Background

Corden was born on August 22, 1978, in Hillingdon, Greater London, the son of Margaret and Malcolm Corden. His father was a musician in the Royal Air Force band and his mother was a social worker. He grew up in Hazlemere, Buckinghamshire. Corden has two sisters.

Education

Corden attended Park Middle School and Holmer Green Upper School.

Career

Corden's early TV work included recurring roles on Boyz Unlimited (1999), Teachers (2001–03), and Fat Friends (2000–05).

Corden’s big break came in 2004 when he was cast as the jokester Timms in Alan Bennett’s play The History Boys at the National Theatre. He remained with the play in 2006 as it toured to Hong Kong, Australia, and New Zealand and opened a Tony Award-winning run on Broadway. That same year he reprised his role in the play’s film adaptation. For his next project, Corden and actress Ruth Jones jointly created and wrote the romantic sitcom Gavin & Stacey (2007–10), with supporting roles for themselves as the main characters’ respective best friends. Corden won a British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Award in 2008 for his role as Gavin’s pal Smithy. He and Matthew Horne, who had portrayed Gavin, then wrote and starred in the limited-run sketch comedy Horne & Corden (2009). His noteworthy guest appearance in a 2010 episode of Doctor Who spurred the show’s producers to revive his character the following season. Corden later appeared in the 10-episode TV comedy thriller The Wrong Mans (2013–14), which garnered him a BAFTA nomination.

Corden returned to the stage in May 2011 with the National Theatre’s hit One Man, Two Guvnors, an English-language adaptation of the 18th-century Italian playwright Carlo Goldoni’s comedy Il servitore di due padroni. One Man, Two Guvnors—which featured physical comedy, improvisations, audience participation, and skiffle-style music—moved to the West End the following September and to Broadway in April 2012. The “ridiculously silly play” (as Corden called it) earned seven Tony nominations, and Corden emerged as the upset victor in the category of best actor in a play. He also continued to appear on-screen, and his notable later film credits include the 2014 film adaptation of Stephen Sondheim’s musical Into the Woods and The Lady in the Van (2015).

In 2014 it was announced that Corden would take over as host of CBS TV’s The Late Late Show, replacing Craig Ferguson. Corden debuted the following year, and critics generally agreed that his venture into American late-night TV was a hit. The show combined traditional celebrity interviews and zany comedy skits, notably the popular segment “carpool karaoke,” in which entertainers sang and answered questions while Corden drove them around. Hosting The Late Late Show significantly raised Corden’s profile in the United States, and as a result he was tapped to host both the Tony Award (2016) and Grammy Award (2017, 2018) ceremonies.

Corden’s success as a TV host also garnered him parts in such high-profile movies as Ocean’s 8 (2018), and he lent his voice to several popular animated films, including Trolls (2016), The Emoji Movie (2017), Peter Rabbit (2018), and Smallfoot (2018).

Achievements

• 

  James Kimberley Corden is a well known English actor, comedian, singer, and TV host who is popular for shows like ‘The Late Late Show with James Corden’, which started airing from 2015 on the CBS network. The show has been a moderate success, and has earned a few awards.
  
  His spectacular skills as an actor and comedian have won him several significant awards throughout his career. For his performance in the Broadway run of the play, Corden won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play. In 2015 he received the BAFTA Britannia Award for British Artist of the Year. He has also been appointed ‘Officer of the Order of the British Empire’, an honor which he received from Princess Anne during a ceremony at Buckingham Palace.

Works

More photos

• book

  • May I Have Your Attention Please? 2011

• movie

  • Twenty Four Seven

    (Twenty Four Seven is a 1997 British sports drama film dir...)

    1997
  • Whatever Happened to Harold Smith? 1999
  • All Or Nothing 2002
  • Pierrepoint 2005
  • The History Boys 2006
  • How to Lose Friends and Alienate People 2008
  • Boat That Rocked 2009
  • Gulliver's Travels 2010
  • The Three Musketeers 2011
  • Begin Again 2013
  • Into The Woods 2014
  • Kill Your Friends 2015
  • Ocean's 8 2018

• TV series

  • The Late Late Show with James Corden Season 2 2017
  • The Late Late Show with James Corden Season 3 2018
  • The Late Late Show with James Corden Season 4 2018

Religion

Corden was raised in the Salvation Army church but no longer considers himself a Christian.

Politics

James Corden said about American politics: “It’s important to remember however disenfranchised you might feel or however disconnected you might feel from each other, the truth is that the majority of this country didn’t vote for Donald Trump to be our president,” he says. “The majority of this country wants greater restrictions on guns. The majority of this country does want America to be a place of hope and joy and love. I really do believe that is the majority of people. I think you’ve always got to remember that. However much your Twitter feed might tell you differently, if you look around there are little patches of miracles happening everywhere.”

Views

As a philanthropist, he has supported various organizations such as the UNICEF and Teenage Cancer Trust. For his generosity, he is often known as one of the ‘nicest stars of Britain’.

Quotations: “The difference between doing something and not doing something is doing something.”

“It's strange how things seem to come full circle. You know what I mean? I'm sure you do. The way your life seems to drift along with no set path, then something good happens to you and you can trace the line that brought you there back to a specific disappointment or rejection you suffered in the past. It's nice that things can level out that way.”

“It doesn't help anyone to judge their happiness or career by looking at where others may or may not be. Dad said it best: 'All the time you're looking left and right at other people, you're neglecting what's in front of you.If you focus on looking straight ahead, you can take the odd glance at the future.' He's got a way of saying things sometimes that just puts everything into perspective.”

Personality

Best friends with Emily Blunt, who is a big fan of him.

Physical Characteristics: Height - 5 ft 8 in or 173 cm

Weight - 92 kg or 203 lbs

Hair Color - light brown

Eye Color - blue

Distinctive Features - high pitched laugh, round midsection

Measurements:

Chest – 44 in or 112 cm

Arms / Biceps – 14 in or 35.5 cm

Waist – 42 in or 107 cm

Interests

• Corden has said that his comedy influences are Graham Norton, Chris Evans, Jonathan Ross, Conan O'Brien, David Letterman, and Stephen Colbert.

• Politicians

  Winston Churchill

• Sport & Clubs

  Corden is a supporter of Premier League football club West Ham United.

• Music & Bands

  Frank Sinatra

Connections

Corden shared a flat with his The History Boys co-star Dominic Cooper for several years. Cooper introduced Corden to his future wife Julia Carey, whom Cooper had known for years. Corden married Carey on 15 September 2012. The Cordens have three children: son Max (born 22 March 2011), and daughters Carey (born 27 October 2014) and Charlotte (born 12 December 2017). Cooper is Max's godfather.

Father:

Malcolm Corden

Mother:

Margaret Corden

Spouse:

Julia Carey

Sister:

Ruth Corden

Sister:

Andrea Henry Corden

Daughter:

Carey Corden

Daughter:

Charlotte Corden

Son:

Max McCartney Kimberly Corden

Friend:

Emily Blunt

(born 23 February 1983)

She is an English-American actress.

Friend:

Dominic Cooper

(born 2 June 1978)

He is an English actor.

References

• Esquire March 2017 James Corden Is On Fire!
• Fast Company Magazine December 2017/January 2018 | 132 Secrets of Most Productive People
• James Corden l Metallica l The Beatles l Wilco - Rolling Stone
• James Corden l Supergirl & The Flash l Allegiant l Robin Wright l Darren Star l Gwen Stefani - Entertainment Weekly
• British GQ Magazine (September, 2016) James Corden Cover
• Esquire Uk Edition September 2008 (JAMES CORDEN)