Meet 'the Baker': James Corden's face will soon be familiar in USA

NEW YORK — James Corden knows when to go with his gut, but not when it comes to signing on to movies.

The British actor, a veteran of TV and theater on the other side of the pond, is making a splash in the USA with his starring role in the just-opened Disney fairy-tale movie musical Into the Woods.

But as much as working with Meryl Streep and Emily Blunt are major appeals — as well as singing Stephen Sondheim show tunes — the real draw for him was working with Rob Marshall, a fellow lover of musical theater.

"I made the decision a few years ago to only follow directors. My reading a script can be so dependent on what I've eaten that day," Corden says, popping a palmful of hotel peanuts on a chilly afternoon. "If I just happen to have had a really nice dessert and I sit down to read a script, it might be the best thing I ever read. I just don't know."

What he does know: 2015 is about to be one of the biggest in the funny Englishman's career. Following his role in one of the holiday season's most high-profile films, he takes over CBS' The Late Late Show in March after Scottish comedian Craig Ferguson's decade-long stint as a late-night TV fixture.

Still, Corben's a relative unknown to many Americans who will be seeing him at 12:30 a.m., unless they caught his Tony-winning role on Broadway in the comedy One Man, Two Guvnors, or saw him in such big-screen fare as Begin Again and The Three Musketeers, or were a fan of his UK TV work like the BAFTA-honored BBC sitcom Gavin & Stacey and The Wrong Mans, now streaming a second season on Hulu.

That newcomer aspect was one of the major factors for Marshall casting Corden in Into the Woods as the Baker, a man cursed by a witch (Streep) to be childless unless he and his wife (Blunt) can bring the old hag the gold slipper of Cinderella (Anna Kendrick), the hood of Red Riding Hood (Lilla Crawford), the cow of young Jack (Daniel Huttlestone) — of beanstalk fame — and a lock of hair from Rapunzel (Mackenzie Mauzy).

"He's the everyman. He can disappear into the role," the director says of Corden. "It was great to be able to have someone at the center of the piece who wasn't known in a full way. It's wonderful to have a discovery."

Fandango senior correspondent Dave Karger considers Corden one of Into the Woods' biggest surprises. Yet he also finds it fascinating that while Corden may be unknown in the American mainstream, he's huge in Britain and in comedy-nerd circles. "He's one of these celebrities who's totally baffled by his own success. He just seems amused by it all and grateful."

Corden's baby face and cackling laugh seem much younger than his 36 years, and he has a self-deprecating, sweetly humble manner. But he also has a wicked sense of humor, and doesn't flinch when slipping a Bill Cosby joke into a conversation.

He notes that Hollywood has tried to make Into the Woods twice before and cops to having "absolute bowel-inducing fear" when he learned that Robin Williams and Billy Crystal were supposed to play his Baker role in those prior projects.

"When you hear that and you're actually making it and it's going to be you, you just go, 'BLAAARGH!' " (His comedic vomiting noises come complete with full-body gestures as well.)

Born in Hillingdon and raised in Buckinghamshire, Corden is married and a father of two — son Max, 3, and daughter Carey, 2 months, with wife Julia. So he connects with the Baker's desire to be a dad and a protector no matter what the consequences, yet he also gives a certain charm to the exasperation of a man who just can't keep a cow from wandering off in the woods.

"I absolutely adore finding those patches of comedy, those small tiny looks and feelings that would feel like what would happen if it was you or me in that situation," he says. "There would be moments where you'd go, 'This is ridiculous!' "

However, it's not until the third act — and a giant threatens the entire kingdom — when the favorite parts of his character bear fruit and he becomes a good guy in the truest sense, even after dealing with a tragic loss and a moment of doubt.

"We're used now, particularly now and almost embarrassingly so, to watching constant films about superheroes where they fly in the sky and they do these weird things," Corden explains. "And the truth is, when stuff actually happens, when there are tragedies in this modern world, it is not your princes, your heads of state, your heroic figures that save the day. It's your man on the street who stands up, rolls up his sleeves and runs in toward the fire.

"I'll never get to play a superhero in a Marvel film, and I'm quite glad that I've got to play an actual hero in an actual film."

The folks Corden hosts on The Late Late Show probably will be celebrities of the larger-than-life variety, but he jokes that he's not that choosy. "Oh, we'll be happy to have any guest on the show. It's gonna be such a disaster."

Whatever happens, however, Corden promises that he'll always bring all of himself to every episode. His clan is moving to Los Angeles in January, and comic musician Reggie Watts has signed to lead the Late Late Show band, but he admits there is still a lot of work to do before the March 23 premiere.

And Corden figures there will be more to do once it premieres as well. "The show is going to tell us what it needs to be as much as what we're going to form what it is. It takes time to cultivate an audience. I haven't been on Saturday Night Live for 10 years. I couldn't be more sight-unseen."

Karger believes Corden's affability is perfect for that 12:30 a.m. slot. "He's so likable but also the slightest bit edgy. His humor's just a little but off, in the best possible way."

Corden isn't taking for granted that it's automatically going to work, and knows it might not. But he couldn't pass up a once-in-a-lifetime shot at talking to America every night.

"I just have to enjoy it and have fun with it. That's all I can do," he says. "If it doesn't work then you can just go, 'Well, of course it didn't. I'm from a tiny town outside London.' But we're really going to try our very best to make a show that is warm and fun and will make people smile before they fall asleep — or whilst they fall asleep more likely."

If all else fails, he could moonlight as a baker because it turns out Corden's pretty good. On the English set of Into the Woods, he and Blunt endured four hours of baking rehearsals one day so they could look the part of master breadmakers. "Zero of it is in the film. There is not a single moment," the actor sighs.

It was not a total loss: "I did take my bread home and bake it and it was pretty good. I mean, bread for me is the devil. If I could eradicate bread, I think I'd be half my size. I genuinely think I'm like 75% bread."

Spoken like a guy who's not only going with his gut but is hungry to make his mark.