James Corden Will Likely Take Over ‘The Late Late Show’ From Craig Ferguson

Whilst the news has left a lot of people in America scratching their heads as to who exactly James Corden is (as well as a lot of resigned eye rolling that yet another white male gets to take on a late night talk show) audiences here in Australia are likely a little more familiar with him.

Along with his early success on the hit BBC sitcom Gavin & Stacey, Corden hosts the British sporting quiz show A League of their Own, and owing to the fact that he’s a British comic who has been on TV before, has made numerous appearances on various comedy panel shows such as Never Mind the Buzzcocks, 8 Out of 10 Cats, Top Gear and The Big, Fat Quiz of the Year. In addition, he’s recently taken on starring roles in the films One Chance and Begin Again, and in 2012 he picked up a Tony Award for Best Actor for his work in the Broadway via West End production of One Man, Two Guvnors.

And, at 35 years of age, he’ll be the youngest late night host on American TV. If confirmed, the role will see Corden stepping into the 12:35am timeslot currently occupied on CBS by Craig Ferguson, who is stepping down from the role at the end of the year following the network’s decision to pass him over in favour of Stephen Colbert as the retiring David Letterman‘s replacement.

Though American audiences may be unfamiliar with Corden at present, it should be noted that the Late Night hosting chair has never been afraid of taking chances on the unfamiliar – Conan O’Brien quite famously was a writer on The Simpsons with minimal on-camera experience when NBC chose him to hose Late Night with Conan O’Brien, and Ferguson himself was perhaps best known to American audiences as Drew Carey‘s boss Nigel Wick on The Drew Carey Show before commencing his current role.

Still, the one thing you really only need to know about James Corden is this.

He’s a bit of a legend.