James Corden on his huge success in New York... and his diet secret

James Corden on his huge success in New York... and his diet secret

James Corden pops the cork on a bottle of Bollinger ­champ­agne and hands me a “Charlotte Church-sized” glass of bubbly.

“Here you go,” he says in his dressing room on Broadway. “I had an entire case of Bollinger sent to me this week. And take a look at this note.”

The note reads, “Darling James, welcome to New York and good luck with the show. Love, your number one fan and avid stalker, Anna Wintour x”.

I nearly spit out my champagne. The esteemed and much-feared American Vogue editor is a secret fan of the Gavin and Stacey star? Utter madness!

He says: “I’m afraid I didn’t have any clean glasses in the room so you’ll have to make do with this. If it helps you, Kim Cattrall from Sex And The City was ­slurping on that glass last night.”

It’s safe to say James, 33, has come a long way from Gavin and Stacey, the show that made him a household name in Britain, which he co-wrote with co-star and close pal Ruth Jones.

These days he’s living the American dream in New York where, after a sell-out and critically-acclaimed run on London’s West End, he’s appearing in the lead role in One Man, Two Guvnors.

This week his role on Broadway, which started a few weeks ago, won him his first Tony Award ­nomination for best leading actor in a play. But the highly ­prestigious ­nomination doesn’t seem to faze him at all.

Parents: James and girlfriend TV producer Julia Carey

“I don’t care about awards and all the attention being a ‘celebrity’ gets you,” says James, in his first interview since his Broadway triumph. “It’s just part of the job. I’m in a place now which is so nice because I don’t care about what’s going on outside of this Broadway bubble.

“Don’t get me wrong, it’s insane to be nominated for a Tony Award and be nominated alongside Philip Seymour ­Hoffman. But you need to take it all with a bag of salt, really, and think that all that actually matters is tonight’s show.

“You need to stay in that zone and not believe the hype. That’s all I’ve done since I got to New York. I want to make each and every night of this play a huge success and pleasurable for the audience.”

The fame and adulation don’t seem to have penetrated his mind yet. He’s still a down-to-earth guy who cycles to and from the theatre and can’t quite believe his luck that he’s been so well received on ­Br oadway.

James says: “What’s ­amazing are the reviews. If somebody had said to me, ‘would you like to write your own review?’ I couldn’t have done a better job.”

The New York Daily News review even asked: “Can we keep James Corden in New York for good?”

James says: “I’ve done Broadway before in History Boys but this time around it’s a far bigger deal.

“This time around the focus is very much on me. I’m on a poster and 40ft tall on the side of this theatre. It takes my breath away that I’m doing this.”

Big noise: James has been asked to extend his run at the Music Box Theatre

James has done so well in the show that ­producers wanted him to extend his appearance at the ­Music Box ­Theatre. But he’s had to turn it down as he will marry his girlfriend, TV producer Julia Carey, in the UK this summer. He ­continually gushes about his ­fiancée and says having her and their baby son Max in the Big Apple has been a dream come true.

He has a cute ­painting by Max in his dressing room with hand prints and a message reading, “Dear Daddy, Good luck, Love Max x”.

“I’m here until September 1 and they wanted us to extend the run but I just couldn’t,” he says.

“We have to get back to the UK to get married. Family life has been just ­brilliant. We’re living right by Central Park. It’s amazing, so amazing actually. It’s ­everything I’ve ever wanted.

“My life could not be lovelier. Max was one of the reasons I did the show to be honest. I wanted to take him to America with Julia and for us to live here fo r a few months so that when he’s older we can say, ‘you did that’.

“Every day so far there’s been a ­moment where we are walking through the park or having a picnic and Jules and me look at each other and say, ‘Oh my God, this is bloody amazing’.” James and Julia, 32, are trying to keep each other on the straight and narrow with strict diets and he is believed to have lost five stone in the past year.

They are following their own unique healthy eating plan and exercising regularly.

James says: “My biggest tip is this... treat bread like chocolate.

“You wouldn’t have a ­chocolate bar in the morning and then a double chocolate bar at lunch and then some chocolate before dinner. I was ­essentially eating a loaf of bread a day. And that doesn’t work for me. Look at bread and see it as a Dairy Milk Cadbury’s ­chocolate bar and say to yourself, ‘OK, you don’t need that’. Bread is bad.

“I’m still being healthy an d I’m trying very hard to not eat rubbish,” he says with a naughty glint in his eye.

“I ­buckled the other day and me and Jules went to Shake Shack... it’s insane. It’s literally the most hilarious ­calorie attack ever. I could have cried after eating one of their burgers.

James Corden - One Man Two Guvnors play

“We couldn’t even speak to each other for an hour after because that food put us in a coma of carbs. All we’ve been eating is pulses and stuff so it was a shock to the system.”

For his next project James will film a six-part comedy thriller for BBC2 called The Wrong Man.

So far he has written five episodes with writing partner and Gavin and Stacey co-star Matt Baynton and they will shoot the series in the autumn.

There are also rumours he could play Britain’s Got Talent opera singer Paul Potts in a major film about his life.

The position he’s now in is all rather familiar to James.

“When I first wrote Gavin and Stacey with Ruth Jones I was in New York for History Boys and she came out and worked with me to get it finished out here,” he says.

“And the same is happening again now. I’ve followed the exact same ­pattern as before. We had written five episodes before I went on History Boys and Ruth came to New York and we finished writing the show.

Success: James Corden - One Man Two Guvnors play

“Now, six years on, I’ve found myself in exactly the same position. We’ve written five and we’ve got one more to do. The show is kind of a ­comedy... but it’s a thriller, action and comedy. It’s kind of high-end stuff with lots of twists and set in Berkshire. We will star in it and there’s lots of other people in it too.”

James recently found time to meet members of One Direction when they were in New York and couldn’t believe the hysteria the Brit boyband were causing in the States.

He says: “One Direction are bloody huge out here. I went to see them at their hotel recently and it was ­extraordinary. I went at 1am after a show and thought it would be quiet but there were like 70 girls outside.

“They were just waiting patiently for them. I’ve not met a soul who wants to see The Wanted over One Direction. The thirst for those boys is insane.”

As we wrap things up I’m left with the impression James is content with every s ingle part of his life. “I’m ­genuinely the happiest man alive right now,” he says letting out a big sigh.

“It’s thrilling being here and earning my living on Broadway. I’m feeling ­incredibly lucky.”