If you haven't heard the name Russell Brand, it won't be long before the up and coming British actor takes America by storm. After a role in Penelope with Christina Ricci and an autobiography already out in England, Brand is well on his way to stardom. Brand can now be seen with actress Kristen Bell in the Judd Apatow produced - Nicholas Stoller directed comedy Forgetting Sarah Marshall about about two ex-lovers who unexpectedly collide in Hawaii after a fresh break-up and one who has already found a new romantic partner.

As we found out, Brand gives one hell of an interesting and hilariously bizarre interview that shouldn't be missed.

Russell Brand on what he'd say to an audience that's not familiar with him:

"Hello! I’m Russell. I’m a man. I’m alive on the planet. We’re all breathing the same oxygen and heading inevitably towards death but to further life also. I make jokes about this process for money, but I would do it anyway even if there were no money involved. I’ve been recently given an opportunity to be in a film, Forgetting Sarah Marshall. This is all you need to know about me, although I have a Victorian vocabulary and a preposterous haircut."

Brand on whether he cuts his own hair:

"No, other people do that. Her name is Nicola and she creates an elaborate follicular scaffold within there that could form a house, and on one occasion a mouse did use it for a house. It is also rather like a bird’s nest but not in an unpleasant way. Not like a rookery, more like a tropical bird house, for a tropical bird of paradise like a Macaw."

Brand on writing a book:

"My autobiography is already out. It was the number one best-selling book in the UK for 12 weeks. It sold about a million copies and we’re all rich, rich as can be, and it’s getting made into a film with Michael Winterbottom, the English genius. We’ve written the first draft."

On what writer Michael Winterbottom found appealing about his book:

"He said it’s truthful and full of pathos, and he said never has he read a life so embarrassing that someone was prepared to commit to paper. Usually people would keep those things secret. And he said, 'Perhaps you ought to have done too, but as you’re prepared to be so publicly humiliated I will direct it."

On whether he was annoyed that he wasn't naked in Sarah Marshall:

"I’m annoyed I didn’t get to be naked with Kristen [Bell]. I’m very comfortable with her now. We did some sex scenes together and I must say it’s the closest thing I’ve ever seen to sex that I’ve ever seen on camera in that it was awkward, embarrassing, disappointing and expensive."

Brand on whether it was a challenge to not go over the top with his role:

"It was a challenge as it is in everyday life to contain my ego. But what I did is - I tried to be respectful of the medium. You’re working with people who are very talented, so it’s quite easy to neuter or restrain your performance because context is established by the others. When I was working with Kristen Bell I couldn’t start gooning around like I would if it was standup comedy. There are clearly defined parameters in Judd Apatow’s film, which were very helpful to me. I can be a disciplined performer when required, but a lot of the stuff I do is on my own. Then I have my own parameters, which are pretty loose, like lassos in fact. I use them to ensnare."

On the downside of filming in Hawaii:

"It is like a big tropical prison. I think it’s really beautiful but it’s relentlessly beautiful. It’s like being beaten over the head with a rainbow. It’s glorious and wonderful but in the end I just felt inundated with it and I missed cobble-stoned streets, gaslights, curse words, rhyming slangs, rats, rickets, bad fruit, snaggly teeth. I missed England."

On whether he practices Yoga:

"Yes, I practice yoga, I’m a vegetarian and I believe in revolution and egalitarianism. It’s only my aforementioned ego that stops me dedicating all my life to bringing about global peace."

Russell Brand on whether he believes America is ready for him:

"George Bernard Shaw said the reasonable man looks at the world and wonders how he can change to fit in, whereas the unreasonable man looks at the world and wonders how he can change it to fit in with him. So I think regardless of whether or not America is ready, this is going to happen and they ought to accept it."

Taking America and Sarah Marshall by Storm with Russell Brand Page 2