[Matt]

JAMES CORDEN

James Corden could be forgiven for resting on his laurels. The writer, presenter, comedian and actor has just won two gongs at the prestigious British Comedy Awards - for best Male Newcomer (playing Smithy in Gavin and Stacey) and for writing the Best New Comedy, (also Gavin and Stacey). But far from lying back on a chaise longue eating peeled grapes and sipping champagne, Corden is working harder than ever. Not only is he filming a second series of Gavin and Stacey, he and co-star Mathew Horne are also preparing to host a month of live programmes on E4 in January, when Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack hits the airwaves.
Corden and Horne presented a week of Big Mouth last summer, and loved every minute of it. Perhaps more importantly, so did the producers and the audience, because the two have been invited back to bring their anarchic and risqué brand of humour to the show for 18 episodes this winter. Here, Corden discusses why he loves doing Big Brother’s Big Mouth, what it’s like to be a sudden celebrity - and why he makes a considerably better ‘Teacher’ than Horne.

How did you end up getting into acting?
I was doing a school play when I was about 12, and there was an agent there from a kids' stage school. She approached me and my dad and asked if I wanted to go on their books. I said yes, so I went to a regular school but then went to auditions in the evenings. I never got a single job, until I was 16 or 17, when I was offered a musical in London called Martin Guerre. My idea was to do that, finish my A-levels and then apply to drama schools. And then, right at the end of Martin Guerre I got this film called 24/7, a Shane Meadows film, and that kind of changed everything, really. I got a London agent, and it all kind of went from there.

What would you say has been your breakthrough role?
I wouldn't exactly say I'd had one, really. I think I've just been very fortunate to work with some great people in some great things. It was great to be in Shane's first film, and I did a film with Mike Leigh, called All or Nothing, where I had a really nice part. Being involved in [Alan Bennett's] The History Boys was incredible, and that changed things for me a bit. Likewise I did a show called Fat Friends, and that raised my profile a bit, and of course Gavin and Stacey has moved things on again. I've been incredibly lucky to be involved in some things that are (a) quite good and (b) successful, and those two quite often don't mix.

You and Mathew were both in Teachers. Did you overlap?
No. I did the series of Teachers that got nominated for a BAFTA and got recommissioned, and Matt did the series that got it axed. I think it's important that people know that. It's just a little detail. Matt killed the show, really.

Gavin and Stacey has been the most phenomenal hit. Were you prepared for that?
Well, it's weird. It doesn't really feel like it's this monster hit, because I'm too close to it. It's amazing for myself and Ruth and anyone else involved in it, that the people who watch it genuinely seem to love it, and love the characters and the world that they live in. That is what means the most to us. No, I wasn't prepared for that. When we wrote it, I didn't even think it would ever be on TV, so it's great, really, really great.

I understand you were encouraged to write by none other than Alan Bennett. Is that true?
Yeah. But then he encouraged every one of the boys in that play to do what he felt that they could. He would just say 'You should write some of this stuff down. You should really have a go at writing, because if you're in a room like this and you can make people laugh, the chances are you can make anyone laugh.' People had been saying it to me for a while, but you kind of ignore it. It's different when the greatest living British playwright says it. But he was just like that. He would've encouraged me just as enthusiastically if I'd said I wanted to take up fly fishing.

You appeared this year on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, didn't you?
Yeah, Ruth and I were on it. It was terrifying right up until the moment we stepped into the green room, and then it was sheer excitement. The other guests were Gordon Ramsay, Alicia Keys and Girls Aloud. Obviously we all hang out quite a lot anyway! What's great about being on something like that is it's a massive chat show that you associate with people who are quite famous, so to be on it is great. For half an hour you feel like you might be someone.

You and Mathew have become good mates through making Gavin and Stacey, haven't you?
Yeah, very good. We don't get to hang out together as much as we'd like to. Although we're living together in Cardiff at the moment while we're filming the second series. We get on great. I count him as one of my best friends and I love him to bits.

How did the two of you end up working on Big Brother's Big Mouth?
I don't know. I think Dermot O'Leary had something to do with it. We were on Soccer AM, and Dermot was on the show. And we all got on really well and had a lot of fun, and I think Dermot came back and suggested us as presenters for Big Mouth, and then we just got asked to do it. And that was it. We absolutely loved every single moment of doing it. It was certainly the most fun I've ever had going to work.

What was so special about it?
I think Matt and I both thrive on pressure a bit. I think we both like a pressured environment. You come in at 2pm, you watch that night's show, you write the script, you've then got to record and edit any sketches or jokes you want on VT. Then you rehearse it for a bit, and then suddenly you're on live TV, and then it's gone. It's instant and it's electric to do. It's so terrifying that it's just wonderful. We just loved it. How we'll get on doing it for 18 nights I have no idea. But all the guys who make it are such a brilliant group of people to be around. It felt like we gelled with them quite easily and naturally.

It must have been quite exciting to have Charley and Chanelle on your first show?
It was a great thing, very exciting. Although we were definitely aware that people weren't really interested in anything we had to say when those two were sitting there!

How much did you prepare for the show, and how much is unscripted?
It's all pretty much unscripted apart from the bits when we're talking straight to the camera. It's all free-wheeling, which is the best thing about it. Anything can happen at any time.

What were your favourite moments of the show?
I loved all the little sketches we did. But more than that, the best thing about it is being in a room with your best mate, and all you're really trying to do is make each other laugh. So every moment was terrific.

Do you think you did any bits that didn't go well?
Yeah. In the first programme I shouted too much. It's so loud in that studio that you forget you've got a mike on. At least, I did. So I watched the first one and just thought 'Oh shut up!' Other than that, I think the greatest lesson we took away from it was just to relax, and forget it's on telly, really.

My own favourite moment was Charley answering a question from you, and opening with: "I'm not going to lie, because I'd be lying if I did…"
Yeah, she was amazing. Lines like that, you just think 'What???' You just can't believe what's coming out of her mouth. They're just words that she's throwing out almost randomly. But, in saying that, off camera she's lovely.

So what have you got planned for the new run of Big Mouth?
I think there's going to be a meat raffle every show, for someone in the audience to win. It'll be a different meat every day, like pork loin or lamb shank. Other than that, I have no idea. We just want it to be really funny, and we want to make as good a show as we possibly can.

What would be your one biggest wish for the series?
Just world peace at the end of it, really. That's all Matt and I are hoping for. If anyone can do it, it's Big Mouth on E4. There's no better way of achieving world peace than Horne and Corden presenting Big Mouth for 18 nights in January. If that doesn't work, nothing will. That's a fact. And that's not me speaking, that's Bono.

Lastly, could you promise, here and now, in print, not to lap dance again in this series?
I can't make any promises. You've got to give the public what they want, you know?