Even before James Corden and Jez Butterworth made Mammals, their suspenseful six-part comedy-drama series, the actor and the playwright already had a lot in common.
Both have won a Tony award, and recognition from the Oliviers (Corden nominated, Butterworth winning) for a triumphant London-to-Broadway transfer: Corden for the slapstick farce One Man, Two Guvnors, Butterworth for the mystically tinged thriller The Ferryman. They each have one foot in Hollywood – Corden was nominated for a Golden Globe for The Prom, in which his turn as a camp musical theatre star inflamed the debate over straight actors playing gay roles, while away from the stage Butterworth is a screenwriter whose credits include Spectre and the next Indiana Jones yarn.
