1996–2006: Early career

Corden's first stage appearance was at the age of 18, with a one-line part in the 1996 musical Martin Guerre.^[13] His first TV reporter role was on the BBC's Good Morning with Anne and Nick, interviewing Meat Loaf.^[14] 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).^[15]

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.^[16][17][18] In 2006, he appeared in the film Starter for 10.^[15]

2007–2010: Gavin & Stacey and rise to prominence

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.^[19] 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.^[4][20] 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.^[21] 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.^[22]

During the two year and seven months run of Gavin & Stacey, Corden's professional endeavours outside the successful series proved somewhat chequered.^[13] 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".^[23] 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."^[24]

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.^[15][23] In February 2009, he co-presented the Brit Awards with Horne and Kylie Minogue.^[25] 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.^[23]

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.^[26] In March 2010, he presented Sport Relief 2010 alongside Davina McCall and others,^[27] 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.^[28][29]

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.^[30]

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.^[31][32] 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.^[15] 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.^[33]

2011–2014: One Man, Two Guvnors

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.^[34] In 2011, he appeared in The Three Musketeers.^[15]

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.^[16][35] The Guardian deemed it "A triumph of visual and verbal comedy. One of the funniest productions in the National's history."^[36] The Daily Telegraph described it as "the feelgood hit of the Summer";^[37] while The Independent called it a "massive hit",^[38] and the Evening Standard "a surefire hit".^[39]

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.^[4]

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 (2014).^[40] 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.^[41] In 2016, he appeared in the animated comedy film Trolls as Biggie, a chubby friendly Troll.^[42]

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.^[43] The series was co-produced by online television provider Hulu.com in the United States and it began airing in November 2013.^[44]

2015–2023: The Late Late Show and stardom

In March 2015, Corden succeeded Craig Ferguson as host of the American late-night talk show The Late Late Show.^[45][46][47] Corden's most popular comedic segments included "Drop the Mic", "Fill Your Guts or Spill Your Guts", "Crosswalk the Musical", and "Carpool Karaoke".^[48]

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.^[49] 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.^[50] 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.^[51] 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".^[52][53] In April 2022, Corden announced that he would be leaving The Late Late Show in 2023.^[54]

Corden hosted the Tony Awards in 2016 and 2019,^[55][56][57] and the Grammy Awards in 2017 and 2018.^[58][59] In 2018, the Seatbelt Psychic television series was produced by Corden and his production company Fulwell 73 for Lifetime platform.^[60][61]

In 2019, Corden starred in Tom Hooper's feature film adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber's popular musical Cats as Bustopher Jones,^[62] 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.^[63][64] For his performance, Corden received the Razzie Award for Worst Supporting Actor of the year.^[65] Lloyd Webber was a vocal critic of the film, specially criticizing Corden's performance, adding he "begged for it to be cut".^[66]

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.^[67][68][69] 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.^[70] 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.^[71][72][73]

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".^[74]

2024–present: The Constituent

On 20 March 2024, it was announced that Corden would make his return to theatre starring as Alec in a new political drama by Joe Penhall called The Constituent opposite Anna Maxwell Martin and directed by Matthew Warchus. The play will run at The Old Vic in London from 13 June to 10 August 2024.^[75]

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