Actor and writer James Corden was in the original 2004 cast of Alan Bennett's The History Boys, which toured the world and was later made into a film. He returned to the National in 2011 to play the lead in One Man, Two Guvnors, which transferred to the West End then Broadway.
I remember going to see Guys and Dolls at the National and being completely blown away by Imelda Staunton and Clive Rowe. I grew up in a family where, if we went to the theatre, we'd go and see big musicals and it was only when I got a bit older that I went to see [plays]. I have really distinct memories of being at the National and thinking, "Oh my God, I didn't know that live theatre could be like this".
I think any actor in Britain longs to work there. You're always going to walk out a better actor than you walked in. I'm well aware that my experience with the National is an unbelievably privileged one – I got to travel the world and end up on Broadway. It all started in Rehearsal Room 2 at the National Theatre.
All of the dressing rooms are in a quadrant and they look in on each other. On any production's opening night, when "Beginners" is called, all the other companies bang on the windows for that company. It's wonderful. I don't know how or when [the tradition] started, but I hope it never ends. It's like you've got these other companies going, "We're rooting for you tonight".
The reason that the National is so brilliant is predominantly because its [work] starts with a government grant, so you're not trying to second guess what will be commercially successful. You start by thinking, "What can we do that's good or interesting or challenging?" and you're not having to think, "But what demographic will that appeal to?"
I think I will always have an emotional pull towards that building. It's given me too many special moments and special times.
