James Corden was almost a resident of the Shire.
On the Dec. 27 episode of the Happy Sad Confused podcast, the Late, Late Show host confirmed that he auditioned for Peter Jackson's 2001 film The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.
"Every single person in London auditioned for Lord Of The Rings," he told host Josh Horowitz. "Everybody. I auditioned for Samwise. I was doing the accent and everything."
Although the audition process was "not good" for Corden, the late-night host shared that he did land a second chance, as he was called back. "Two of my other friends went in [to audition] and then we all got called back the next day," he recalled. "Then we got called back the next day."
But, as fans of the franchise well know, Corden didn't book the role. In fact, according to Corden, "None of us got called back after that."
Eventually, the role of Samwise ended up in the hands of The Goonies alum Sean Astin.
But it's not too late for the talk show host to focus on his acting career as he announced his departure from The Late Late Show earlier in 2022. Set to leave the show ahead of summer 2023, the host, who took over for Craig Ferguson, is hoping to pursue more acting opportunities.
"It's been it's a really hard decision to leave because I'm so immensely proud of the show," Corden told Deadline on Apr. 28. "I'm thrilled to be extending [for a year]. I always thought I'd do it for five years and then leave and then I stayed on. I've really been thinking about it for a long time, thinking whether there might be one more adventure."
In the meantime, The Late Late Show airs at 12:37 a.m. ET on CBS.