He turned it down twice! What made him say “YES”?
The word ‘skeptical’ doesn’t even cover it – James Corden was more than hesitant about hosting CBS’ The Late Late Show, before finally accepting it. He even turned it down twice!
James Corden Nearly Didn’t Host The Late Late Show
The 37-year-old British star talks about his huge career move in an interview with the menswear website Mr. Porter. He has relocated from his native England to Los Angeles.
Replacing Scottish celeb Craig Ferguson, Corden took over as the host of The Late Late Show last March. Corden has hosted the BRIT Awards five times, between 2009 and 2014. Also, his past notable roles at that time included parts on British comedies such as Teachers and Gavin & Stacey.
His performance in the hit Broadway play, One Man, Two Guvnors was what caught the attention of CBS CEO Leslie Moonves and then company president Nina Tassler. Corden told Mr. Porter website they wanted him to take Ferguson’s spot and that he met with him and pitched a “fun, youthful show that the Internet would respond to.” He got the job, but he was still very unsure to take it at the time, as he was busy writing a sitcom for HBO and planning a return to Broadway.
“I said no, and then it went quiet for a few weeks,” he said. “Then I said no again.” Then it was Piers Morgan, who convinced him to take the job. Corden, a married father of a 4-year-old son and 1-year-old daughter, was still skeptical.
On his new job as a host, he spilled:
“I was so convinced it wouldn’t work that we rented all our furniture for a year, I mean, I’ve never hosted a chat show before. I’m not a stand-up. I’m not even a sketch comedian.“
Corden shared with the Mr. Porter website he was such a nobody in the United States when he started hosting the show that when he started work at CBS’ studios in Los Angeles and forgot his security pass over lunch, a security guard initially refused to let him back in.
Corden’s idea of making the show more Internet-friendly definitely worked. The Late Late Show With James Corden has produced a popular recurring segment, Carpool Karaoke, in which he sings in a car with a major guest singer. Hi past guests have included Adele, One Direction, Mariah Carey and Justin Bieber. The videos have gone viral upon being posted on Youtube.
Typically, The Late Late Show With James Corden receives an average rating of 0.2 to 0.3 in the target demographic of 18 to 49-year-olds and an average nightly audience of 1 million viewers. It is mostly ranking in third place in its 12:35 a.m. Time slot, slightly behind NBC’s Late Night With Seth Meyers and ABC’s Nightline, since its debut—similar to how the show ranked when Ferguson during his past couple of years.
The funny host recently had his contract extended to five years. “So yeah, I did buy a sofa last week,” he told Mr. Porter. “They can still fire me, but I can’t leave.”
