These days, James Corden is an in-demand actor watched by millions each weeknight as host of “The Late Late Show”, but in a new interview with The New Yorker he recalls losing out on acting roles because casting directors thought he was overweight.’
“I was good for playing a bubbly judge in a courtroom, or I’d be the guy who drops off a TV to Hugh Grant in a movie,” he explained, illustrating how Hollywood tends to view anyone on the larger side.
“If someone came from another planet and put on the television, you would think that people who are big or overweight don’t have sex,” he added. “They don’t fall in love. They’re friends of people who fall in love. They’re probably not that bright, but they’re a good time, and they’re not as valuable as people who are really good-looking.”
To make his point, Corden shared an anecdote from one of his first acting jobs, playing a college janitor in U.K. soap “Hollyoaks”. As Corden recalls, the set designer decorated his character’s room with posters of fast food. Furious, Corden insisted he wouldn’t do the scene until the posters had been taken down.
“I thought that they were just really being nasty about anyone that’s overweight,” Corden explained. “I remember saying to the guy, ‘I don’t know one person who would take a picture of a hot dog and a burger and stick them on the wall.’”
When Bill Maher jokingly urged a return to fat-shaming during a rant on his HBO talk show “Real Time”, Corden fired back with an on-air response. As Corden said at the time, there’s no need to bring fat-shaming back — because it’s never gone away.
“We are reminded of it all the time,” he said. “There’s a common and insulting misconception that fat people are stupid and lazy. We’re not. We get it, we know. We know that being overweight isn’t good for us. I’ve struggled my entire life trying to manage my weight.”
Corden tells The New Yorker that he was hesitant about whether to respond to Maher, but ultimately decided it was a good idea. “I just think it’s out of touch with actual people,” he adds.
“You cannot forget what most people’s lives are like. You cannot forget how f**king hard it is. And maybe the only slice of joy in your life is that cheeseburger. And it’s cheap. There are no chubby kids at my son’s school because it’s a private school on the West Side of L.A.”
You can read the rest of Corden’s interview right here.
