James Corden has declared himself "very proud" of his role as a gay man in Ryan Murphy's new Netflix movie The Prom.

The film - an adaptation of the musical - sees Corden play a gay actor whose best days are behind him, starring alongside the likes of acting greats Meryl Streep and Nicole Kidman.

Corden's portrayal was widely derided as embarrassing by critics, however, with one describing his performance as "gross and offensive".

Talking to Metro about the role, Corden said: "[As an actor] you spend quite a long time, just personally, feeling like you might be able to have a bit more to give. Like you might be able to have a bit more depth and you want someone like Ryan to come along and drop a script in your lap like this.

"And then you go, 'Oh God, what if I am not able to do these things?'. Ryan, I will be indebted to forever for his guidance, the way that he led me through it. The way he led me through it as a director, the way he led me through it as a friend, the way he led me through it as a gay man. And I'll treasure those days.

"I find it very moving when I think about how I felt on those days when it was just Meryl [Streep] and I. I love those scenes and I'm very proud of them."

The Gavin & Stacey star went on to claim that he was thinking about his gay friends "the whole time" that he inhibited the character.

"The whole time I was thinking about the friends of mine, young friends of mine, whose families don't know that they're out," he added, "friends of mine who have distant relationships with their families because of their sexuality and really hope that many people would realise that however hard it is to address or confront those things, their acceptance is everything."

The Prom is released on Netflix on December 11.