Brand of Hope & Glory
Debauched comedian Russell Brand has decided to conquer Hollywood, via his latest movie Get Him To The Greek. He explains why playing himself on screen is more challenging than you might imagine, talks about finding true lurve with Katy Perry and discovering the joys of living clean...
Tara Brady, 01 Jul 2010
“Look at the actuality of being Russell Brand. You don’t really have to do much, do you? You sit around and work through an agenda that people put in front of you – so I do a couple of interviews, I meet up with you – the actuality of being Russell Brand is made up of many things.”
Sitting in his Dublin hotel suite, Russell Brand is busy being, well, Russell Brand-ish. He’s “knackered” or so he says, but even crashed into a couch, in the middle of the biggest promotional tour of his career, the lifelong West Ham supporter is anxious for World Cup updates. He has national interests to consider - “We just don’t do well in tournaments”, he sighs, “this World Cup they’re all edgy and jangly like disconnected cables” – but he’s keen, also, on our behalf, that South Africa, who are currently beating the French, retain their lead. As it happens, the host nation triumphs 2-1.
“You see?” he grins. “What goes around comes around.”
Between football news, there is the small matter of Get Him To The Greek, Mr. Brand’s new movie. Following on from well-received supporting roles in Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Bedtime Stories and St. Trinian’s, this latest comedy to emerge from the imprint of mega-producer Judd Apatow marks Mr. Brand’s ascension to Hollywood headliner. The film, which casts Apatow regular Jonah Hill as a beleaguered record executive attempting to escort a bad-boy British rock star (Mr. Brand, naturally) to a lucrative gig, has already taken $51 million at the US box office.
“It’s all a bit of a change,” says Brand. “I mean in America I’m not famous on the telly. If they know me at all, I’m the bloke from Forgetting Sarah Marshall or off the MTV awards. They don’t have any expectations of me. But when I go on chat shows over there it usually goes surprisingly well. Judd Apatow is a mainstream success and your Leno or Letterman shows are even more mainstream. And they seem to get it. Or at least they’re interested enough to wonder ‘what’s this character up to?’”
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