"James Corden says 'irritating' actors are shut out of romantic roles"

From the BBC:

James Corden has criticised the exclusion of "irritating" people in films and on TV, saying they "never really fall in love... never have sex".

Speaking on David Tennant's podcast, the TV host added that "certainly no-one ever finds you likeable" on screen if you are full of yourself. He added that those actors are, at best, cast as the "bad" and annoying friend of someone who is likeable...

Corden starred in The History Boys on stage and screen. "And now I was in this play, which was the play to see [The History Boys]. And I was in this play with seven other boys who were at a similar age and a similar place in our careers. And pretty much every day, three or four of these boys would come in with this massive film script under their arm."

He was offered "the hottest script" along with two other History Boys actors, he explained.

"They both got sent the script [for the lead roles] and I got sent just two pages to play a double glazing salesman at the start of this film. I really felt like people were going, 'We think you're quite good. It's just because nobody wants to identify or empathise with you.'"

Lenny Henry agreed, saying that his lack of a sense of humour or anything interesting to say meant he had struggled to make it as a comedian.