James Corden: How Jez Butterworth's 'bombshell' drama lured him back to acting

The two couples find themselves entangled in a web of deceit

Writer Jez Butterworth is no stranger to black comedy. Best-known for award-winning plays such as Mojo, Jerusalem and The Ferryman, his work has tackled heavy-duty themes such as toxic masculinity and national identity but always with a dollop of dark humour.

His latest work is Prime Video TV series Mammals, another edgy comic tale centred around the age-old yet endlessly fascinating themes of marriage, monogamy and infidelity.

It stars James Corden in his first major acting role since he announced his departure from The Late Late Show in the US, a high-profile gig which has seen slots such as Carpool Karaoke go viral and its YouTube channel draw in just under 10 billion views.

It was not without controversy, however, with the host facing criticism on occasion for some of his sketches, including a slot called Spill Your Guts or Fill Your Gut, which was accused of mocking traditional Asian food. After complaints, he said he would not use the food items in question anymore.

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Corden has now returned to the UK and his acting roots and tells me he just could not turn down Butterworth's script: "I can remember so vividly where I was when I read it - Jez had written one episode - and I was just blown away by it. I don't know if I've seen anything like it, but I had to be involved."

Without giving too much away, Mammals follows the complicated relationships of two couples, restaurateur Jamie (Corden) and Amandine (Melia Kreiling), and veterinary academic Geoff (Colin Morgan) and creative Lou (Sally Hawkins), who also happens to be Jamie's sister.

While the themes may be familiar, the trajectory certainly isn't.

Corden explains: "I can remember reading it and thinking four pages in 'OK, I think I know what the show is.' And then four pages later going 'Oh, well no, it's not that. It must be this' and then 10 pages later going 'OK, I've no idea what this is!'

Sir Tom Jones makes a cameo appearance, much to the surprise of Corden's character Jamie

"You get to the end of episode three and think 'Oh my god, where's this gonna go?' and then Jez drops another bombshell because it goes somewhere you would never, ever predict that it would. I just think it's a unique show."

It's certainly not a series you can watch while scrolling on your phone simultaneously. As you might expect from Butterworth, Mammals features intelligent storytelling that keeps you on your toes, with so many plot twists, it can leave your head spinning.

The writer, who is already penning a second series, says: "I wanted it to have the simplicity of a cup and ball trick. You've got four cups, which one is it under? And for that to be completely surprising every time it happens. Just the simplicity of a conjuring trick."

It's perhaps best described as a romantic whodunnit, leading the viewer down several garden paths before it reaches its suckerpunch denouement. Revenge is clearly a dish best served cold.

"I think what's really interesting about what Jez has written here, without trying to give anything away, is we can so often forgive or dismiss our own behaviours, or find reason," Corden explains.

"And then, if those behaviours are suddenly presented back to you... I think we've all had conversations with friends, where you might put to them that perhaps their behaviour was part of this and they're responsible. [And they'll go]: 'Yeah, but that was different.'"

Butterworth won a Tony award in 2019 for his play The Ferryman

Butterworth says: "When you boil it down to its absolute essential, if you and I are in a relationship, and I cheat on you, I will probably find some way to square that away if you're never going to find out about it. But if I discovered you've cheated on me, it's biblical. Why is one worse than the other?"

While some of the characters' actions may seem extreme, Kreiling says: "It's not too far off what people are capable of doing when they're heartbroken. Or when they're in love. I mean, if love doesn't make you do crazy things, what does?"

The series has gone down well with critics, according to early reviews. The Telegraph's Anita Singh described it as "a quality comedy-drama which never loses an element of surprise".

"The episodes are half an hour at most, and each is a treat," she added.

The series also has a dreamy, fantastical element alongside the real-life drama, with Hawkins' character often lost in a reverie as she yearns to escape her humdrum life.

Kreiling, whose character's occupation is a bit of a mystery, says: "It's all very surreal sometimes. But that's also very similar to real life. That's what I think is amazing about this series, it's both truly magical, but also very, very deeply realistic."

Amadine also has a playboy ex, played by Henry Lloyd-Hughes, who like much in this drama, isn't quite what he first seems.

"I feel like I have a rich televisual history of playing unpleasant people," Lloyd-Hughes jokes, having starred in shows such as Marriage, Killing Eve and The Inbetweeners.

"The twist here is that you have every right at the beginning to think of this person as not everyone's cup of tea. And then he actually has this backbone."

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Morgan had starred in Butterworth's Mojo in London's West End and says: "When you know that the power of that kind of writing is going to make its way on to screens, it's a bit irresistible."

Although Butterworth is still best known as a playwright, this is not his first foray into television - he was also behind Sky Atlantic's historical fantasy series Britannia.

"I was in completely unchartered territory," he explains. "I've never written characters that existed for that long ever!

"It was all new but then there were familiarities. There's a kind of curtain up and curtain down in TV. We had ad breaks. So every 15 minutes, you had to come to a type of new moral conclusion. I love the idea of coming back to something and playing this sort of long-form game that can take place over years."

Like all of Butterworth's work, the series doesn't judge or moralise over the characters' duplicitous behaviour. So what would he like the audience to take away?

"I don't write anything without hoping that people go home with it," he explains.

"I don't want them to just walk out and go, 'Where we having dinner?', that's it. I want it to sit with you. I don't have an agenda or a view. I feel like I have a dog in this fight but I don't know what its name is. I just want people to reflect, I guess. in a kind of an unconscious [way]."

Mammals will be available on Prime Video from 11 November.