James Corden has become one of late night television's most popular hosts, but he didn't always have the confidence to match the act.
When the British host was growing up, he had to deal with being one of the bigger kids in school, a trait that doesn't go unnoticed by many middle schoolers. But the funnyman decided he would take control of the situation; instead of cowering to bullies, 10-year-old Corden rose above them to become cooler than them.
"If you're big at school, you've really got two choices," he shares with Rolling Stone. "You're going to be a target. If you go to school and you're me, you go, 'Right, I'm just going to make myself a bigger target. My confidence, it will terrify them.' That's how I felt in school."
Little did everyone else know, however, that Corden was secretly trembling. "Inside, you're terrified," he confesses, "but if you're a bit funny, if you're quicker than them, they won't circle back on you again."
Corden rose to fame in the U.K. with a successful TV show, but at one point he faced overexposure. As he was becoming a roaring talent in England, not many in the states knew of him here. Eventually, however, he would star in a Broadway show and win a Tony award. But it wasn't until The Late Late Show that Corden became a staple in the states. Everything would change for Corden as soon as he launched Carpool Karaoke.
But now that he is a somebody in Hollywood, Corden has noticed a thing or two about how the industry treats people who don't fit the standard stick-skinny mold.
"I could never understand when I watch romantic comedies the notion that for some reason unattractive or heavy people don't fall in love. If they do, it's in some odd, kooky, roundabout way—and it's not. It's exactly the same," he explains to the magazine. "I met my wife; she barely owned a television and worked for Save the Children. We sat down one night and we fell in love and that was it."
Corden and wife Julia Carey tied the knot in 2012 and have two kids together, daughter Carey Corden and son Max Corden.
The Late Late Show host has reportedly dropped about 85 pounds by changing his diet and increasing his exercise routine. "I've cut out sugar and bread, and eat only at mealtimes now," he told The Daily Mirror. "I didn't realize before that it wasn't OK to constantly graze all day, that this wasn't a thing and that it was frowned upon."