James Corden has a starring role in Cats, but he hasn’t watched it yet. Gasp!
In a new interview with Zoe Ball on BBC Radio 2, Corden made the shocking confession which has rocked showbiz to its core, saying:
“I haven’t seen it, I’ve heard it’s terrible.”
Well, yup. My latest Tomatometer check finds it currently sitting at a catastrophic 17%. And as if flopping at the box office wasn’t bad enough, now the studio have to deal with this snub. How is their PR team going to contain it? The film’s disastrous opening had already been a catalyst for Universal to resupply theaters and send out a new cut with updated effects.
Snarky sarky sarcasm aside, Corden’s revelation doesn’t exactly defy categorization. It’s not unheard of for stars to admit they haven’t set aside the time to rewatch projects they’ve been involved with. I’ll reel out Michael Caine’s bit on Jaws 4, which beautifully summarizes this issue:
“Somebody said, ‘Have you ever seen Jaws 4?’ I said, ‘No. But I’ve seen the house it bought for my mum. It’s fantastic!'”
Actors know when they’re taking roles on artistic merit and when they’re taking roles for the swish paycheck. Spare a thought for those who think they’re doing the former, only for the film to come out and be a cataclysmic dumpster fire, meaning they don’t even get a flash pad for their troubles. And spare an even more portentous thought for the audiences who go to see Cats, for unlike James, who one imagines gets paid quite handsomely for his work, they’ll have had to part with their hard-earned moolah for the privilege of watching this catatonic mess – which is work in itself.
If Corden does ever catch himself watching his latest foray into the cinematic sewer, he should be wary. Hopefully he won’t have had his cataracts removed and he can enjoy the film in its best presentation – mostly blurred. I say best, but totally blurred would be better. This article was about Cats, by the way.