshow host] Garry Shandling, and it did make me realise that working on a career is not going to make you happy, but working to make sure you’re happy is the best thing you can do.
The Late Late Show With James Corden London shows run from 19-22 June, Sky One and NOW TV, 10pm