Trending 31st January 2020 by Adele Miner
James Corden Is Standing Up To The Fat-Shaming He’s Experienced In Hollywood
He says his size has prevented him getting substantial roles
James Corden has spoken out about the fat-shaming he has experienced in Hollywood during his career.
Diversity and equality in the industry are making positive moves, we’re seeing more female leads in films than ever before, diverse representation is at an all time high, and The Farewell’s Awkwafina made history as the first Asian Best Actress winner at this year’s Golden Globes.
Yet diversity in terms of body size and image remains an untouched subject.
It’s rare, if not impossible to find a rom-com starring two plus-size people, and shows and films which do cast plus-size characters often focus storylines solely around their size.
James Corden has experienced this inequality first hand and isn’t shy in sharing his thoughts on it.
Telling The New Yorker that his size has prevented him from progressing in his early career, he said:
“I was good for playing a bubbly judge in a courtroom, or I’d be the guy who drops off a TV to Hugh Grant in a movie.
“If someone came from another plant and out on the television, you would think that people who are big or overweight don’t have sex,”
“They don’t fall in love. They’re friends of people who fall in love. They’re probably not that bright, but they’re a good time, and they’re not as valuable as people who are really good-looking.”
However, it seems that fat-shaming isn’t just contained to Hollywood, as he also spoke out about his negative experiences when working on Uk soap ‘Hollyoaks’.
Explaining a scene he refused to perform, the producers of Hollyoaks wanted James to act out a part where his character Wayne’s locker was decorated with pictures of junk food.
“I thought they were just being really nasty about anyone that’s overweight,”
“I remember saying to the guy, ‘I don’t know one person who would take a picture of a hot dog and a burger and stick them on the wall’.”