- Julia Carey met her husband, James Corden, who's new film Cats opens on December 20, at a Save the Children event in 2009 after being introduced through mutual friend and actor Dominic Cooper.
- Carey, a former actress and television producer, married Corden in a Somerset, England, wedding. The two now share three kids, Max, Charlotte, and Carey Corden.
- Carey was on the guest list for another romantic British wedding: Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s royal affair at St. George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle.
Forget the stuff under the tree. The real gift is scoring a front-row seat to watching James Corden suit up in a cat costume and belt out a few Andrew Lloyd Webber tunes. The Late, Late Show host, who has gone viral numerous times with his “Carpool Karaoke” segment, stars alongside Idris Elba, Jennifer Hudson, Taylor Swift, and Dame Judi Dench as feline-human hybrids in the Jellicle musical Cats.
Besides being a popular face in late-night television, the 41-year-old comedian seems to enjoy a rewarding home life as well. He’s been married to a woman named Julia Carey for nearly a decade, the two share three children, and Corden never misses an opportunity to gush over them. Carey, a former television producer who got her start as an actress on Wings, met Corden while she was working for the nonprofit Save the Children. And according to Corden, it was “love at first sight.”
Though Carey is pretty private—read: her Instagram is off-limits to onlookers—we were able to learn a little bit more about her beyond the basics. Read on for everything we know below. And keep an eye out for the couple at this year’s Golden Globes. Even though Cats isn’t nominated for any above-the-line awards, it is up for Best Original Song. Paws crossed Corden and Carey get an invite to the ceremony. Now, on with the show!
Julia Carey was introduced to James Corden by mutual friend Dominic Cooper.
You (might) know him as leading character Jesse Custer in Preacher, but Julia Carey and James Corden just know Dominic Cooper as “our friend.” Maybe even best friend, when it comes to Corden. Their relationship dates back to 2004 when they were rooming together and starring in The History Boys, a British campus comedy. Fast-forward to a Save the Children charity event in 2009, and Cooper plays an even bigger role: matchmaker.
“I said, ‘I’m really enjoying this sort of thing—like, cooking dinner, falling asleep, not really drinking,’” Corden told Cooper, who was trying to convince him to go out on a night Corden wanted to stay in. “And he said, ‘Come on, let’s go, it’ll be fun.’ Thank God he persuaded me.”
Corden won Carey’s heart with an honest pick-up line.
Upon their first meeting, the words just fell out of his mouth: “I said, ‘Hi, Jules. You might be the most beautiful woman in the world.’ She said, ‘Well, thank you very much. That sounds like something you say a lot.’ And I said, ‘I’ve never said it before in my life.’ That was it. That was it, really. I was in. And by an absolute miracle, so was she.” Suitors, take note. That’s a bold move right there. (He shares the full story with People Editor-in-Chief Jess Cagle below.)
Later, the two slinked off to a corner to plan the rest of their lives. Seriously. “I remember saying to her, ‘Well, what about on Friday we could do nothing together? You could come over and we could just do nothing. And then maybe we could do nothing on Saturday, and we could do nothing on the Sunday. And if our evenings are enough of nothing, then maybe this would become something,’” he recalled. “And she said, ‘That sounds like a fun idea.’”
Carey said yes after Corden proposed over Christmas in 2010.
Though details are a little scarce, reports have pegged the proposal to Christmas Day during Carey and Corden’s Maldives vacation. Some say Corden hid the ring in Carey’s stocking, some say he then got down on one knee, and some say everyone was in tears. Whatever their personal proposal story is, it’s theirs and we are just happy for them.
Carey married Corden in September 2012. The wedding was held at Babington House in Somerset, England, and, of course, had quite the impressive guest list: Model Lara Stone, comedian Michael McIntyre, and Snow Patrol lead singer Gary Lightbody were all in attendance.
She shares three kids with Corden. And they all live in Los Angeles.
She was actually pregnant with her first, Max, now 9, when Corden proposed. The couple also have two daughters, Charlotte, 2, and Carey, 5. And though we don’t really know Carey’s thoughts on motherhood, Corden leaves nothing to the imagination when it comes to how he feels about wrangling three kids. “It’s a nightmare,” he joked, via Today.
We know it’s a joke, because the dedicated dad has gone to lengths to defend his kids against Twitter trolls. After one Twitter user posted a vile message to Corden and his children, the usually funnyman got serious.
Carey used to be an actress, with roles including a part in Wings.
But it’s not the Wings you may be thinking of; it’s not the cult ’90s sitcom starring Tim Daly. Rather the Wings in which Carey played a role was a wartime drama from the '70s about an Englishman who dreams of becoming a pilot. She also appeared in Enemy at the Door and A Bunch of Fives, both short-lived television series. As of 2018, Elite Daily reported Carey to be working as a TV producer. It’s unclear, however, if she’s still in the biz.
She was on the guest list for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s royal wedding.
You know you’ve made it when His Royal Highness requests the pleasure of your attendance to anything. For the Cordens, it was their presence at Prince Harry’s wedding to Meghan Markle, a royal affair held at St. George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle. We probably don’t have to tell you, but that is big, people.
Carey looked beautiful in her blushing ensemble, with an adorable Corden in tow. But it didn’t happen if there aren’t pictures, right?
Don’t forget that Cats releases into theaters on December 20.
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DeAnna Janes is a freelance writer and editor for a number of sites, including Harper’s BAZAAR, Tasting Table, Fast Company and Brit + Co, and is a passionate supporter of animal causes, copy savant, movie dork and reckless connoisseur of all holidays. A native Texan living in NYC since 2005, Janes has a degree in journalism from Texas A&M and got her start in media at US Weekly before moving on to O Magazine, and eventually becoming the entertainment editor of the once-loved, now-shuttered DailyCandy. She’s based on the Upper West Side.
