James Corden speaks final shows and hopes to return to theater – The Hollywood Reporter

James Corden being honest about his post-Let Let Show steps, admitting some uncertainty about his future and revealing hopes of returning to the theatre.

“There are a lot of things I’d like to do, but they’re very dependent on people wanting me to do them,” Corden said a PaleyFest event in Los Angeles on Sunday, where he also participated in a panel Let Let Show executive producers Ben Winston and Rob Crabbe, in a conversation moderated by Brian Cranston. He added: “I think it will be very important to take a deep breath and take a moment” to rest from the past eight years, and with plans for his family to move back to England this summer .

Cranston asked if Corden would like to return to the theater at some point – he won a Tony in 2012 for his performance in One man, two governors – as the host claimed, ‘I couldn’t feel more urgent to leave to do that. I will be very angry with myself if I don’t get to play again in a year or a year and a half or replay a play I’ve already done. I would give anything to go back and do another show, I would give absolutely anything.”

“I haven’t felt this scared since I decided to take the show, move here,” Corden said of his future. “I haven’t felt on such unstable ground,” but acknowledged “I have to embrace that fear.”

When Cranston expressed surprise at his fear, Corden explained, “I’m just aware that what I’m trying to do isn’t the road that’s often taken, to go from like National Theater to writing a TV show on the BBC, Broadway, host of a late night talk show, recording stuff in the middle of that, stopping the late night talk show and then saying, ‘Oh, I’d like to do another play now.’ It’s just not the road that has been traveled as far as I know, so that entails a huge amount of anxiety. It’s terrifying, it’s absolutely terrifying.”

The late late show is now in its final month, with the final episode scheduled to air on CBS on April 27. Corden said they still have 12 more episodes to do, and it will probably be the biggest shows they’ve ever done. That includes three “Carpool Karaoke” sessions and one of his famous “Crosswalk the Musical” segments, as well as the teased Lion King musical performance with Corden as Timon and Tom Cruise as Pumbaa. Corden will also participate in a “Take a Break” segment with the Kardashian family.

During the 90-minute panel, the trio reflected on their favorite moments over the show’s eight years and performed a live version of their playing “Spill Your Guts or Fill Your Guts” on stage. Corden also revealed one of their craziest ideas that never materialized, which included him and Jennifer Lopez living in a glass box above Sunset Boulevard for an entire day to promote her 2022 Netflix documentary. Peace.

Corden admitted that it “feels incredibly strange” to end the show and “walk away from something you love so much.”

“It’s not good because you’re having such a great time, I’m going to work with all my best friends… but at the same time I’m so sure it’s the right thing to do,” he said. “I’m so absolutely sure we’ve done everything we set out to do and I think it’s very important that it comes to an end.” And of his hopes for the finale, he added that he “wants to go out with everything we’ve made the show about: joy, love, gratitude.”