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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Nika Shakhnazarova

Ricky Gervais' 'savage dig' at James Corden in Netflix's After Life

After Life fans were left convinced that Ricky Gervais poked fun at James Corden in the hit Netflix series.

The 58-year-old comedian returned to Netflix on Friday with the second series of his black comedy-drama, and has been inundated with goodwill after it was positively received.

But eagle-eyed fans spotted a character in the hit series who resembles James Corden - a character who also goes by the name of James.

After Life sees James portrayed as an attention-seeking mummy's boy who soils himself during his performance.

But despite his grotesque slip-up, fans were paying more attention to the fact that the character reminds them of the popular talk show host.

Many fans thought Ricky Gervais poked fun at James Corden (PA)

Viewers flocked to Twitter to share their opinions on the striking resemblance.

One penned: "James from After Life is acc James Corden 2.0."

Another wrote: "The work experience kid in After Life 2 is definitely a piss take of James Corden."

The character's name is also James (Netflix)

While a third added: "Is James from After Life solely based on James Corden?"

A fourth agreed: "@rickygervais just finished Afterlife season 2 you are a f***in genius.... one question tho was the lad James character based on James Corden? Tell me it's true."

But while some were convinced that the character was based on James Corden, others were fooled into thinking it was the real him.

Fans flocked to Twitter to compare thoughts (Netflix)

One wrote: "Just finished binge watching S2 of After Life. Another total gem of a show #bafta. How did Ricky Gervais get James Corden to play the odd lad who does the dance to 'send in the clowns' and sh*ts himself on stage.

"I didn't think Ricky liked Corden, I'm with him on that one."

Another fan said: "Finished After Life, absolutely brilliant. Raw, funny and sad in equal measure. James Corden was hysterical in it."

The shameless dig comes as after Ricky kicked off his Golden Globes speech back in January by slating James.

Some viewers were convinced James Corden appeared on the new season (Getty Images)

Hollywood had been braced for the controversial comedian's return and he did not disappoint, with his opening monologue being met with a series of gasps.

James - who starred in the critically-panned CATS movie - was the subject of Ricky's cruel joke during the awards ceremony.

"The world got to see James Corden as a fat p***y", said Ricky.

"And he was also in CATS."

And it seems as though his beef with James has not ended back in January as he felt the need to seemingly poke fun at him in After Life.

The dark comedy follows life of local news reporter Tony Johnson (Gervais) in the small town of Tanbury.

However, Tony is darkly depressed following the passing of his beloved wife Lisa (Kerry Godliman).

The first season seemed to end with Tony really turning a corner and embracing life with his colleagues and asking his elderly father's nurse Emma ( Ashley Jensen ) out on a date.

However, the new season sees his workplace under threat, Emma being romanced by a new guy, and Tony's own dark feelings resurfacing.

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