--- --- # Watch James Corden Audition for _Bridget Jones’s Baby_ as Harry Potter by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Sep 22, 2016 3:44 PM UTC by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Sep 22, 2016 3:44 PM UTC [James Corden](http://time.com/4261606/james-corden-carpool-karaoke-special/?iid=sr-link1) was more than happy to vie for the chance to woo Renee Zellweger in [_Bridget Jones’s Baby_](http://time.com/4157234/bridget-jones-baby-first-look-renee-zellweger-colin-firth/?iid=sr-link1). On Wednesday, _The Late Late Show_ released Corden’s “audition tape” and, well, there’s a reason that [Patrick Dempsey ](http://time.com/4493395/patrick-dempsey-bridget-jones-interview/?iid=sr-link2)eventually got the part. It turns out that Corden is a huge fan of _Bridget Jones. “_This is so exciting. Thank you so much for the opportunity,” Corden told Zellweger before his audition. He had a few ideas to improve the script, including playing the role as [Harry Potter,](http://time.com/4110623/j-k-rowlings-biggest-harry-potter-revelations/?iid=sr-link1) [Gandalf](http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/12/23/gandalf-recreates-you-shall-not-pass-tolkien-scene-on-tram-tracks/?iid=sr-link2), Austin Powers, Bert the street musician from _Mary Poppins,_ Queen Elizabeth (with corgi), and, of course, Sherlock Holmes: “I’ve eliminated the impossible,” said Corden as Holmes, “and what remains highly improbable is that this baby belongs to another man.” In short, Patrick Dempsey did not have much competition from Corden for his role. Watch below. Watch James Corden Audition for A Part in Bridget Jones Baby ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4504206/james-corden-bridget-jones/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4504206/james-corden-bridget-jones/"},"headline":"Watch James Corden Audition for Bridget Jones’s Baby as Harry Potter","datePublished":"2016-09-22T15:44:26.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:36:52.251Z","description":"There's a reason Patrick Dempsey got the part","url":"https://time.com/4504206/james-corden-bridget-jones/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Television","Late late show","Colin Firth","james corden"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Locker","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4504206/james-corden-bridget-jones/","name":"Watch James Corden Audition for Bridget Jones’s Baby as Harry Potter"}}]}] ```