By Todd Gilchrist
HollywoodNews.com: Although Russell Brand has appeared in several successful films and twice hosted the MTV Video Music Awards, he’s still largely an unknown quantity to many American audiences. But the British comedian and actor is trying to change all that, and his latest film, Get Him to the Greek, affords him his biggest starring role to date. Hollywood News joined a small group of journalists at the film’s recent Los Angeles press day where Brand candidly chatted about his work in the film, the parallels between himself and his character’s self-destructive drug use, and his ongoing search for new ways to find success while challenging the conventions of moviemaking, comedy, even culture itself.
[Note: Although “Hollywood News” is used to distinguish questions from answers in the text below, our journalist was just one of many reporters asking questions of Brand.]
Hollywood News: Are you enjoying this publicity campaign thing that you’re on?
Russell Brand: I don’t mind these bits. It’s quite nice. It’s like a dinner party where I get too much attention. (laughter)
Hollywood News: You don’t seem like the type that would shy away from attention.
Brand: Well you say that but actually if this was a dinner party I’d [say] I don’t want to go. Sign me off. Say I’m not well. Because my job is showing off, socializing I just consider to be more work, you know? It’s just some work. It’s that thing where I have to talk, isn’t it? Yes, it is. Well, we’ve got to go. And you kind of listen as well. I like that also. I do like listening.
Hollywood News: When you do something like a Letterman or Leno or Conan, whatever show, how much do you prep for your segment or do you sort of improv it the whole time you’re going?
Brand: Well the shows impose some preparation on you as part of their own preparation because they need to be secure that there will be content. But myself, I do not do any preparation. Like, what do you want to talk about. I go, I don’t know, anything. And then they go all right, what about this? I go, yeah, yeah, that’ll be alright. And then like but me I get very adrenalized and scared I suppose before a performance and I think that energy, that fight or flight energy is translated into neurological activity that I can then translate [...]
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