James Corden' s next acting appearance to hit our screens will see him play a 'complex' chef.
The Gavin & Stacey co-creator, 44, may be ready for people to stop mentioning his name alongside all things hospitality related, but thanks to his new role in a six-part comedy drama we may be chatting James and chefs for a little while longer.
The Late, Late Show host portrays a 'complex' and 'flawed' chef in an upcoming drama written by the two-time Olivier and Tony Award-winning playwright Butterworth - less than two weeks after the actor was sensationally accused of 'yelling like crazy' at waiting staff as he dined in a New York City restaurant.
James describes his character Jamie Buckingham in Mammals as 'complicated' and admits the role is one of two he has taken on over the years that 'are probably the closest characters to himself' he has played.
The actor recently admitted on his late-night American talk show he was ungracious to a restaurant server in a disagreement over eggs which saw him temporarily banned from New York eatery Balthazar.
Keith McNally, who owns Balthazar, sent social media wild last week when he claimed James had been an 'abusive customer' after some errors with his orders - briefly banning the global star before receiving an apology from James and lifting the ban.
James' upcoming appearance in the drama written by the two-time Olivier and Tony Award-winning playwright Butterworth about the complexities of marriage comes at an awkward time for the star, due to the profession of his on-screen character.
"He's complex. He's complicated. He's flawed. He's like all of us really. I really care deeply for him," James explains when discussing Jamie, his character in Mammals.
"It's funny, he's the second Jamie I've ever played and both Jamie's are probably the closest characters to myself I've ever played."
From 2000 to 2005, James starred in the British television series Fat Friends as Jamie Rymer, before going on to co-create Gavin & Stacey with Ruth Jones and become a household name across the world.
Speaking with MailOnline, James goes on to express his admiration for playwright Butterworth and said of Mammals: "However it gets received, there's nothing we can really do about that. I'll just always consider it an absolute privilege to be part of something that Jez has written."
The saga involving James and a renowned chef in the real world began last week, when Balthazar owner Keith, 71, claimed on Instagram that a waiter was "left shaken" after James was upset that the egg white was mixed with the yolk in his wife's omelette during a recent visit to the top New York French brasserie.
The restaurant owner uploaded an image of James to his account and told his Instagram followers the actor was now banned from his hospitality venues.
In the first post shared from Keith, the restaurant owner claimed The Late Late Show host became frustrated during a recent dining experience at his New York restaurant, claiming the actor shouted to a server: "You can't do your job! You can't do your job! Maybe I should go into the kitchen and cook the omelette myself!"
After initially banning James from his restaurants following the alleged incidents, Keith took to Instagram the next day to reveal the actor had called him to apologise for his behaviour and the ban has now been lifted.
But on The Late, Late Show earlier this week, James was adamant he didn't scream or make any 'derogatory remarks' and claimed the only error he made was making a 'snide' remark about cooking the offending omlette himself.
"My wife explained that she has a serious food allergy," James told viewers of his late-night show, after claiming the dish had been served to him incorrectly three times.
"The meals came, my wife was given the food that she was allergic to. She hadn't taken a bite of it or anything, no worries, we sent it back. All was good.
"As her meal came wrong to the table the third time, in the heat of the moment I made a sarcastic rude comment about cooking it myself. It is a comment I deeply regret."
He continued: "I worked shifts at restaurants for years, I have such respect for anyone who does that job.
"The restaurant manager and the server were lovely, they brought out four glasses of champagne and we were like "that's not necessary, we don't need it, we had a great time".
"But here's the truth of it - because I didn't shout or scream , I didn't get up out of my seat, I didn't call anyone names or use derogatory language, I have been walking around thinking that I've not done anything wrong.
"But I have, I made a rude comment."
Keith responded to James' televised apology by sharing a picture of the star with his Instagram followers and writing: "LAST WORD........
"Last Night on his TV show, James Corden very graciously apologized for his outburst at Balthazar. It takes a real man to do this. In the past, I've behaved much worse than Corden, but wasn't man enough to apologize.
"For this reason, I'm going to lift the ban on Corden and impose one on myself instead. I'm going to ban myself from Balthazar for 2 weeks. People who live in Glass Houses..."
The whole saga has unwittingly been great publicity for James' new drama Mammals, which launches worldwide on November 11 on Prime Video.
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