PICTURE the audition room scene: a good-looking, sexy, slim, young actor (male or female) is being cast for a new rom-com. But a look at the competition reveals a couple of performers whose bodyweight suggests they’ve seriously overspent on their Greggs credit card.

Never likely to happen? Not if James Corden has his way. The actor and TV presenter revealed to David Tennant this week it’s all wrong that “chubby” people don’t get the chance to play the romantic leads and “never really fall in love. Never have sex.” The TV host added; “Certainly no-one ever finds you attractive on screen if you are a larger size.”

Corden’s argument has weight; if in Britain today, for example, the latest stats reveal 26 per cent of adults to be fat or obese why shouldn’t that be represented on screen? If we are denying space on stage or screen to the heavy set are we shrinking down any true intent on achieving diversity?

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Scientists have yet to come up with a theory that the greater the BMI the less space in the heart for love. And we have to factor in that some of the greatest love stories told on screen have not always featured those with a wonderful aesthetic.

The brilliant Brief Encounter’s Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard looked like grey, aged Oxfam-dressed grandparents. Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn could never have taken their clothes off - yet their screen chemistry was contagious. (It was once claimed the lines on Spencer Tracy’s face would hold two days of rain.)

Again in a case of art mirroring life, Woody Allen was able to convince the world he could enchant Diane Keaton right into bed when they made Annie Hall. And the chemistry between Robbie Coltrane and Emma Thomson in Tutti Frutti suggested the waist inches argument to be wasted.

It’s clear you don’t need to be a pretty boy or girl for screen romance to work. Nor do you need the traditional, male-female representations on screen. Brokeback Mountain was a classic love story that just happened to be played out by two men in a tent.

Corden would no doubt argue that audiences wish to see themselves reflected up there on screen. Roseanne certainly worked (until the star went rogue). And Gregory’s Girl was so successful because John Gordon Sinclair’s character looked like most white-skinned, skinny Scottish teenage boys (ie, tragic).

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Yet, it’s hard to see how James Corden’s dream of creating more romantic adventures for the rotund is going to take shape. One Hollywood producer (anon) once proclaimed that cinema audiences all want to fall in love with their leading ladies or men. Premiere Magazine writer Libby Gelman-Waxner underlined the comment: “Women want to see Brad Pitt wearing his pants 15 inches below his belly button.”

Why is this? Well, at times we may wish to see ourselves represented in film and TV fiction but at others we really want the fantasy. How many would have turned out to see a remake of A Star Is Born if Bradley Cooper was likely to climb into a bath with Melissa McCarthy?

The likes of McCarthy, Rebel Wilson, Jack Black and Nick Frost are consigned to playing fat friends who don’t get to show skin because producers don’t believe audiences want to see that. Keely Hawes was never going to be Bodyguarded by Nick Frost.

Brendan McNamara of the Casting Director’s Association says; “For too long our heroes have had to be strong, strapping, and beautiful men or women. But heroes come in all shapes and sizes.” This is audible. However, he added that writers suddenly won’t change and create over(or under)weight characters, or indeed producers request them because the belief is they are less likely to create great box office.

Corden, who came up with TV hit Gavin and Stacey because he was being offered tiny roles, couldn’t offer up an argument when it was pointed out he didn’t cast himself as the lead, but the funny, quirky friend instead.

Yes, you can argue those with the perfect body shapes don’t fulfill the fantasy. Fifty Shades’ Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson were seen by critics to have the potency of a schoolkid’s chemistry set. But what can we do to represent the real (fat) Britain in the arts? Do we resort to positive discrimination? Quotas? “Only those over 17 stone need apply?” That would be silly. Talent/charisma has be the priority.

As for being told to write specifically for chubby performers? Even putting the health-weight argument to one side, writers would argue body shape would all too often command discussion, and as such could threaten to become a sub-plot.

Fat Friends (ITV) worked because it was warm and affectionate and honest. But it was about weight and obesity. When it comes to rom-com, most viewers want to leave reality back at home with the babysitter and the boyfriend she’s sneaked in the moment you jumped in the taxi.

As a result, Corben’s dream may be reflective of modern, inclusive Britain, and should be applauded. But it has slim chance of being listened to.