The Graham Norton Show

Paul McCartney performs live in the studio and reveals being happy with Nancy inspired his latest album, Katy Perry says she's finally grown up, James Corden talks about singing opera and Chris Hemsworth and Natalie Portman chat about Thor.

Paul McCartney, talking about the success of his new album New, says "The response has been amazing. I am thrilled. When you are releasing a new album you sort of hold your breath and don't say anything too soon."

Revealing many of the songs were inspired by his love of his wife (Nancy Shevell), he says, "Being loved up helps. When I was writing the album in our early days, Nancy was in New York and she was five hours back so I would drop my little girl at school and I'd come home and I'd have a few hours where I didn't have anything on so I would write a song. I would then ring Nancy and say, 'Good morning, would you like to hear a song?' I'd play her the song and it became a really great motivation. I was very happy in my life and it just happened like that."

On losing the rights to the Beatles' catalogue, he says, "It was a carve up. We didn't know about that stuff. We signed it all away in a morning. We got ripped off but hey, what the heck. It used to be very annoying (having to pay to perform Beatles' songs) but I'm doing alright."

Talking about Michael Jackson buying the back catalogue, Paul reveals it was him that gave Jackson the idea, "During a lunch he asked me for advice. I said, 'make some great videos, get a really good manager and you ought to think about getting into song publishing' and he looked at me and said, 'I'm gonna buy yours.' I laughed, until he did!"

Talking about Beatle Mania he says, "It was a crazy thing. It was shocking but we loved it."

Katy Perry, revealing she is a huge fan of Paul's work, says, "I sing all his songs, I have sung them all my life and now I am sitting next to him! I love Ram On. It's so sweet. I listen to it with my boyfriend all the time. We love it." Reciprocating, Paul says, "I have a ten year old daughter and we love Firework. We sing it all the time. It's a great song."

Talking about her new album Prism and asked whether it's change of direction for her, she says, "The last album was very cartoony and over the top and this one is a little bit more vulnerable, raw and a lot more present. I think I'm finally okay accepting the information that I'm a grown up." And on whether her image is a little more demure, she says, "I like clothes to stay on now."

On her early career, she says, "I was up and down, up and down about three different times. It didn't pan out exactly as planned but lesson learnt and a lot of character had to be built. If think if I'd made it at 17 I don't think I would be here now. I wouldn't have had the tools I needed to develop during that time. We all have a plan and then life comes in and says, 'I have a better idea."

James Corden talking about how he persuaded Paul to do a Comic Relief sketch says, "I laid it on very thick, telling him, 'people won't die if you do our sketch.' It makes it very difficult for people to say no. He said, 'Bloody hell James, I've heard some groveling in my time'. I then said, 'That's nothing, if you'd said no I was going to say I would name my unborn child after you,' to which he said, 'If you promise to do that I'll do the sketch.' And that's why my son is called Max McCartney Kimberley Corden."

On his new film in which he portrays singer Paul Potts, he says, "I had an idea I could sing the opera. I said to Harvey Weinstein our producer, 'I think I can do it,' so I had singing lessons. Harvey came down to the set and I literally got a quarter of the way into Nessun Dorma, when he said, 'No, no, we need to get somebody else!'"

James reveals he is to star in a new musical film adaptation of Into The Woods with Meryl Streep, Johnny Depp, Chris Pine and Emily Blunt, "It's an absolute dream come true for me. It's fantastic and great thing to be part of."

Chris Hemsworth and Natalie Portman pop in to chat about their new movie Thor.

Chris, asked about his impressive Thor physique, says, "It was a lot of boring protein and lifting weights." Natalie interjects, "He ate a different baby animal every two hours!" On playing James Hunt in Rush after Thor he says, "The director said, 'You know Thor isn't going to fit into a F1 car,' so I stopped eating and started running."

Natalie, on her diminutive stature and the height difference between her and Chris, jokingly says, "I was mainly cast in the role because I can make anyone look huge when they stand next to me." Asked how they did the kissing scenes given their height difference, she says, "They usually had a ramp for me to walk up so I could land somewhere near his face."

Paul and his band perform New live in the studio before helping Graham pull the lever as more members of the audience brave the Red Chair.

After the credits role, Paul treated the audience to an impromptu gig of two of his new songs and an old favourite, Lady Madonna.