James Corden Auditioned for Brendan Fraser's Part in 'The Whale,' & An A-Lister Was Almost Involved in the Critically Acclaimed Movie

Brendan Fraser is a favorite to pick up multiple awards for his work on The Whale in the new year. However, we learned that the role could have gone to James Corden instead.

The 44-year-old comedian and late-night host just revealed that he was in the running for a part in the Lord of the Rings franchise.

Now, he spilled some tea about another role that just didn’t pan out. Even more surprising, he also revealed that a major Hollywood A-lister almost attached themselves to the critically acclaimed picture, and director Darren Aronofsky confirmed both stories.

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James told Deadline reporter Pete Hammond that he auditioned for The Whale.

“I was going to play that part, and Tom Ford was going to direct,” he said about the missed opportunity.

What happened? According to the Cinderella actor, Tom wanted more control than he was ultimately allowed. James also speculated that he might have been too young to accurately portray the character.

It gets better! According to James, George Clooney also wanted in on The Whale. However, his stipulation for getting involved was that the movie cast an actor who weighed 600 pounds like the character. Brendan had to wear a suit to simulate the weight for the movie, which was a drawback to some theater-goers.

Since things didn’t work out, George reportedly only had a “brief flirtation” with the idea of the movie.

Pete spoke to Darren, who confirmed that all of the above was in fact correct.

The role has already notched Brendan a major nomination. However, he had some surprising news about the ceremony.