Category: What a difference a week makes!
Barely a week ago, after spending some time in Tuscany working on My Booky Wook 2: This Time It’s Personal, Russell Brand returned to the United States to begin filming on Get Him to the Greek, in which he reprises his role as Infant Sorrow frontman Aldous Snow.
Since then, in the space of half a fortnight, all hell has broken loose:
First, there was public outcry following the Mail’s receipt of a “scoop of the year” award for its reporting of the BBC Radio 2 scandal involving Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross. Sophie Taylor, writer for The First Post, wondered, “Since when did listening to the radio on a Saturday night constitute investigative journalism?”
“…[T]he Mail on Sunday should never even have been considered in the scoop of the year category. ‘The Mail did not uncover anything, or discover anything. It made a mountain out of a molehill, taking a relatively minor cock-up on live radio and, in typical Mail style, egging on the British public to create a row that never existed before their intervention.’” The First Post 4/27/09
And how’s this for further vindication? Andrew Sachs publicly acknowledged that the BBC Radio 2 debacle gave his career a boost and has actually thanked Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross. From his interview last week, it’s apparent Sachs has moved on, and while he didn’t go so far as to condone what transpired, he makes it clear that he wasn’t nearly as shocked or outraged as the media made him out to be. You can listen to a 5-minute excerpt from the interview here: Andrew Sachs: The Russell Brand Row Revisited
“I came out of it very well … my profile’s up. Great! They did me good. Thank you very much.” Andrew Sachs, interview in The Guardian 5/01/09
Meanwhile, back in Hollywood, Russell Brand signed on to star in a remake of Drop Dead Fred. After laying years of groundwork, Brand is rapidly realizing his career dream of performing stand-up comedy and making Hollywood movies.
“Brand seems to [be] making Universal his American home. The comedian and former BBC host made his U.S. screen debut with the studio’s ‘Forgetting Sarah Marshall’ and is rehearsing for the Judd Apatow-produced ‘Get Him to the Greek,’ which shoots in May. Brand also appeared in Disney’s ‘Bedtime Stories’ and is attached to star in Warner Bros.’ remake of ‘Arthur.’” The Hollywood Reporter
Having witnessed the struggle of earlier British comedians to find a niche in Hollywood, Guardian journalist Ben Child wonders, Could Russell Brand be a Hollywood Hit?. From the perspective of an American fan who is witness to the Russell-mania rapidly sweeping the nation, the answer is an enthusiastic YES! I, for one, haven’t been this excited about a British actor since David McCallum. (Wait, does Peter Frampton count? He did make that Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band film.)
“In February last year I wrote a tongue in cheek blog suggesting Russell Brand was set to become a Hollywood leading man. … Fast forward a year and a bit and the joke’s on me.” Ben Child, The Guardian 5/01/09
After a long week of rehearsals, Brand devoted his Friday evening to signing copies of My Booky Wook for fans at the Grove. He then took a much-deserved weekend trip to Las Vegas, enjoying the company of his Get Him to the Greek co-star P. Diddy and experiencing his first live boxing match. His outing caught the attention of the media worldwide. I even noticed a mention or two of Brand as a “Hollywood A-List celebrity” - leave it to Russell to jump straight from being virtually unknown in the U.S. to the “A-List” in one fell swoop!
Brand was also reportedly spotted spending time with Holly Madison of The Girls Next Door fame. Holly seems a lovely woman, both inside and out, and I admired her pluck during her recent turn on Dancing with the Stars. But, while gossip columnists the world over are speculating as to whether Brand and Madison will become an item, my mind is elsewhere - I frankly can’t shake the image of ol’ Russ visiting the Playboy Mansion - now there’s a scary thought! 
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