Meet your new “Late Late Show” host, America.
Credit: Mike Pont/FilmMagic
It’s been rumored for a few weeks that James Corden would be taking over “The Late Late Show” once Craig Ferguson steps down at the end of the year, but CBS has now made it official. The British comedian is a virtual unknown to American audiences, but has won a Tony award for “One Man, Two Guvnors” and is very popular in the U.K. for creating and starring in the show “Gavin and Stacey.” He can also be seen in the indie drama “Begin Again” with Keira Knightley. No official start date has been announced, but it will be sometime in 2015. In the meantime, he’ll get his official introduction from Dave Letterman before Letterman departs.
The initial suggestion of Corden was met with some skepticism when it was first announced. He’s yet another white man in a very white male landscape of late night talk shows. Also, ,ost Americans’ experience with him can be summed up as, “Wait, who’s that guy in the ‘Into the Woods’ trailer between Meryl Streep and Anna Kendrick?” But we’ll give him the benefit of the doubt for now. We generally trust the U.K.’s judgment when it comes to suggesting funny people to us.
