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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Louise Lavigueur

James Corden's highs and lows: From Smithy to Stateside TV host and flop movie Cats

James Corden has announced he is leaving The Late Late Show next year after eight years at the helm of the hit US chat show.

But before he was charming the audience Stateside and becoming known for driving around and singing with celebrities in his ' Carpool Karaoke Segment', he had a string of acting and TV successes back home.

Let's take a look back down memory lane at where it all began...

British born Corden, is of course best known in the UK for co-writing and staring in TV series Gavin and Stacey.

But Corden, 43, actually began his early career on the stage and grew attention for his talents when working on Alan Bennett play The History Boys.

James Corden is to leave The Late Late Show next year as we take a look at his career credentials before heading Stateside (Getty Images for Vanity Fair)
James Corden was considered a 'bold' move for the CBS show but has proved he had what it takes to pull in the viewers (Getty Images for Jaguar Land Rover)

After being encouraged to pursue script writing his next venture saw him pair up with an acting pal Ruth Jones.

The duo penned the sitcom Gavin and Stacey, which put him on the watch list for future success and made all the lead stars household names.

Co-writing and starring in the show as loveable Essex lad Smithy, the comedy captured the hearts of the nation with the blossoming romance of the titular characters and their fun-loving sidekicks.

Gavin and Stacey became a national treasure of comedy viewing with the Christmas specials also pulling in record numbers (Copyright unknown)

After such far reaching TV success with Gavin and Stacey the pressure proved to hold the star back as he scored a sting of flops with Horne and Corden, his sketch show with Mathew Horne, his co-star from Gavin and Stacey, failed to pull in the viewers. The pair also bombed at the box office with the film Lesbian Vampire Killers.

Cordon with his former co-star Sheridan Smith (PA)

Stage comeback

But returning to his stage roots he pulled back the critics appearing in One Man, Two Guvnors, for which he secured a Olivier Award and a Tony Award in 2012.

He won praise for another project the following year, a Hulu series called The Wrong Mans, which he and Mathew Baynton created and starred in.

In 2014, Corden enjoyed a prominent role in the musical film Into the Woods , with Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt and Anna Kendrick.

Corden with guests Brooklyn Decker, Ray Romano, and Joy Downer (CBS via Getty Images)

Stateside success

James Corden later landed the lucrative and highly sought after American chat show host role in 2015 after an earlier announcement that he would be replacing Craig Ferguson.

Surprised that CBS picked him, Corden told Variety, “When I got the job, I’d never even been on an American talk show.”

He considered the decision to hire him to be “a really bold choice.”

Corden with fellow Brit and good pal Adele for Carpool Karaoke (CBS via Getty Images)

Corden made his late night debut in March 2015 with actor Tom Hanks as one of his guests.

He has gone on to pull in top A listers to the show including Mariah Carey, Katie Couric, David Beckham, Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande.

Fans lapped up his "Carpool Karaoke," which led to an Emmy win in 2016, and "Drop the Mic," which became a separate TV competition series in 2017.

Movie credentials

Corden’s success as a TV host secured him high-profile movies as Ocean’s 8 in 2018.

He also lent his voice to several popular animated films, including Trolls and its follow-up, Trolls World Tour; The Emoji Movie; Peter Rabbit and its sequel; and Smallfoot.

In 2019 Corden appeared as we'd never seen him before in Cats , a film adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s hugely successful stage musical.

Hanging out with his Friends: Corden was chosen to host the highly anticipated Friends reunion (CBS via Getty Images)

He also hosted the eagerly anticipated Friends Reunion.

In total he has been nominated for 22 Primetime Emmys, hosted the Tony Awards and won a Tony in 2012 for One Man, Two Guvnors.

And despite his obvious Hollywood connections he has maintained a private family life away from the cameras, with his wife Julia and their three children, son Max and daughters Carey and Charlotte.

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