Television April 28, 2023
James Corden’s Final 'Late Late Show': Tom Cruise, Harry Styles, David Letterman & More Big Moments
James Corden said goodbye to the “The Late Late Show” in a big way!
Tom Cruise, Harry Styles and David Letterman were among the A-list stars who appeared on the episode to help give Corden a proper send-off.
While daredevil Tom has taken James on some wild adventures in the past, from skydiving to flying in a fighter jet, this time it was James’ turn to challenge the action star.
Corden recruited Cruise to perform live in “The Lion King” at Pantages Theater in Hollywood, with some impressive results!
The pair shared a rhino costume for “The Circle of Life,” before returning to the stage as Timon (Corden) and Pumbaa (Cruise) to sing “Hakuna Matata”!
After a successful show, James and Tom said goodbye in the lobby. Cruise asked Corden to join him and some hyenas for a drink, but a melancholy James said no.
Corden told him, "I said I'm going to go. I'll just see you around, I guess. You don't have to pretend anymore, Tom. I know how this works. You're a big movie star and you're going to have more projects to promote and when that happens you're just going to find yourself another late-night host."
He insisted, "You tell me I'm wrong when ‘Mission: Impossible 12’ comes out. You're not going to think of me.”
Cruise asked, "Who's fault is that? You're the one turning your back on everything that we have. Everything that we've created. This is your last show, you did this to us."
Tom left for the bar, and Corden stayed behind at the theater as they began to sing "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" in tandem.
Finally, the friends reunited on a rooftop, where Tom delivered his famous “Jerry Maguire” line, “You had me at hello,” before taking off “Mission: Impossible”-style in a helicopter as James asked, "Tom, how do I get down?"
Another big part of the show was guest Harry Styles, who teased a One Direction reunion!
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Harry and fellow guest Will Ferrell played a round of "Spill Your Guts or Fill Your Guts," where guests choose to answer a question or eat a questionable food item. During the game, Styles talked about the band.
Harry said, "I feel it's not a yes or no question. I would never say never to that. If there was a time where we all felt like that was what we wanted to do, I don't see why we wouldn't."
James teased, "I take that as a yes!"
Corden and Styles also reminisced about Harry’s past appearances, like when he got a tattoo on the show in 2015 after losing a game of “Tattoo Roulette” to his One Direction bandmates.
The singer added, "My favorite thing was probably the music video. I really liked dodgeball. I got hit in the nuts by Michelle Obama. And then my least favorite was when we did 'Crosswalk.' I was so ill that day."
Harry later told James he was "so incredibly proud" of him, saying, "I'm so happy for you and I love you."
James also got a super-sized goodbye from his fellow late night hosts Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Stephen Colbert, Seth Meyers, and even David Letterman.
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In the sketch, James was in bed and woke up to Seth watching over him.
Meyers said, "I need to talk to you about you leaving. We're here to tell you that you can't just leave a talk show."
Kimmel explained, "Having a late-night talk show makes you part of a very exclusive club and if we're gonna let you leave, we need to know you're going to keep our secrets."
The "secrets" turned out to be they all have fake laughs they use with guests and they don’t actually watch everything their guests are promoting.
Seth told him, “You can't look like you're enjoying retirement too much,” and Colbert added, “You're going to grow a beard, a huge one, one that says God spoke to me from a bush.”
Cut to Letterman sporting a beard and saying, “You know, God did speak to me and he told me I don't need to be in this bit.”
Kimmel added he shouldn’t get any “big ideas,” insisting, "Stick to corporate gigs, podcasts, maybe ‘The Masked Singer.’”
Later, the hosts agreed to split up Corden’s ideas… but they all wanted “Carpool Karaoke”! James didn't want to give it up, but then they threatened to revoke his ticket to the Met Gala.
Corden woke up and realized it was all a dream… but then the skit jumped ahead six months.
He found himself as a banana on “The Masked Singer” alongside “The Daily Show” host Trevor Noah, who exited his show in December.
The final episode even featured a recorded message from President Joe Biden.
President Biden told him, “James, congratulations on an incredible run… 1,200 shows in eight years! But after a day spent working for me at the White House… I'm surprised it lasted eight years in any show.”
He continued, “To you, Reggie, and the entire team, thank you for all the joy you brought to homes across America and a special thanks for never asking me to sing in the car. I can't sing worth a damn. We'll miss you, pal. I can't wait to see what you do next.”
Recently, “Extra’s” Melvin Robert spoke with Corden about his final show.
He joked of having Harry on the show, “Look, we want to help [Harry] out, he’s struggling with sales, ticket sales, and album streams. He’s had a tough year. Harry said months ago, he said, ‘I better be on your last show.’”
James also spoke about doing a final bit with Tom Cruise, who he called one of his “biggest” supporters, saying, “He said, ‘We have to do one more bit.’”
Corden admitted, “I don’t know half of the stuff that we’ve done with Tom Cruise, how that’s come about, like flying in fighter jets and all those things.”
He teased of their final sketch, “It’s ridiculous. It’s crazy.” He wasn't lying!