James Corden Goes Method for 'Les Miserables' Prostitute Role as 'Crosswalk the Musical' Takes Paris

After bothering drivers in Los Angeles and London, James Corden took his brilliant Broadway spoof "Crosswalk the Musical" to beautiful Paris to see how the French people enjoy having their commute delayed.

To make things a little more palatable for the city's drivers, he did bring to them a musical based on their own history, "Les Miserables."

"Not a lot of people know this, it's actually very progressive," Corden said of the Andrew Lloyd Webber classic. "Les Miserables is French for sad lesbians."

Well, that's clearly not true, but when called out on it, Corden simply stated that some of "the miserable" people referenced in the title were surely lesbians, so he's at least somewhat right. Right?

Corden also leaned into every bad French stereotype you can imagine, including the beret, the horizontally-striped shirt and pastries and baguettes everywhere. He even threw them at his troupe at one point, telling them this would likely happen during the production.

As usual, the "Late Late Show" skit featured an elaborate production led by Corden as an arrogant narcissist who somehow has an entire troupe of performers at his beck and call to stage these impressive musicals in the middle of the road.

The production values are actually pretty impressive for pieces designed to roll out into the middle of a busy street for as long as the light is red ... should we choose to believe that's truly how it's handled. From a charming pub scene to the dramatic wall to the perfect costuming, these shows would be extremely entertaining to watch from start to finish.

Of course, the commuters are only seeing those snippets that occur as they get stuck behind a red light, which made it even more jarring when Corden came out as Fantine, the French prostitute from the stage production. Of course you know he gives himself all the juicy parts.

Even more traumatizing, Corden explained, "I'm a method actor, everybody knows that. When I take on a role, I like to live the part, breathe the part, become the part. So when taking on the role of Fantine, a French prostitute, I can tell you right now, I made no exception."

Cut to a scene of Corden at the subway stairs trying to seduce someone, anyone, while dressed as Fantine. Let's just say the passersby were more than a little disturbed, though he did finally get cozy with one man who, admittedly, may have had no idea what was going on.

Perhaps the funniest moment for the whole production was when a fire truck went roaring by during their performance, because you can't control every possibility. "So much for French manners," Corden complained later. "I mean, I get it, if a building's on fire, you've gotta get there. But if a show is on fire, don't put that out in the process."

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