Brendan Fraser is receiving rave reiews and multiple nominations for his role in The Whale. But it almost didn’t happen that way. James Corden told Deadline he was initially offered the role when Tom Ford was the director.
However, Ford dropped out, and the studio went a different way with Darren Aronofsky as the director. But not before George Clooney wanted to produce it with an unknown 600-pound man playing the lead.
All of that had to happen for Fraser to star in the film that is being critically acclaimed because of his performance.
I have not seen the movie, but I did see the play. And there is no way in hell that Corden could’ve done that role. He thinks he was too young, but I say it is because he is not a strong enough actor to win us over as a 600-pound man who just wants to connect with his troubled teenage daughter before he dies.
Sometimes Hollywood gets it right. And this time, they almost got it very wrong. Corden needs to stick to musicals. Oh, wait, no, he doesn’t. He needs to stick to hosting late night TV. Oh, wait, that is coming to an end. He needs to go back to Britain because they gave us Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Fair is fair.
Last week, the restaurant owner of Balthazar called out James Corden’s rude behavior towards his wait staff. Later that day, the host called and apologized to the owner, and all was good again. Until Corden did an interview saying he did nothing wrong.
Well, after a week-long vacation, Corden was back behind the desk at The Late Late Show, so he addressed the situation per his father’s urging.
Corden says he loves the restaurant and went there for breakfast with his wife and two friends. They ordered a meal, and his wife told them she had a food allergy and not to serve her that item. When the dish arrived, the allergen was on it. Therefore, they sent it back. Not once, not twice, but three times. That is when Corden got upset and made a rude comment.
“I understand the difficulties of being a server. I worked shifts at restaurants for years. I have such respect and I value anyone that does such a job. And the team at that restaurant are so great – that’s why I love it there,” Corden said, “But here’s the truth of it. Because I didn’t shout, or scream – I didn’t get up out of my seat, I didn’t call anyone names or use derogatory language – I’ve been walking around thinking I hadn’t done anything wrong… right? But the truth is I have. I made a rude comment, and it was wrong. It was an unnecessary comment. It was ungracious to the server.”
Look, I would be upset too if I ordered something a certain way and they screwed up the order multiple times. I would’ve walked out and gone somewhere else. And yeah, I might’ve been rude.
So, I can understand where Corden is coming from. We all could.
However, I did not feel any sincerity coming from him. I think he only made that on-air apology because he is trying to save his reputation and not go down the same rabbit hole that Ellen DeGeneres went down.
We have seen him be more emotional talking about horrifying news events. So he could’ve put on his actor’s hat and faked it for the camera. But he didn’t. And I think that says more about him than anything else.
I think it states that he is not sorry and would do it again. And you know what, so would we. If he would’ve said, they screwed up my wife’s order multiple times, and I was pissed, so I told them off. I think we would’ve sided with him. But he didn’t. So we don’t.
James Corden is persona non grata at Keith McNally’s Balthazar for being rude to the staff. The renowned chef posted about the two incidents which led to the banning on his social media.
James Corden is a Hugely gifted comedian, but a tiny Cretin of a man. And the most abusive customer to my Balthazar servers since the restaurant opened 25 years ago.
I don’t often 86 a customer, to today I 86’d Corden. It did not make me laugh.
Here are two examples of the funny man’s treatment of my staff.
MANAGER’S REPORT # 1:
‘In June, James Corden was here on table 61. (Although this is diabolical, it happens Very occasionally in all restaurants.) After eating his main course, Corden showed the hair to Balthazar manager G. who was very apologetic. Corden was extremely nasty to G, and said:
“Get us another round of drinks this second. And also take care of all of our drinks so far. This way I write any nasty reviews in yelp or anything like that.” ‘
MANAGER’S REPORT # 2:
‘James Corden was at Balthazar with his wife on October 9th for brunch. He asked for a table outside. Brunch Maitre D’ Allie Wolters took the party to table 301. Mr. Corden’s wife ordered an egg yolk omelette with gruyere cheese and salad. A few minutes after they received the food, James called their server, M. K. and told her there was a little bit of egg white mixed with the egg yolk. M. K. informed the floor manager, G. The kitchen remade the dish but unfortunately sent it with home fries instead of salad. That’s when James Corden began yelling like crazy to the server: “You can’t do your job! You can’t do your job! Maybe I should go into the kitchen and cook the omelette myself!” M.K. was very apologetic and brought G. over to the table. He returned the dish, and after that, everything was fine. He gave them promo Champagne glasses to smooth things out. G. said that Corden was pleasant to him but nasty to the server.’ M.K. was very shaken, but professional that she is, continued to finish her shift.’
This is not the first time the Late Late Show has been called out for being rude to the staff. Back when it was revealed that Ellen DeGeneres was not as nice as she pretends to be, people were saying the same about Corden. However, he did not get as much traction until this came out.
It will be interesting to see if this changes him. I think he will change temporarily. But he will go back to being who he is. You can’t teach old dogs new tricks.
UPDATE: Corden called and apologized to McNally, to read what the Chef wrote, then click here!
Kris and Kylie Jenner were on The Late Late Show yesterday, and one of them was tied up to a lie detector machine. It was the Momager, and James Corden and her youngest daughter got her to admit things.
For example, she has six children, and one of them is her favorite. Is it her first child? The one who brought them fame? The wild child? The only boy? The model? Or the cash cow? Since the latter asked the question, she wanted to know if it was her. And it was!
I don’t think Kim is going to like that. On that note, I don’t know how trustworthy the test was because they said that Kris wasn’t lying when she said she did not help Kim release her sex tape. I don’t believe her, do you?
Jason Momoa and James Corden filmed a bit for The Late Late Show, which aired yesterday. Since it was a montage, not everything made it in. For example, here are the two men playing the Tortilla Challenge.
Basically, that means they take a big sip of water, don’t swallow it, and slap the other person across the face with a tortilla. The first person who spits out the water loses.
It seems like this would be an easy assignment for Aquaman. Was it? Nope. As soon as he slapped the late night host, water came out of Corden’s mouth, and then the same happened to Momoa. Except Momoa spit all over Corden.
However, we weren’t focusing on that. We were looking at X marks the spot. How could you not stare at the bullseye?
