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Actor and television personality James Corden is drawing heat for his performance in Ryan Murphy’s The Prom, in which he plays a gay Broadway performer. The Prom is not available to stream on Netflix until next week, but critics are already taking Corden, who is straight, to task for his “gross and offensive” take on LGBTQ+ culture, with some even going so far as to declare it “gayface.”
Based on the 2016 Broadway musical of the same name, The Prom stars Corden, Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, and Andrew Rannells as four stage stars who travel to a small town in Indiana after a high school student named Emma (Jo Ellen Pellman) is banned from taking her girlfriend to the prom. While their crusade begins as a PR stunt — they believe it will generate good publicity for their show — they soon become attached to Emma and resolve to throw her the glitziest prom ever.
Early reviews of The Prom have been favorable (the film currently boasts a 73% Critics’ Score on Rotten Tomatoes), but Corden’s performance seems to have stood out — and not in a good way. When the review embargo lifted in late November, Twitter filled up with negative notes from critics who called out Corden’s “cringe” portrayal of a gay Broadway star.
“The main, and huge, drawback is James Corden,” wrote AwardsWatch’s Erik Anderson of the The Prom, which he said he “really liked” otherwise. “The worst gayface in a long, long time. It’s horrifically bad.”
“Corden’s performance is insulting,” agreed Vanity Fair’s Richard Lawson, in a piece titled “James Corden Should Have Been Banned From The Prom.”
Other critics, including Digital Spy’s Ian Sandwell and IndieWire’s Zach Sharf, added that Corden’s casting “derails” The Prom and only distracts from its message.
The Prom debuts in select theaters today and on Netflix next Friday, December 11, so viewers will have a chance to evaluate Corden’s performance for themselves in the days to come. Regardless, this is probably not the kind of publicity Netflix wants ahead of the film’s high-profile release.
Decider has reached out to Netflix and James Corden for comment, but did not hear back by the time of publication.
