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THE first time I met James Corden, at the junket for The History Boys, he seemed the boy least likely to succeed. His co-stars, including Dominic Cooper, had film and theatre roles lined up. Corden, loud and brash, seemed to have little to look forward to apart from Fat Friends (casting directors are unashamedly sizeist). There was a rumour he had written a sitcom but no one took that seriously.
Fast-forward two years and Corden is the saviour of British comedy. Not only did BBC3's Gavin & Stacey, the love story between a Welsh girl from Barry and an Essex boy from Billericay which he stars in and co-wrote with Ruth Jones, pick up two Baftas (beating The Apprentice and Strictly Come Dancing); the Christmas Special on BBC1 drew in seven million viewers.
Next month Corden is co-hosting the 2009 Brit Awards, and is also off to Hollywood. He and Jones have sold the rights to NBC - the US network that turned Ricky Gervais's The Office into a ratings hit. Meanwhile he has written a new BBC sketch show with Mathew Horne from Gavin & Stacey, and their film, Lesbian Vampire Killers, releases this year. And, yes, there will be a third series of Gavin & Stacey.
Following in the footsteps of Gervais and Simon Pegg, Britain's most successful Hollywood exports, Corden, 30, proves you can succeed without matinee-idol looks (he's 5ft 7in and 18 stone). It was Alan Bennett who advised him to write, when they worked together on The History Boys. Funny, truthful and subversive, there are so many reasons to love Gavin & Stacey. It's the first TV show where no one apologises for being fat. It understands the humour of the divide between the South and the rest of Britain. But, most importantly, it's recession TV, because it shows you can have the best fun at home - family and friends are everything.
And it has economic depth, too. The show charts a British heartland - where the stable values of a small-town community (no one has big ambitions, but everyone has a job in Barry) are set against the bling of Essex, where the recession is already biting.
Like Gervais, Corden's writing is finely shaded. He understands the vivacity of working-class life. The middle-aged have the best lines and the best sex lives. But let's not forget that Ruth Jones is a driving force behind the series' success. Corden was wise to choose a fortysomething Welsh woman as his co-writer - he knew the life experience of a twentysomething wouldn't be enough. Plus Jones keeps an eye on Corden, a tabloid favourite, after crushes on Lily Allen and X Factor's Alexandra Burke.
But then the great thing about him is he's a romantic. As he told me when we met again after his Bafta success: "Why write about shooting and killing when you can write about love?"
Corden is maturing nicely. The test is whether a director will cast him as a straight lead (Gervais made the transition in the Hollywood film Ghost Town). But 2009 is his year. Proof the BBC, reeling from the shaming of macho twits Ross and Brand, has got the right man.
Reader views (9)
he is rude off screen and nothing like Gervais - Lets not get this out of proportion or are we still hung up on fat funny men?
- Fly, london
Insult to Cordon more like - Gervais just isn't funny.
- Sarah Brown, London, UK
Apparently you don't need a sense of humour to qualify as a comedian so dont worry he can still be successful despite his shortcomings
- Ed Wood, London, England
I am getting truly sick of all the fuss surrounding James Corden. He's mildly amusing at best. Suggesting that he may be the "new Gervais" is an insult to Ricky.
- Tasha, London
Gavin and Stacey is superb...wonderful scripts and convincing characters.
Actually amazed that anyone would not like it.
Boorish blob??? Very bright and naturally hilarious in my opinion.
- Marina Pearce, Northampton
The comedy gets more and more purile.
- William John Kempton, Edinburgh
I agree, Corden is over-rated. I love comedy but Gavin & Stacey does nothing for me. Corden was unfunny and offensive (along with Sean Lock)on New Year's Eve's Big Quiz. Channel 4 should realise that children are allowed to stay up late on this night of all nights and moderate the post-watershed content.
- Anthony Ward, Bristol, UK
James Corden's co-hosting of BBBM with Mathew Horne, had me in stitches. But I never warmed to Gavin & Stacey -- I much preferred the supreme inventiveness of Pulling.
- Richard Hancock, Bracknell, UK
What an insult to our poor Ricky! This boorish blob is no contender!
- Sarah Bradshaw, Enfield, Middx
