Corden: Why don’t chubby stars get any sex scenes?
James Corden has criticised the exclusion of overweight actors from major film roles.
He says they are not given sex scenes and are usually seen as ‘the fat friend’.
The Late Late show host, 40, said fat people ‘never really fall in love... never have sex’, in films or on TV and ‘certainly no one ever finds you attractive’.
Corden, who co-wrote the sitcom Gavin & stacey, told actor David Tennant’s podcast: ‘You will be good friends with people who are attractive and often will be a great sense of comfort to them and perhaps chip in with the odd joke. as you get older you’ll probably be a judge in something. and that’s really how it can feel.
‘It felt like if the world of entertainment was a big banquet table, people are like, “There isn’t a seat for you here”.’
Being excluded because of his larger frame spurred him into writing his own material, he said. ‘I had done a film with shane meadows [ Twenty Four seven], I’d done a mike Leigh film [all Or Nothing] and done Fat Friends on ITV. and now I was in this play which was the play to see [The History Boys, later a film]. and I was in this play with seven other boys who were at a similar age and a similar place in our careers, and pretty much every day, three or four would come in with this massive film script under their arm.’
One day Corden and two other actors were sounded out for an ‘exciting’ project – while the others were sent the script for lead roles, he was offered a small part as a newsagent.
‘I really felt like people were going, “We think you’re quite good. It’s just because of what you look like”,’ said Corden, who is married to TV producer Julia Carey and has three children.