PAUL RIGHT
How Corden snared McCartney for ‘Carpool Karaoke’
J AMES CORDEN says it took a campaign of “military precision” to line up his biggest “Carpool Karaoke” segment yet — with Paul McCartney, airing next week when Corden takes his “The Late Late Show” to London Monday through Thursday (12:35 a.m./Ch. 2).
“It’s never that he’s difficult, ever, it’s that it’s what you’re dealing with,” says Corden of McCartney, who’s expected to drop his latest album any day now. “You know, quite possibly he’s one of the most famous people on planet Earth and certainly one of the most respected . . . I take great pride, and it’s a testament to the power of the segment — we’ve been having this discussion for about six months — that he would want people to hear some of his newest work and come back with such a bang [on ‘Carpool Karaoke’]. When we talked about it there was a lot of back and forth about logistical things and then it essentially came down to Paul and I getting on the phone together and me explaining our vision for [the segment]. To go and film it in Liverpool, I feel like we had to make it like something no one has seen on television.”
In the segment, Corden and McCartney tool around Liverpool (with Corden driving), singing Beatles songs and tunes from McCartney’s expected (as yet untitled) album.
“I’ve never really witnessed anything like it,” Corden says when asked about the reaction of passersby (many of whom posted photos of Corden and McCartney on social media when they shot the segment last Saturday). “I’ve always heard the phrase ‘traffic came to a standstill’ and I always thought that would be an exaggeration until traffic genuinely came to a standstill. There was one moment when were stood in the bus shelter on Penny Lane and no cars were moving and no horns were beeping — it was just a mass of people looking at Paul and every single person there wanted to shake his hand. I’ve never seen someone get mobbed so respectfully. People wanted to thank him for what he’s given to them. Just to watch it happen was beautiful.”
Corden had met McCartney before, and says he actually inspired the “Carpool Karaoke” segment, which has, over the years, included Elton John, Mariah Carey, Justin Bieber and Stevie Wonder.
“The first time I met Paul was on a sketch for a charity in the UK called Comic Relief,” he says. “That sketch was pretty much the birth of ‘Carpool Karaoke,’ myself and George Michael singing in a car on the way to a sketch that Paul was featured in. Any time I’ve been in [McCartney’s] orbit I’ve loved every second. I’ll never forget doing this. I just felt sort of blown away by the whole experience.” (Corden says the segment likely won’t air Monday night, McCartney’s 76th birthday, since it needs more editing time.)
Guests on next week’s London shows, airing from Central Hall Westminster, include Chris Pratt, Damian Lewis, JJ Abrams, Cher and Andrew Lloyd Webber. “I just want the shows to be great,” Corden says. “Whether it’s going and shooting a sketch with Andrew Lloyd Webber and shutting down an entire street in London while performing ‘Cats’ while he watches in a cherrypicker and wearing a tux, or a sketch with the England Football Team ... this is a level of ambition we demand from ourselves and for our show. I want to make the most ambitious 12:30 a.m. show in the history of TV. That’s all I ever want to do, and whether we succeed, I don’t know.
“It’s a marathon and not a sprint.”