Rob Brydon once had to sit James Corden down and talk to him about his rude behaviour after he first shot to fame.
After creating and starring in Gavin & Stacey with Ruth Jones in 2007, Corden became a household name, eventually becoming the host of US talk show The Late Late Show, and starring in films like Cats (2019), The Prom (2020), and Cinderella (2021).
But, just as he started to hit the big time, his Gavin & Stacey co-star Brydon had to give him a good talking to.
Reflecting on the heart-to-heart, the comedian said that Corden had started acting 'ratty and irritable', and felt he needed to dig him out of a dangerous hole before it was too late.
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"I’d known him for a while – we met on a big comedy-drama called Cruise of the Gods in about 2002", Brydon told The Independent in 2019.
"I was very impressed by him, although he was very young, very green – very provincial is how I would describe him, not unlike myself at that age. He is such a talent, James, good God he really is. So he was on a rollercoaster."
He explained that, while Corden was 'enjoying the fruits of his success', he 'lost his way for a bit'.
The comedian said at the time: "He was burning the candle at both ends, and becoming ratty and irritable. He was in a washing machine being battered around. I felt for him. And the press over here were hoping and praying he’d fall flat on his face, because that would be a fantastic story.”
Worried that his co-star would end up ruining his reputation, Brydon decided to take him out for lunch and set him straight.
"I was sitting there thinking, ‘When am I going to bring this up?’ And I just said, ‘I don’t like hearing people saying this, because that’s not the person I know. So you need to be careful.’ And he took it in the spirit that it was intended."
Corden, himself, has also admitted that it was Brydon who snapped him out of his funk all those years ago.
During an episode of Desert Island Discs back in 2012, he told host Kirsty Young that he had been acting 'spoilt and brattish' before the Would I Lie to You presenter got to him.
“Rob took me to lunch and said, ‘What are you doing going out all the time being photographed with all these people? This isn’t the you I know. But it is the you I am having to defend to people’.”
Recently, the Late Late Show host was banned from a New York City restaurant after being described by the owner as the 'most abusive customer'.
Keith McNally, who owns Balthazar in the Big Apple, ripped into James this week after announcing he had decided to ban the funnyman from his establishment.
"James Corden is a Hugely gifted comedian, but a tiny Cretin of a man," he wrote along with statements from various managers.
McNally has since issued an update to confirm that Corden had called him up to apologise for his behaviour, and has rescinded the lifetime ban.
LADbible has reached out to reps for Corden for further comment.
Topics: Celebrity, James Corden, Gavin And Stacey
Ali Condon