James Corden Looks Back on the Time He Met Gene Wilder on ‘The Late Late Show’

At the beginning of last night’s Late Late Show, James Corden took a few minutes to respond to the news that comedy icon Gene Wilder passed away over the weekend. Corden had the honor of meeting Wilder when he was doing a play in New York, and even though Wilder later rejected Corden’s offer to make a cameo during the Late Late Show premiere, it was the classiest rejection ever: Dearest James, I don’t do or go where you were hoping, but I’ll be looking for you. With my love, Gene. “Even the way he said no was so poetic,� Corden says. “Even his emails sounded somehow like Willy Wonka. The truth of it is that it isn’t that, it’s just that he was just this magical person, and he made everybody around him feel this incredible feeling of joy. It’s what I felt when I watched him, it’s what I felt when I met him, and that’s what I hope he’s feeling now, wherever he is.�