On Monday's episode of 'The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,' the 'Late Late Show' host spoke about how the demonstrations in the wake of George Floyd's death make him feel like "there is a revolution happening."
When James Corden first started hosting The Late Late Show, he said that he always tried to make it a "big, joyful variety show every night." But with President Donald Trump's administration, the COVID-19 pandemic and the weeks of protests against police brutality, he said he has shifted his show's focus towards education.
"If anything, the greatest things that have come out of these past few months is I've really enjoyed being opening to the notion that I'm on a quest of education here," Corden told Stephen Colbert on Monday's episode of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.
Corden went on to explain how, even though his initial frames of reference for late-night shows consisted of "stupid pet tricks" or lip-sync battles, he has opened his show up to have more timely and important conversations, some that he feels he has "really taken things away form."
"We're all having conversations with our children that are different and more insightful, and I really feel quite comfortable now talking about these things," he said. "I'm in it to learn and I want to learn more about it."
Similar to his perceptions of late-night television, Corden went on to reveal that how his image of America has changed as well. As a child, Corden said he believed in the American dream and continued to do so once he moved to New York for History Boys.
"At that point in my life and still in this point, I had no idea how deep so much of the history goes culturally and particularly in these last four years," he said. "It's felt like a giant step backwards."
Relative to England, where Corden grew up, he said that America is still a young county and still finding its ground. He said that it's fine for America to still figure out what works best for its people, but with the pandemic and the George Floyd protests, he feels that America is undergoing a phase of change.
"I think the most incredible thing about this moment now, post-George Floyd, the protests that we've seen, the marches...it feels like there is a revolution happening," he told Colbert.
While "the revolution" may be happening outdoors with marches and protests, Corden also noted that there's a revolution happening indoors and everywhere around him.
"For the first time, people are going, 'I'm part of this and I have to make changes, and I have huge hope and optimism, but check with me in November," he said.
Watch the interview below.
