Russell Edward Brand (born 4 June 1975) is an English comedian, actor, columnist, singer, author and presenter of radio and television. Brand achieved fame in the UK for presenting a Big Brother spin-off, Big Brother's Big Mouth, and for his radio show, among other television series and award ceremonies. He has appeared in several films, including the romantic comedy film Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Bedtime Stories, St Trinian's, Get Him to the Greek, Despicable Me and most recently Hop. He is noted for various controversies that have surrounded him in the British media, such as the 2008 prank calls that led to his resignation from the BBC. He married singer Katy Perry on 23 October 2010. Brand's first significant stand-up appearance was at the Hackney Empire New Act of the Year final in 2000. Although he finished fourth, his performance attracted the attention of an agent, Nigel Klarfeld of Gagged and Bound Comedy Ltd. That year, he also made his Edinburgh debut as one-third of the stand-up show Pablo Diablo's Cryptic Triptych, alongside ventriloquist Mark Felgate and Anglo-Iranian comic Shappi Khorsandi.Brand appeared in a sketch and performed stand-up at the 2006 Secret Policeman's Ball. In March 2007, he co-hosted an evening of the Teenage Cancer Trust gigs with Noel Fielding. In December 2007, Brand performed for HM Queen Elizabeth II and HRH Prince Philip as an act in the 2007 Royal Variety Performance.Brand began performing in the U.S., and recorded a special for Comedy Central titled Russell Brand in New York, which aired in March 2009. Brand began touring the UK, America and Australia from January to April 2009 on a tour called Russell Brand: Scandalous. In October a further four dates that were performed in November were added to raise money for Focus 12, the drug charity for which Brand is a patron. Russell Brand: Scandalous was released on DVD on 9 November 2009.
In 2002, Brand appeared on the TV shows Cruise of the Gods and White Teeth. In 2005, he played Tommy in the BBC sitcom Blessed, which was written and directed by Young Ones creator Ben Elton. Brand auditioned for the part of Super Hans in the Channel 4 sitcom Peep Show, but was rejected by the writers in favour of Matt King. In 2007, Brand appeared in Cold Blood for ITV, playing an ex-con called Ally. Brand played a recovering crack addict named Terry in the pilot for the ITV comedy The Abbey, written by Morwenna Banks. He voiced the Earth Guardian in Robbie the Reindeer in Close Encounters of the Herd Kind. Brand had a small role in the 2006 movie Penelope, though his first major film role was as Flash Harry in the 2007 film St Trinian's. He did not reprise the role for the sequel, St. Trinian's II: The Legend of Fritton's Gold. His breakthrough role was in the 2008 film Forgetting Sarah Marshall, in which he played Aldous Snow, the boyfriend of the title character (played by Kristen Bell). Brand received rave reviews for his performance as Snow, and he revealed the character was changed from an author to a rock star because of his audition. Brand starred alongside Adam Sandler in the Disney film Bedtime Stories, which was released on Christmas Day 2008. He reprised the role of Aldous Snow for a buddy comedy titled Get Him to the Greek, co-starring Jonah Hill. He reunited with Forgetting Sarah Marshall director Nicholas Stoller and producer Judd Apatow for the film. Brand was cast in Julie Taymor's version of William Shakespeare's The Tempest as Trinculo. The film, and Brand's performance, received mostly negative reviews, with USA Today calling his performance "the weak link". Brand will also appear in an Oliver Stone film, and he is to play the title character in a remake of Arthur, written by Peter Baynham, and a remake of Drop Dead Fred. Sandler has cast Brand in another film and will produce yet another, co-written by Brand and Matt Morgan, about a con-man posing as a priest; it is tentatively titled Bad Father. In 2010, Brand voiced Dr. Nefario in the Universal movie Despicable Me and guest starred in The Simpsons episode Angry Dad: The Movie as himself. Brand also starred in the 2011 live action/CGI animated film Hop in which he voices the film's main protagonist E.B. Hop opened at number one at the Friday box office in the US, earning $11.4 million. He also appeared in the Nickelodeon TV series Big Time Rush episode "Big Time Beach Party" as himself.Arthur (Russell Brand, Helen Mirren, Jennifer Garner) | Deutscher Trailer HD
Arthur (stylized as arthur) is an upcoming comedy film and remake of the 1981 film of the same name, directed by Jason Winer and written by Peter Baynham. It stars Russell Brand as Arthur, a drunken playboy who stands to lose a wealthy inheritance when he falls for a woman his family doesn't like. Jennifer Garner, Greta Gerwig, Helen Mirren, and Nick Nolte also star.A boozy playboy rascal named Arthur Bach (Russell Brand) is set to inherit a fortune if he marries an heiress called Susan Johnson (Jennifer Garner) who his mother Vivienne (Geraldine James) thinks will make something out of him. However, he falls in love with a working-class woman Naomi Quinn (Greta Gerwig) and turns to his nanny Hobson (Helen Mirren) for help when he is made to choose between money and love. In December 2008, Warner Bros. announced they were developing a remake of the 1981 film with Russell Brand to play the title character. In February 2009, it was announced that Peter Baynham, the writer of Borat, was working on a script. In March 2010, it was announced that Jason Winer, best known for directing episodes of Modern Family, was to direct the film, making it his first feature film. Helen Mirren, who had previously worked with Brand in 2010's The Tempest, joined the cast in April 2010 in the role of Arthur's nanny. Greta Gerwig was cast as Arthur's love interest in May 2010, with Nick Nolte and Jennifer Garner joining the following month.