James Corden nearly played Brendan Fraser’s role in the awards season favorite “The Whale,” according to a new report.
The “Late Late Show” host told Deadline’s Peter Hammond that at one point he was attached to the project about a 600-pound man trying to reconnect with his estranged daughter and that Tom Ford was set to direct.
“I was going to play that part, and Tom Ford was going to direct,” Corden said, per the outlet. However, Corden and Ford ended up not doing the movie “because Ford wanted more complete control of the project,” Hammond wrote last week.
He added, “Corden also thinks he may have been too young to do it justice.”
BRENDAN FRASER REVEALS THAT HE STARVED HIMSELF FOR ‘GEORGE OF THE JUNGLE’ ROLE: ‘I WAS WAXED’
James Corden said he almost played Brendan Fraser’s role in “The Whale.”
( Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images/RB/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images)
Corden said George Clooney had briefly considered directing but only if he could find an actor who was close to the 600-pound character to play the lead role.
Tom Ford was briefly set to direct “The Whale,” James Corden said.
(Getty Images)
“The complications of that were too much, as you might imagine, and Clooney never became involved beyond that brief flirtation with the property,” Hammond wrote.
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Brendan Fraser played a 600-pound man in “The Whale.”
(Getty Images)
“The Whale” director Darren Aronofsky confirmed everything to Hammond on a different occasion, the columnist wrote.
In October, Fraser received yet another standing ovation for his performance in “The Whale.”
Fraser, 53, was moved to tears during his second standing ovation – this time at the London Film Festival. The film was shown to an audience and the actor reportedly received a five-minute standing ovation.
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The reaction to the film at the London Film Festival follows his first standing ovation at the Venice Film Festival in early September. The audience bestowed a six-minute standing ovation to the “Crash” star.
Fraser has returned to the silver screen for what many believe could be an Oscar-contending role.
The role represents a major comeback for Fraser, as it is his first leading role in almost a decade. “The Mummy” star also has upcoming roles in Martin Scorsese’s latest western film “Killers of the Flower Moon,” and with Dawn Olivieri and Marcia Cross in “Behind the Curtain of Night.”
Reps for Corden and Ford did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
