Check Out Cats Stars James Corden and Rebel Wilson Lounging in Their Digital Fur Technology Suits | Playbill

Video Check Out Cats Stars James Corden and Rebel Wilson Lounging in Their Digital Fur Technology Suits Also making the talk show rounds: Francesca Hayward, who exhibited Jellicle behavior without noticing—but her friends did.

Rebel Wilson and James Corden tricked Cats director Tom Cooper to give them a more relaxing job on set by suggesting that their characters would most likely just be lounging in the corner, resting on pillows. The pair revealed the Jellicle trickery during an interview above on the Corden-hosted The Late Late Show December 5.

While filming a big scene featuring the two, plus Idris Elba, Taylor Swift, Judi Dench, Ian McKellen, and more, Hooper wanted to have them tied up to a pole in the middle of the scene. That didn’t work for Wilson, though: “You don’t get any breaks if you’re in all the shots.” So, Wilson suggested it wasn’t realistic to have two cats tied up—they’d just escape.

//assets.playbill.com/editorial/6e0c283e49799474eea7e35a30173f03-cats-universal-pictures-stills-2019-francesca-hayward-hr-2.jpg
Francesca Hayward Universal Pictures

Judging by the photo Corden shared of the two of them lounging, they got their way. “James and I are the comedy cats; it’s 18th century poetry, but we bring the laughs,” said Wilson.

READ: James Corden Says Working on Cats Was Like a Hallucinogenic Trip

The pair weren’t the only Jellicles to visit a late-night couch December 5. Royal Ballet principal dancer Francesca Hayward, who plays Victoria, dropped by Jimmy Kimmel Live! and said the on-set behavior specialist did their job so well that she started exhibiting Jellicle tendencies off set.

One weekend while filming, Hayward noticed several pairs of eyes watching her. “My friends would look at me really weird and say, ‘Frankie, you just picked that up like a cat,’” the star told Jimmy Kimmel below. It seems Hayward, who plays Victoria, was destined to be in the film adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical, having watched the staged recording of Cats and dance in her living room as a kid.

Despite knowing the material, she told Kimmel that her first audition was terrifying, even though she just sang in front of one person. Eventually, the star was able to build up confidence to perform “Beautiful Ghosts” in front of songwriters Swift and Lloyd Webber as the audition process went on.

 
Recommended Reading:
 X

Blocking belongs
on the stage,
not on websites.

Our website is made possible by
displaying online advertisements to our visitors.

Please consider supporting us by
whitelisting playbill.com with your ad blocker.
Thank you!