Just before his farewell appearance as the late-night talk show host on April 27, the actor and comedian shares some of his favorite clips.
James Corden is about to sign off.
On Thursday, April 27, the British actor and comedian will host his final edition of The Late Late Show with James Corden on CBS. And, as he prepares for his final bow, he reflects on some of his favorite moments, beginning with his very first episode in 2015.
When Corden’s first guest, Tom Hanks, arrived, the Oscar winner offered him some advice. “He said to me, James, this is show business,” Corden remembers to PEOPLE. “The things where you worked hard and tried your hardest will be the things where you go, “So, I gave it my all.”The things that haunt you are the things where you may not have given it your all.”
Those wise comments set the tone for Corden’s next eight years as the show’s host, which will conclude after roughly 1,200 episodes.
Corden, 44, whose easy charm in viral segments like “Carpool Karaoke” and “Drop the Mic” became his trademark, says that while it’s “strange” to say goodbye, he’s excited for his next act, which includes returning to England with his family (wife Julia Carey, son Max, 12, and daughters Carey, 8, and Charlotte, 5). “It’s been so great to have had this ride,” he says. “I hope people saw the joy and love we put into it, that we were a show that took risks.” Jumping out of a plane with Tom Cruise, flying in fighter jets, singing around Liverpool with Paul McCartney, and all of that: I hope people understand that we did a show that we all really, really, really cared about.”
Corden recounts some of his favorite moments from the eight-season run in the video below.
Beginning with a Bang
Corden and Tom Hanks reenacted the actor’s entire oeuvre (including 1988’s Big) in under seven minutes for the first segment ever filmed in-studio in 2015. “It blows my mind, really,” he says of Hanks’ assistance in launching his hosting career. “He said he’d come and be our first visitor, which was incredible. I recall where I was. ‘What’s anything we could do with Tom Hanks?’ I said as I stood on the roof. ‘Ah, he’s done all of these different huge movies,’ I recalled thinking. ‘What if we could replicate all of his movies in a lo-fi green screen?’”
“So we called him and pitched the idea to him, and he said yes.” He came in a day early from New York to rehearse.”
