Russell Brand is facing serious criminal charges in the U.K., including sexual assault and rape, relating to multiple incidents from the late 1990s through the early 2000s. The comedian and actor likely has his hands full with that, but now a lawsuit against Brand is also moving forward, which is resulting in Warner Brothers handing over hours of movie outtakes.

Over the last few years, a variety of allegations have been made against Russell Brand. A lot of what was simply seen as bad behavior by the actor at the time has been reviewed in a different light following an investigation by multiple media outlets in the U.K. that brought light to allegations of assault. The report, in turn, led to additional claims against Brand, including the criminal complaints that have now been charged.

Outtakes From 2011’s Arthur Remake Are Part Of An Ongoing Lawsuit Against Russell Brand

The same year that the major allegations against Brand occurred in the U.K., both Russell Brand and Warner Bros. were sued by an anonymous woman who was an extra on the set of the 2011 comedy Arthur. The woman claims that on the set, Brand exposed himself to her and assaulted her in separate incidents. Both Brand and WB have denied wrongdoing, but the studio is now cooperating with the plaintiff and has agreed to turn over outtakes from the film that are estimated to run anywhere from four to eight hours in length.

According to Variety, WB “offered” to turn over the footage, so it doesn’t sound like this was court-mandated. It’s unclear if there is something specific that the plaintiff believes is contained in the footage or if this is just a case of covering all the bases in case there’s something there. While the main allegations are against Brand, it's alleged other crew members aided Brand in his assault, which may be why WB has been directly sued.

Russell Brand May Face Even More Criminal Charges

The different legal issues on both sides of the Atlantic also came up in the U.S. court, as Brand’s lawyers asked to have the lawsuit delayed because it might overlap with the criminal trial in the U.K. That request was denied. Brand is expected to appear in U.K. court over the assault and rape charges in May.

Russell Brand lost his management team as a result of the various allegations. He also reportedly lost work due to complaints regarding his behavior.

Even this may not be the end of Brand’s legal woes. Brand’s lawyer Mark Cuccaro, told the court that his client had a “reasonable belief” that he could also end up facing criminal prosecution in the U.S. from the allegations against him. No authorities have revealed an investigation into Brand, but it’s possible one is taking place that we don’t know about.

Some of the best talk show hosts have been celebrities, and vice versa, throughout the history of this celebrated medium. However, that doesn’t mean just anyone can hold the desk equally. Keep that in mind as you take in this list of famous celebs who tried to make a talk show happen, but just couldn’t hold their own.

Regis Philbin - The Regis Philbin Show - 1981 - 1982

Throughout the history of Regis Philbin's best movie appearances, as well as his career as a legendary talk show host, the man made a name for himself as someone who knew how to talk to people. But even with his resume of success bookending The Regis Philbin Show's 1981-1982 run, there was still room to learn as this short-lived endeavor proved.

Alan Thicke - Thicke Of The Night - 1983 - 1984

Could Alan Thicke have made Thicke of the Night last under more ideal circumstances? Maybe, but then again, any show that tried to take on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson kind of deserved to be put through the wringer. On the plus side, Thicke wasn’t too far off from starring in Growing Pains, where he’d show us his smile again.

Joan Rivers - The Late Show - 1986 - 1988

Joan Rivers’ “permanent guest host” status on Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show was exactly why the comedy icon landed her own series, The Late Show. Directly competing with that NBC landmark in a live program for the Fox network, this albatross supposedly ended the long friendship between Rivers and Carson.

Pat Sajak - The Pat Sajak Show - 1989 - 1990

Being a game show host isn’t the same as being a talk show host. Just ask game show icon Pat Sajak, whose own attempts at crossover success with The Pat Sajak Show never landed. Low ratings took this show out of commission, with Sajak not even hosting the final episode of his own show. After which point the only gaffes Pat would witness were those made on Wheel of Fortune.

Dennis Miller - The Dennis Miller Show - 1992

Sometimes talk shows fail because of not playing to the right audience. In the case of SNL vet Dennis Miller, we would see him flourish through HBO’s Dennis Miller Live program between 1994 and 2002. However, the syndication market didn’t exactly pick up on the man’s unique vibe, which is more than likely why The Dennis Miller Show never made it out of 1992.

Chevy Chase - The Chevy Chase Show - 1993

One of the most infamous late-night flameouts of all time, The Chevy Chase Show saw the SNL comedy legend trying to compete in the late-night wars on behalf of the fledgling Fox network. Not only did Chase’s show fail, but it was the continuation of a long-standing curse that TV titan still encounters to this day.

Jon Stewart - The Jon Stewart Show - 1993 - 1995

"Cancellation should not be confused with failure." David Letterman imparted those words to Jon Stewart as The Jon Stewart Show was literally canceled the day of that very interview. An unsuccessful jump from MTV to syndication could be the major factor that was to blame, though Letterman’s words eventually rang true when Stewart went on to become The Daily Show’s longtime host in 1999. 

Charles Grodin - The Charles Grodin Show - 1995-1998

Charles Grodin’s expertise in playing a curmudgeon made him a popular guest on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. So one could think placing that energy behind the desk would be a recipe for success, and that’s what CNBC had hoped when debuting The Charles Grodin Show. Twenty-six episodes later, that assumption was tested, and proven false.

Keenen Ivory Wayans - The Keenen Ivory Wayans Show - 1997 - 1998

With the magnetism that propelled him to success in movies and with TV’s In Living Color, surely Keenen Ivory Wayans had the juice to turn late night on its head, right? Nope. Lasting only a few short months, The Keenen Ivory Wayans Show was out like a flash. Judging by Keenen’s claims that he wasn’t really given the free reign he’d expected with the series, it’s no surprise why.

Magic Johnson - The Magic Hour - 1998

Eight weeks was all it took for NBA legend Magic Johnson to flame out on the talk show circuit. The Magic Hour was anything but, with critics clearly not digging the man’s style when it came to holding court on TV. Save for an infamous episode with one of his staunchest critics, Howard Stern, there wasn’t much enchantment to be found here.

Martin Short - The Martin Short Show - 1999 - 2000

The bad news is that certified comedy legend Martin Short didn’t last very long as the host of The Martin Short Show. However, the silver lining to be had is the fact that this short engagement in the land of talk shows did give us one of his most memorable characters, as this was the launching pad for one Jiminy Glick. 

Queen Latifah - The Queen Latifah Show - 1999 - 2001/2013 - 2015

Sometimes it all comes down to timing and ratings, both of which seemed to be the death knell for The Queen Latifah Show in its two separate incarnations. The 1999-2001 run could be seen as ahead of its time, while the 2013-2015 run saw a promising start leading to declining ratings. 

Wayne Brady - The Wayne Brady Show - 2001 - 2004

It’s still hard to believe that the charming and quick-witted Wayne Brady couldn’t make it in daytime talk. Though the Let’s Make A Deal host is doing quite well for himself now, The Wayne Brady Show was a bit of a stumbling block on his career path. Luckily, right before the show went off the air, Wayne’s infamous Chappelle's Show sketch went to air, and it gave him a win that overshadowed the whole business.

Zach Galifianakis - Late World with Zach - 2002

Zach Galifianakis’ Late World with Zach on MTV is a particularly notable example of what happens when a talent like this Hangover star lands at the wrong time. All of the ingredients were there, as MTV let Zach be Zach; but people weren’t clued into the gag just yet, because many of Galifianakis' best movies weren't out yet. By the time Between Two Ferns kicked off though, the world was ready, and a confrontational legend was born.

Caroline Rhea - The Caroline Rhea Show - 2002 - 2003

When a notable talk show host leaves, there’s always the question of who carries on their legacy of schtick. As The Rosie O’Donnell Show came to a close, Caroline Rhea’s talk show, The Caroline Rhea Show, attempted to pass that torch to the Sabrina the Teenage Witch legend. The networks, and audiences, were not exactly supportive, and after 195 episodes, it was no more.

Sharon Osbourne - The Sharon Osbourne Show - 2003 - 2004

Before Sharon Osbourne's "embarrassing" departure from The Talk, she struck it out on her own to try and parlay some of her reality TV fame into a chat show. And yet, The Sharon Osbourne Show didn't last, as the show failed to land a following, leaving Sharon to let it die a quiet, un-renewed death. 

John McEnroe - McEnroe - 2004

Tennis is a grueling sport, but talk shows can be even more of a battlefield if you’re not careful. John McEnroe learned that the hard way during a handful of months in 2004, when his series McEnroe went from a critically panned debut to a critically panned finale. Even his most dedicated fans have probably overlooked it, with a mere mention of the series prompting many exclamations of, “You can’t be serious!”

Megan Mullally - The Megan Mullally Show - 2006 - 2007

Sometimes our preconceptions get the better of us, and shows like The Megan Mullally Show suffer as a result. As audiences were taken aback by Mullally failing to be her Will & Grace character in real life, there was nowhere to go but down for this daytime talk show.

George Lopez - Lopez Tonight - 2009 - 2011

If it wasn’t for Conan O’Brien, Lopez Tonight may have had a healthy run on TBS. Though it seemed his hiring could have boosted George Lopez’s show, the only shake-up it got was being moved into a later time slot, with weakened ratings. However, this all happened with O’Brien trying to avoid any sort of bad blood along the way, with the host even paying tribute to this slain series on its final night of air.

Wanda Sykes - The Wanda Sykes Show - 2009 - 2010

Following in the footsteps of Joan Rivers’ The Late Show and Chevy Chase’s The Chevy Chase Show, Fox really wanted to make late-night happen with comedian Wanda Sykes. Unfortunately for the network, The Wanda Sykes Show was such a disappointment that it hasn’t even tried to mount another original program in that later evening block since. 

Katie Couric - Katie - 2012 - 2014

A staple of NBC’s Today, seeing Katie Couric go to daytime talk felt like a lateral move. Moving to ABC to do so was certainly the most shocking turn of it all, at least until Katie was mutually canceled by its star and overseers. What started as a good run soon fell into a slump, leaving this enterprise grounded by 2014.

Bethenny Frankel - Bethenny - 2012 - 2014

How’s this for a story? The Real Housewives of New York alum Bethenny Frankel tried to kickstart her talk show Bethenny, only for it to initially get shelved. Fate seemed to smile on the entrepreneur as the show was revived for a run between 2012 and 2014. Only 170 episodes would be produced before the hammer came down, freeing Frankel up for appearances on shows like Shark Tank. 

Kris Jenner - Kris - 2013

It wasn’t cancellation that ended Kris’ brief 2013 run, as the talk show fronted by Kris Jenner was only being tested when it aired. Coincidentally the most notable episode was its finale, which saw Kanye West showing off the first photos of her granddaughter North. Ratings spiked, but it couldn’t save this ship from sinking. 

Khloé Kardashian - Kocktails With Khloé - 2016

A TV show where the host drinks with their guests? Not a bad move, especially when someone with clout like Khloé Kardashian could get the concept greenlit for cable. Unfortunately for Kocktails with Khloé, the show struck out after 14 episodes; more than likely due to the perfect storm of airing on cable and audience feedback sounding rather disappointed with the overall product.

Harry Connick Jr. - Harry - 2016 - 2018

For someone as adept at conversation and shenanigans as Harry Connick Jr., to fail in the talk show landscape always feels like a waste. Harry capitalized on the former American Idol judge’s star power and charisma, but even then audiences weren’t buying as heavily as when he was a part of Fox’s former reality show fixture.

Sarah Silverman - I Love You, America With Sarah Silverman - 2017 - 2018

There still isn’t a clear answer as to why Hulu canceled I Love You, America with Sarah Silverman. A mashup of talk show and sketch show, Silverman took on the tough issues of our modern times with her trademark sense of humor. Twenty-one episodes still don’t seem like a long enough run, but that’s sadly where things ended.

Lilly Singh - A Little Late With Lilly Singh - 2019 - 2021

With Carson Daly giving up the throne of Last Call with Carson Daly, NBC made what seemed like a smart move. By tapping famous YouTuber Lilly Singh for her show A Little Late with Lilly Singh, the network was clearly trying to get the younger generation to tune into this tested timeslot. It didn’t work, even with some changes to the format in the second season, and with this show’s demise also came that of the 1:35 A.M. slot at NBC.

Kathy Griffin - Kathy - 2012 - 2013

Giving Kathy Griffin her own talk show, after years of being banned from shows like Ellen and The View, was probably a bit of a surprise. In fact, the only thing that would have been more surprising is if Kathy had actually lasted past its short spell of 24 episodes on Bravo.

ALF - Alf’s Hit Talk Show - 2004

ALF’s Hit Talk Show tried pretty hard in its extremely brief run to make TV Land viewers stay up a bit later. Not even guests like Merv Griffin and Doris Roberts, not to mention professional sidekick/Tonight Show legend Ed McMahon could push this affair past seven episodes. 

Russell Brand - Brand X With Russell Brand - 2012 - 2013

You’d think a talk show with Russell Brand at the helm would be something so controversial you’d have at least heard of it. That appears to not be the case, as FX failed to crack the same molds it had broken with shows like The Shield with its two-season run of Brand X with Russell Brand. 

Bonnie Hunt - The Bonnie Hunt Show - 2008 - 2010

Bonnie Hunt not only had the comedic chops and kindness to host something like The Bonnie Hunt Show, but she infused it with a creative spin. Thanks to guests being able to enter the set through various methods of excitement, like a firepole, there seemed to be some magic in giving the Cheaper by the Dozen star a daytime talk slot. Two seasons, and even a couple of award nominations later, it was lights out.

Fran Drescher - The Fran Drescher Tawk Show - 2010

For six seasons and 146 episodes, Fran Drescher charmed the world as Fran Fine on CBS’ The Nanny. Sadly, that sort of effortless affability didn’t help The Fran Drescher Tawk Show make it past 16 episodes in 2010. And yes, that did include a humorous reunion with her co-star Charles Shaughnessy. 

Even with the most pleasing personality, the best time slot, and a pedigree in the business, talk shows are a concept that can still present a gamble. Many celebrities have tried, and many more probably will in the future; because when you can make it as a talk show host, you can pretty much write your own ticket from that point on.

In the wake of a joint investigation by The Times newspaper and Channel 4’s Dispatches program, more details surrounding the allegations against Russell Brand are coming out. Beyond the accusations from multiple women accusing him of sexual assault and abuse, a new report reveals a more in-depth history of controversies. According to the report, the comedian-turned-influencer was once questioned by police regarding an incident with a masseuse and had a high-profile project shelved after appearing on Comedy Central’s Roast Battle.

It has come to light that the podcast host’s last attempt at a mainstream British TV show, Russel Brand TV, was abruptly shelved five years ago. Allegedly this decision was prompted by female comedian Katherine Ryan’s allegations regarding Brand’s predatory behavior. Ryan publicly confronted him during a live 2017 Comedy Central’s Roast Battle recording, which never aired, according to The Sun. 

That is not all. The report also profiles the comedian being questioned by police regarding another incident. The alleged incident occurred in June 2014 when a professional masseuse was hired to provide the Death on the Nile star with a birthday massage at a luxurious £5 million mansion in Oxfordshire. The masseuse alleged that she was touched sexually by Russell and was subsequently forced out of the house when she protested.

On the other hand, Russell Brand reportedly claimed he felt uneasy upon the woman's arrival and decided to cancel the massage, escorting her out of the property in a friendly but awkward manner. Officers examined CCTV footage from the property, and the comedian contended that it supported his version of events, showing that the masseuse was not forcibly removed from the premises. The case against the actor was eventually dropped, and the masseuse was informed the investigation was closed. 

These New Incidents Are Only The Latest Russell Brand Accusations

In recent weeks, Brand has faced a large swathe of accusations, including rape, sexual assault, and emotional abuse, from four women who claim incidents occurred between 2006 and 2013. The performer has denied wrongdoing, asserting that all his relationships were consensual.

One of the accusers, known only as Nadia, alleged that he raped her in Los Angeles in July 2012, with medical notes indicating that she sought treatment at a rape crisis center. Text messages between the two reportedly revealed her explicit refusal, to which the Bedtime Stories actor allegedly responded with an apology. Another woman has claimed she was sexually assaulted by Brand at 16 and accused him of using his BBC account to have her picked up from school to visit his home.

During the period covered by the report, the 1 Leicester Square veteran was a sought-after figure in the entertainment industry. He not only secured notable roles in major films like Forgetting Sarah Marshall, where he starred alongside Kristen Bell (whose past comments have recently resurfaced), but also featured in hits like Despicable Me and Rock of Ages. He also headlined the Arthur remake alongside Greta Gerwig, Helen Mirren, and Jennifer Garner. Brand took on hosting duties for Saturday Night Live during this period, as well.

His personal life, particularly his high-profile relationship with Katy Perry, drew significant attention then. They began dating in 2009, married in 2010, but divorced in 2012, sparking rumors about the circumstances, including Perry claiming a text-initiated divorce. Despite the challenges, Brand expressed positive sentiments about his marriage and commitment to healthier relationships.

Russel Brand's career has seen setbacks in response to the allegations. The BBC and Channel 4, along with an independent TV production company, have initiated investigations into his conduct. The BBC has removed his content from its platforms and committed to a transparent inquiry. The funnyman’s live tour has also been postponed, and YouTube has suspended his ability to monetize content. In a recent online video, he expressed gratitude to his supporters during what he described as an "extraordinary and distressing week."

Stay connected with CinemaBlend for the latest updates on this evolving story and comprehensive information on all 2023 TV premiere dates and beyond.

Russell Brand has been accused of sexual assault. And while he is denying all the charges against him, the backlash from the accusations has been a continual uncovering of Brand’s previous behavior which, while it doesn’t shed light on the specific allegations, is certainly not painting him in the best light. In recent days previous comments made by actress Kristen Bell about Brand’s behavior on set have returned to light as UK TV presenter Lorraine Kelly has also spoken about an on-air incident with Brand where he touched her and called her a “slut.”

Russell Brand has always been one who has tried to push limits with comedy but some of Brand’s behavior from years ago is now being looked at differently following the five different women who have made allegations against the comedian and actor.

What Kristen Bell Said To Russell Brand

Back in 2008 Kristen Bell and Russell Brand co-starred together in the film Forgetting Sarah Marshall. In 2010 the Daily Mail reported that while in production, Brand had allegedly tried to make a move on Bell, who married actor Dax Shepard in 2013. Bell apparently was very clear with Brand that she was not interested, saying…

While well over a decade ago, Bell’s comments have resurfaced in the wake of the allegations against Brand. Bell does go on to say that after she set the boundaries of their relationship, the two got along well and that she enjoyed working with him on the film.

In a vacuum, the comments from Bell likely wouldn’t set off alarm bells. However, they are just the latest previous incidents to be unearthed. It's being reported that Brand was removed as a reality TV judge in 2018 due to a conflict with another judge surrounding similar allegations at the time. A 2013 interview on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon recently came to light where Brand asked Katherine McPhee to sit on his lap. McPhee has brushed off the incident, but a UK TV presenter is talking about her own talk show altercation with Brand a little differently.

What Russell Brand Said To Lorraine Kelly 

Lorraine Kelly, host of the UK morning show Lorraine, has recently spoken about a 2007 appearance on The Graham Norton Show. Brand puts his hand on her thigh and asks if she’s wearing suspenders (stockings), before later referring to her as a “slut." Speaking about the incident on her show (via The Sun) Kelly said… 

Kelly says now the incident made her feel quite uncomfortable. She says she interviewed Brand herself multiple times over the course of several years and says he was unusually "charming" and "flirty."

Four women came forward earlier this week as part of a joint UK media investigation. Two of the women have accused Brand of assault and two have accused him of rape. Brand has made a public statement in which he denies all charges and claims the relationships with the women were consensual. 

The past few days have seen entertainer Russell Brand accused of sexual assault and abuse by multiple women. Before the claims were published in an exposé, Brand released a statement and refuted the rape claims against him. Amid the controversy, past footage as well as interview quotes that reference the Get Him to the Greek star have been making the rounds. One such clip is an appearance he made on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon alongside Katharine McPhee. With that, Fallon took some unexpected shrapnel from the footage himself, following his own highly publicized situation.

What Happens In The Tonight Show Video And What Did Katharine McPhee Say About It?

The interview in question took place in early 2013, during which Katharine McPhee opened up about her experience at the Super Bowl that year. Shortly after McPhee arrived on stage, Jimmy Fallon told Russell Brand that he had to move from his seat to allow the singer to sit down. Though Fallon seemingly tried to dissuade him, Brand welcomed McPhee to sit on his lap, which she did briefly, while the British comic declared, “For the Queen” and bounced her on his lap. The two eventually switched places, as Fallon wiped his face and said, “Russell, look away.” When moving, Brand also said, “I'll just sit here with my sexual charisma.”

The Arthur star later chimed in amid the singer/actress’ Super Bowl story. He declared that he does “find Katharine very attractive” and that he thought “when she said ‘exchange numbers,’ I thought things I'd like to exchange with her. He then went on to list “numbers, genes, genetic info, data” as items he’d like to exchange. The American Idol alum, who was married to Nick Cokas at the time, later brought up her relationship status to the comic. Referencing the actress’ mention of the San Francisco 49ers beating the New York Jets, the Despicable Me star then said, “Look at the way you dropped the Jets. You can drop that guy any day.” The star later admitted to not knowing the songstress was married and said he was going to “fuck off now.” Check out the full video below:

With the video above now circulating across the web, Katharine McPhee released a statement about it. That message, which was shared with DailyMail.com, suggests McPhee didn’t take issue with the televised exchange: 

So it would seem that she holds no ill will against Russell Brand or Jimmy Fallon, by extension, who seemed to be trying to cool down the situation. As mentioned earlier, Fallon is currently coming off a controversial situation involving his show. Though the claims he’s been facing haven't become as extensive as what Brand’s been accused of. 

What’s Going On With Jimmy Fallon And Russell Brand Respective Controversies?

Earlier this month, several Tonight Show staff members alleged that Jimmy Fallon contributed to a toxic work environment and allegedly would lose his temper while talking to co-workers. Fallon reportedly apologized to his staffers shortly after the allegations were published. However, a number of individuals have since defended Fallon, saying that the employee accounts don’t accurately reflect the workplace. One unnamed producer praised Fallon while talking about what it’s like to have to deliver bad news to him. Jerry Seinfeld also denied a claim that he scolded the host after he purportedly derided a crew member. 

Russell Brand, meanwhile, is facing sexual assault allegations from four women. They claim to have been assaulted by him in separate incidents that reportedly took place between 2006 and 2013. Another woman has since filed a report against the Forgetting Sarah Marshall alum and, just days ago, Brand was also dropped by his management team. The podcaster and former TV presenter admitted that years ago, he was “promiscuous” but also said that the relationships he had were all “consensual.” As of this writing, Brand has yet to be formally charged with any offenses. 

It remains to be seen just how Russell Brand’s situation might pan out moving forward. Though what appears to be evident right now is that Katharine McPhee didn’t take offense to his behavior during their joint appearance on Jimmy Fallon’s The Tonight Show.

Russell Brand continues to make headlines after being accused of sexual assault and abuse by multiple women. The allegations surfaced this past weekend as part of an investigation conducted by a trio of British media outlets. Before the claims were published, Brand himself revealed that he was aware of them and denied having done anything wrong. Now, it would seem this has officially become a legal matter, as someone has reportedly filed a report of assault against the actor and comedian. All the while, insiders are dropping claims about him being dropped from a major TV gig years ago. 

An Individual Filed A Report Allegedly Involving The Star To The Police

On Monday, it was reported that the Metropolitan Police in London received a report from a woman after multiple allegations were leveled against Russell Brand. According to BBC News, the one-time Saturday Night Live host wasn’t not specifically named by authorities. The Met released a statement confirming that it received a report regarding an alleged incident that took place in Soho in 2003. As of this writing, an investigation has not been initiated, though the cops were reportedly working with the woman, “providing her with support.” The cops are also encouraging anyone who believes they’ve been assaulted to contact them. 

The investigation done by the Times, the Sunday Times and Channel 4’s Dispatches included sexual assault claims from four women. Their alleged encounters with the British media personality are said to have taken place between 2006 and 2013. Two of the purported victims claim to have been assaulted by the Ballers alum in Los Angeles on separate occasions. A third says that she was not only sexually assaulted by physically and emotionally abused. The fourth woman – who issued a complaint to the actor’s literary agent in 2020 – says she was assaulted by him while she was in a relationship with him years ago. She alleges that she was 16 and in school at the time, while the stand-up comic was in his 30s. 

It would now appear that these claims aren’t the only accusations facing Russell Brand at this time. Insiders now claim that he was chastised for exhibiting inappropriate behavior while he was working on Comedy Central’s Roast Battle. 

Why Russell Brand Allegedly Didn’t Remain With Roast Battle

The now-48-year-old podcaster was only on the British comedy series as a judge during its first season (or series) in 2018. Sources tell Deadline he was removed due to claims – swirling around at that time – that he’d sexually assaulted women. Per the unnamed insiders, fellow judge Katherine Ryan took him to task about that on air but that her comments were purportedly left out of the final episode edits. The trade notes that last year, Ryan approached one of her co-stars about being a predator amid a taping. Though she didn’t actually name Russell Brand, sources now say that’s who she was referring to. 

Additionally, Deadline reports that Fulwell 73 – the production company behind Roast Battle – became uncomfortable with the speculation surrounding the comedian at the time. His hesitancy to be roasted as part of the show was also viewed unfavorably. With that, the media banner apparently saw an opportunity to remove the judge from his post. 

According to the piece, Russell Brand was unhappy with Katherine Ryan’s aforementioned interview. He expressed similar disdain over this most recent round of accusations in the video he shared to social media on Friday. Though Brand (who’s talked about relationships before) admitted that he was “promiscuous” during his Hollywood rise, he also said all of his relationships were “consensual.” He also opined whether the controversy is part of an “agenda” to attack him. 

The performer – who divorced Katy Perry after less than two years – continues to face backlash following the allegations. His management also just dropped him, claiming to have been “misled” by him when the assault allegation arose in 2020. As of this writing, he hasn’t been formally charged with any offense and has not spoken out since releasing his video.

Russell Brand currently finds himself on the receiving end of several serious allegations. The 48-year-old British entertainer is facing accusations from five women, four of which have accused him of sexual assault as well as emotional abuse. Before the claims became public knowledge, Brand stated that he’d been made aware of them through personal correspondence. At that time, he vehemently denied any wrongdoing on his part. He’s still, however, feeling the effects of the situation on a professional level, as his management agency has officially dropped him. Now, the organization has spoken out on its decision to part ways with him.

This isn’t the first time the Big Brother's Big Mouth alum has faced allegations such as these. One of the women who recently shared her account spoke out against him in 2020 and made her concern known to Tavistock Wood Management. The group acknowledged that situation when making a statement (shared with NBC News) in the aftermath of this latest round of claims. While the company acknowledged that its former client refuted the assertions, it also alleged that three years ago, it didn’t possess accurate information: 

The wave of allegations surfaced as part of an investigation jointly conducted by the Times, the Sunday Times and the Channel 4 program, Dispatches. The actor’s alleged encounters with the women are said to have taken place between 2006 and 2013. One woman claimed the Arthur star raped her at his Los Angeles home, requiring her to seek services at a rape center. Another lady asserted that the comic sexually assaulted her in LA as well and that it occurred during a time that they were working together. She also says she was subsequently threatened into not taking legal action. Meanwhile, a third female accuser claims to have been sexually violated and physically and emotionally abused by the entertainer.

One of the more graphic accounts listed comes from a woman who claims she was engaged in a relationship with Russell Brand when she was 16 and he was in his 30s. She maintains that she was raped by the star and that in one instance, he “forced his penis down her throat,” causing her to choke. Additionally, she says he referred to her as “the child” throughout their time together. This is the same individual who reportedly approached Tavistock Wood in 2020.

The media presenter himself opened up about the allegations of assault this past Friday in a video he shared to his social media channels. At the time, didn’t get specific about what he’d been accused of, but he referred to the assertions as “egregious” and “aggressive.” While he admitted that he was more “promiscuous” at the height of his fame in the 2000s/2010s, he asserted that all of his relationships were “consensual.” Additionally, the stand-up vet lamented that his past transparency about his exploits had been “metastasized into something criminal.”

During the stretch of time listed in the exposé, Russell Brand was starring in a number of high-profile Hollywood productions. Rock of Ages (in which he played Lonny Barnett), Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Get Him to the Greek and the Arthur remake (which paired him with Helen Mirren) are just a few. He also parlayed his popularity at the time into a hosting gig on Saturday Night Live in 2011. His marriage to Katy Perry – and the speculation surrounding their eventual divorce – also brought Brand notoriety.

As of this writing, Russell Brand hasn’t released any further statements since making those comments in the video shared to social media. Time will tell if he decides to weigh in further or even comment on his agency’s decision to sever ties with him. 

This past week, actor and podcaster Russell Brand took to social media to share a message with his followers. He stated that he received correspondence from media outlets regarding “egregious” and “aggressive” assertions about his character. While he didn’t get too specific at the time, he denied any wrongdoing on his part. He also voiced his disdain over seeing his “transparency” get "metastasized into something criminal.” Now, Brand finds himself at the center of an investigation, and he's been accused of sexual assault and abuse by multiple women. 

The allegations are part of an investigation that was jointly conducted by the Times, the Sunday Times and Channel 4’s Dispatches, per the BBC. This comes only a day after the entertainer shared a video to X, in which he shot down claims. Per their findings, five women have come forward with allegations against the media personality, with four having accused the stand-up comic of sexually assaulting them. These alleged occurrences reportedly took place while the now-48-year-old star was on the rise in Hollywood and working for the BBC and other entities between 2006 and 2013.

According to the report, one of the ladies says Russell Brand raped her in his home in Los Angeles, and she was later treated at a rape center as a result. The Times also says it has medical records that corroborate the claim. Another woman asserted that she was sexually assaulted by Brand when they worked together in LA and was threatened to not take legal action after the fact. The third reported victim said he assaulted her and was also physically and emotionally abusive. 

Finally, a fourth woman, alleges that the actor raped her while she was 16 and still in school. It’s said that at the time, he was in his 30s and purportedly referred to her as “the child” during their reported relationship, which was referred to as “emotionally and sexaully abusive.” That same woman also claimed that in one instance, Brand “forced his penis down her throat.”

When addressing the situation in the video shared on Friday, the entertainer said that the allegations were connected to his days of “promiscuity” at the height of his career. He further stated that in the past, he’s been open about having had intimate relationships with a sizable number of people. However, in this most recent clip, he stresses that they were all "consensual":

During the timespan listed by the report, Russell Brand was indeed a highly sought-after commodity in the entertainment industry. He landed roles in major movies, such as Forgetting Sarah Marshall, (its spinoff) Get Him to the Greek, Despicable Me and Rock of Ages. He even led the Arthur remake, which starred Greta Gerwig, Helen Mirren and Jennifer Garner. Amid that time, Brand also hosted Saturday Night Live.

His personal life was also a topic of speculation during that period of time, and that was in part due to his highly publicized relationship with Katy Perry. After the two started dating in 2009, they tied the knot in 2010. They ultimately dissolved the marriage in 2012 and rumors later circulated in regard to the details, with some even claiming the actor requested the divorce via a text message. Nevertheless, he’s since said he enjoyed being married and at one point, claimed he’d been working to forge healthy relationships.

Neither Russell Brand nor his representatives have provided further comment on this matter, and the same is true of the news outlets that shared the alleged sexual assault and abuse claims. This is a developing situation, and only time will tell what happens moving forward.

Fox News has been making a number of changes as of late, and one of the biggest occurred back in April when the network parted ways with longtime host Tucker Carlson. The circumstances behind his dismissal are unclear, as the company still hasn’t provided a concrete reason for it. Carlson seems to be moving on to new ventures and hasn’t said much about being let go by his former employer. Now, the polarizing political pundit is getting candid about his firing and says that he “honestly” doesn’t know why it happened. 

When the TV personality broke his silence following his Fox firing months ago, he didn’t say anything directly in reference to his former company. That changed, however, when he was the latest guest to join Russell Brand on his Stay Free podcast, where they discussed a myriad of topics. Brand asked Tucker Carlson how he’s been since his high profile exit from the news corporation. The conservative host said that he understands that such things can happen in the media industry and that he tends to take the “long view” when it comes to life and the media industry. However, it sounds like he still didn’t see this coming: 

Though the Fox Corporation has yet to provide a reason for firing him, rumors have swirled that a number of purported DMs impacted the decision. Said leaked texts, which allegedly belong to the Tucker alum, included inflammatory remarks, including racist sentiments. During his interview with Russell Brand, the pundit denied any link to the texts and played down the notion that someone from his former workplace shared them with the media. 

Fox News has found a replacement for him timeslot-wise, as Jesse Watters has shifted into that position. All the while, Tucker Carlson has started a new TV show on Twitter, which debuted to big numbers. The program has, however, sparked controversy, as Fox claims it violates a non-compete clause in his contract, which is still being paid out to him right now. However, Carlson’s camp has accused the conglomerate of fraud and argues that the contractual provision is no longer valid. Despite all of the legal drama, he seems pleased to be paired with the Elon Musk-owned social media platform:

Tucker Carlson continued to say that he thinks the subscription model that he’s now involved with will work for now and that he plans to stay with the bird app. So all in all, he appears to have no hard feelings towards his former workplace, despite the ongoing legal battle. Only time will tell how Carlson – who apparently wants to start a media company as well – will continue to navigate this new chapter of his career. Many will surely be watching that intently and waiting for updates on the Fox drama he’s embroiled in.

Making a comedy in the studio system has to be a push-and-pull of negotiations regarding what jokes can be made, and which ones have to land on the cutting room floor. With regards to the new comedy Bros starring Billy Eichner in the lead, so many of the jokes are rooted in pop culture, and take aim at everyone from Debra Messing to Garth Brooks. This is part of the reason why Bros is being referenced alongside some of the best romantic comedies of our generation, and is also receiving so many positive reviews. Part of the reason why Bros so successfully navigates the choppy waters of studio politics is because producer Judd Apatow and director Nicholas Stoller have been down this road so many times before, and have hilarious stories to tell regarding the process. 

Before helming Bros, Nicholas Stoller cut his teeth on two Neighbors movies, the classic breakup film Forgetting Sarah Marshall, and Russell Brand’s Get Him to the Greek. His experiences with adult comedies taught him how the MPAA feels about genitalia, which led Judd Apatow to relay this very funny and awkward story about a Criss Angel joke they almost included in Greek. Stoller and Apatow appeared on CinemaBlend’s ReelBlend podcast and told us: 

Criss Angel is an extremely popular magician and a Las Vegas icon. He’s usually known as The Mindfreak, and he almost got his own movie back in the day. So including him in a joke because the location of the scene was Vegas makes sense. Angel has been active on the scene since 1994, so audiences in the theater for Get Him to the Greek in 2010 would have recognized him and laughed along at the punchline. Though, as Judd Apatow notes, he’s not essential to the laugh in this case.

Maybe not Gabe Kaplan, but we get the idea, Judd Apatow. As was the case with Get Him to the Greek, there are more than enough jokes in Bros that leaving a few of them out of the final cut doesn’t affect the finished product. Billy Eichner spoke about some of the sex scenes that he wrote into the movie, while co-star Luke Macfarlane opened up about why his Hallmark Movie fans will enjoy what they see in Bros now that it’s in theaters. We’ll see how the comedy does in theaters during its opening weekend, compared to other upcoming 2022 movies that are heading to multiplexes in the weeks to come. 

They’re back and they’re better than ever! Minions: The Rise of Gru has arrived in theaters as part of the 2022 movie releases, telling the beginning of everyone’s favorite villain, Gru, and how he came to use the Minions - ya know, those little yellow monsters - as his personal henchman.

But, with any Despicable Me movie, and especially with Minions 2, whether that be a main entry or a spinoff such as Minions: The Rise of Gru, there is always a star-studded cast, and that is the case with this film as well. Here is where you might have seen - or heard - the cast of Minions: The Rise of Gru before. 

Steve Carell (Gru) 

I’m sure it’s no surprise that Steve Carell, the man, the myth, the legend himself, has returned to voice the impeccable Gru - this time, in younger form for Minions: The Rise of Gru. But of course, you’ve seen Steve Carell in plenty of other places before, in both movies and television. 

Carell is probably known the most for his iconic portrayal of Michael Scott in the critically acclaimed The Office, but the actor has done plenty more in television since then, including the leading role on the Netflix original comedy, Space Force, a main role in the great Apple TV+ series, The Morning Show, a leading role in Angie Tribeca, and plenty of guest spots on many TV shows. 

However, Carell has also been plenty active in movies as well. You might have seen in comedies such as Evan Almighty, Date Night, Crazy, Stupid Love, or maybe even Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgandy. He's also done so much in drama as well, with appearances in critically acclaimed films such as Foxcatcher, Little Miss Sunshine, Battle of the Sexes, Beautiful Boy, and more. 

Taraji P. Henson (Belle Bottom)

Another fantastic talent on this list is Taraji P. Henson, who voices Belle Bottom in Minions: The Rise of Gru. This amazing actress has been around for some time and appeared in many movies and TV shows, with one of her biggest being Empire, where she portrayed Cookie Lyon, and received critical acclaim. 

She also has had several guest roles on many television shows, and was a part of the Annie Live! cast, where she got to show off her singing skills. 

Henson has also had a great run in movies as well, appearing in huge hits such as Hidden Figures, Hustle & Flow, Proud Mary, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Best of Enemies and so many more. 

Michelle Yeoh (Master Chow)

Another iconic actress that is added to the cast list of Minions: The Rise of Gru is Michelle Yeoh, who voices Master Chow, a kung-fu master. Most recently in 2022, Michelle Yeoh has been making headlines for her incredible performance in Everything, Everywhere, All At Once, but Yeoh has been active in the film industry for decades. 

She's appeared in many movies, such as the James Bond film, Tomorrow Never Dies, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, the romantic comedy, Crazy Rich Asians, Last Christmas, the Marvel Cinematic Universe film, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and so many others. 

Yeoh has also made her mark in television, with a role as Phillipa Georgiou in Star Trek: Discovery on Paramount+, as well as a role in the Netflix original series, Marco Polo. She’s also going to be in the upcoming The Witcher spinoff, The Witcher: Blood Origin. 

Jean-Claude Van Damme (Jean Clawed)

Playing Jean Clawed in Minions: The Rise of Gru is none other than action star himself, Jean-Clause Van Damme. This Belgian actor has made his name in Hollywood and appeared in a variety of movies and TV, showing off his skills as not only a fighter but as an actor. 

Some of his highlights in the film industry include the crime drama JCVD, Sudden Death, Maximum Risk, Double Impact, Cyborg, The Expendables series, the Kung Fu Panda franchise, the Kickboxer series, The Last Mercenary, and many more. 

Damme has made his mark on television as well, although it’s usually through guest appearances or hosting his own shows, such as Jean Claude Van Damme: Behind Closed Doors, Ramez Movie Star or other series. 

Lucy Lawless (Nunchuck)

You ever wonder what a nun with nunchucks would look like? That’s what Nunchuck, who is voiced by Lucy Lawless, answers in Minions: The Rise of Gru. This iconic actress made a name for herself back in the ‘90s in the series, Xena: Warrior Princess, and has only continued to grow as a star. 

Some of her biggest roles in the film industry have been Boogeyman, Justice League: The New Frontier, Bedtime Stories, and more. Lawless has lent more of her talents to television, with roles in several big-time shows after her time as Xena, including Battlestar Galactica, Sapartcaus: Blood and Sand, Spartacus: Gods of the Arena, Spartacus: Vengeance, Parks and Recreation, Ash vs. Evil Dead, My Life is Murder, and more. 

Dolph Lundgren (Svengeance)

Next up, we have Dolph Lundgren, who voices Svengeance in Minions: The Rise of Gru, and he came to fame primarily for portraying Ivan Drago in Rocky IV. Since then, he has appeared in a variety of movies and television shows. 

He portrayed the iconic He-Man in Masters of the Universe, and had big roles in films such as The Punisher, Showdown in Little Tokyo, Castle Falls, Wanted Man, Silent Trigger, and more. He also had a big role in The Expendables series, reprised his role as Ivan in Creed II, and was a part of the Aquaman cast. 

Lundgren has also had some time in the spotlight in regards to television, appearing in a recurring role in the CW's Arrowverse, on the flagship show, Arrow, as well as a main role in the series SAF3. 

Danny Trejo (Stronghold)

Let me tell you - Danny Trejo has been everywhere in Hollywood and is a badass, and it’s no surprise that he’s voicing Stronghold in Minions: The Rise of Gru. This man has way more credits than other actors. Seriously, just look him up, he’s all over. But, for the sake of the length of this article, we’ll go over some of his best. 

In terms of film, Trejo has appeared in many great ones, including Desperado, Heat, the From Dusk ‘Till Dawn series, Machete, Grindhouse, Dora and the Lost City of Gold, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, Reindeer Games, and so many others. 

Trejo has also had a prominent career in television, with some of his biggest roles being a recurring voice part on King of the Hill, a role on the popular FX drama, Sons of Anarchy, and a role in the TV series based on From Dusk ‘Till Dawn - along with many guest roles. 

Russell Brand (Young Dr. Nefario)

Russell Brand has been around for some time in the business and he’s a great choice for voicing young Dr. Nefario, Gru’s partner, in Minions: The Rise of Gru. Originally, Brand became well known for hosting Big Brother’s Big Mouth, but continued to lend his talents higher profile projects. 

He starred in movies such as Get Him To The Greek, Hop, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Rock of Ages, Trolls, Arthur, and most recently, was a part of the Death on the Nile cast in 2022. He’s also had some parts on television as well, with most having been guest appearances or for his own shows, such as Brand X with Russell Brand. However, he did have an acting role as Lance on the HBO series, Ballers. 

Julie Andrews (Gru’s Mother)

Julie Andrews is straight up the love of my life and that’s because I adore Julie Andrews and her movies so much, and I am so happy that she’s back for Minions: The Rise of Gru to continue voicing Gru’s mother. 

Andrews is an icon in Hollywood. While she hasn’t participated that much in television, aside from a few guest roles and her work as Lady Whistledown on the Netflix show, Bridgerton, she has been huge in movies for decades now, appearing in so many legendary films that I’m sure you’ve heard of. 

Some of her highlights include, but are not limited to, The Sound of Music, Mary Poppins, Victor/Victoria, My Fair Lady, The Princess Diaries franchise, The Tamarind Seed, Torn Curtain, the Eloise at the Plaza series, and the Shrek series. 

Alan Arkin (Wild Knuckles)

Next up, we have Alan Arkin, who voices Wild Knuckles in Minions: The Rise of Gru. Alan Arkin has been active in Hollywood for a very long time, and has been nominated for many awards for his performances, so it’s no surprise that he’s adding  a voice-acting role to his already impressive resume.

Some of his biggest films have been The Russians Are Coming, Wait Until Dark, The In-Laws, Little Miss Sunshine (which he won an Academy Award for), Argo, Slums of Beverly Hills, Thirteen Conversations About One Thing, Million Dollar Arm, and more. 

He’s also appeared in a few projects on television, such as Escape from Sobibor, as well as The Kominsky Method. 

RZA  

Last but not least, we have RZA, an actor and a music artist, who is in Minions: The Rise of Gru. As an artist, who originally got his start as part of the Wu-Tang Clan, he has scored many films that you might recognize the music from, such as the Kill Bill duology, Blade: Trinity, The Man with the Iron Fists, and more. 

But, as an actor, he’s appeared in many movies and TV shows as well. Some of his biggest films were American Gangster, Nobody, The Dead Don’t Die, and Life in a Year, alongside many other roles. He’s also guest-starred on shows such as Outlaw, Gang Related, The Simpsons, and more. 

With so many big stars, it’s not surprising to see that the cast of Minions: The Rise of Gru have done so many incredible things. I for one can’t wait to see what they do next - that is, after having a run at those pesky little minions.  

Ever since Murder on the Orient Express released back in 2017, creating a spike in interest for Agatha Christie books everywhere, it was only a matter of time before another movie adapting the stories of Hercule Poirot would be made. Now, Death on the Nile is out in movie theaters and making splashes with an intensely talented ensemble cast. 

But with so many stars, you might be wondering where you’ve seen them before. From long-time stars in the industry to younger actors and actresses making their way, here is where you’ve seen the Death on the Nile cast before.  

Kenneth Branagh (Hercule Poirot)

Returning from the first movie is Kenneth Branagh, playing the main character of Death on the Nile, Hercule Poirot. Branagh has been in the industry for some time, in both movies and TV, so it’s not a surprise that you might have seen him before. 

Some of his biggest works in film include, Henry V, the excellent fantasy movie, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, My Week With Marilyn, the war film, Dunkirk, Tenet, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, the Disney live-action adaptation of Cinderella, and 2021’s Belfast. 

While Branagh keeps his talents mainly to film, he’s also had a career in television as well. He had a main role in the series Lunar Jim, as well as recurring roles in shows such as Wallander, Thompson, Fortunes of War and more.

Tom Bateman (Bouc)

Also returning from the previous film is Tom Bateman, playing Bouc in Death on the Nile. Starting off his career in theatre, Bateman has appeared in a variety of movies and TV. While he also appeared in Murder on the Orient Express, he had roles in the movies Creditors, Snatched, Cold Pursuit and more. 

He’s also had a successful career in television, including roles in shows such as Da Vinci’s Demons, a lead role in Jekyll and Hyde, and parts in miniseries like Vanity Fair, Beecham House, Behind Her Eyes and more. 

Annette Bening (Euphemia)

Playing Euphemia in Death on the Nile is Annette Bening, an iconic actress who has been around for some time, appearing in huge films that have won many awards. One of her most known roles was starring in American Beauty, but some of her other big roles include The Grifters, Being Julia, The Kids Are All Right, Mrs. Harris, 20th Century Woman, Rules Don’t Apply, Captain Marvel and more. 

Bening has kept more of her talents towards movies, but she has appeared in some great TV shows and miniseries. Besides a couple of guest roles, she had a recurring voice role in the show, Liberty’s Kids, as well as an award-nominated performance in Mrs. Harris, where she played Jean Harris in a television movie. 

Russell Brand (Linus Windlesham)

Popping up next in Death in the Nile is Russell Brand, playing Linus Windlesham. While Brand is mainly known for his stand-up comedy, including several TV specials he has done, he’s been in plenty of movies and TV shows. Some of his biggest roles in film include Get Him to the Greek, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, the Despicable Me series, Hop, Trolls, Minions and more. 

Brand has definitely appeared many times as himself in TV, including shows like Saturday Night Live, Big Time Rush, and others. Among his many guest roles on television, he has been in shows like Ballers, playing Lance, as well as a guest role in Hospital People, playing Tyler Watt. 

Ali Fazal (Andrew Katchadourian)

Next up is Ali Fazal, playing Andrew Katchadourian in Death on the Nile. Fazal has been in many popular Indian films, including Fukrey, Always Kabhi Kabhi, 3 Idiots and more, but he’s also appeared in a couple of American films as well. These include Furious 7 and House Arrest on Netflix. 

Fazal has mainly kept his talents to movies when it comes to television, only having a couple of guest roles in Bollywood shows. He also had a recurring role in Bollywood Hero, and a role in the miniseries Bang Baaja Baaraat. 

Dawn French (Mrs. Bowers)

Playing Mrs. Bowers in Death on the Nile is Dawn French. Mainly known for her comedy sketch show, French and Saunders, French has had a pretty active career in television, including roles in Girls on Top, The Vicar of Dibley in which she led, Wild West, Psychoville, Delicious and more, as well as judge stints and hosting gigs on shows such as Little Big Shots and Australia’s Got Talent.  

French has also appeared in many popular movies as well. Some of her most-known roles were the stop-motion animated movie, Coraline, Love and Other Disasters and Animals United. 

Gal Gadot (Linnet Ridgeway-Doyle)

In Death on the Nile, Gal Gadot plays Linnet Ridgeway-Doyle. I’m sure at some point you’ve heard of who Gal Gadot is in the last couple of years. One of her biggest roles thus far has been playing the legendary superhero, Wonder Woman, in two standalone films, Wonder Woman and Wonder Woman: 1984, as well as appearing in Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice, and both versions of Justice League. 

Some of her other big roles in movies include the record-breaking Netflix film, Red Notice, Ralph Breaks the Internet, Triple 9 and more - and will soon be playing the Evil Queen in the upcoming Snow White adaptation. While she hasn’t had a main role in any TV shows, she has guest-starred on several television series’, like Entourage, The Simpsons and Saturday Night Live. 

Armie Hammer (Simon Doyle)

Moving on, we have Armie Hammer, who plays Simon Doyle in Death on the Nile, the husband of Gal Gadot’s character. Armie Hammer has appeared in many movies and TV shows. Some of his biggest roles were being a part of The Social Network cast, The Lone Ranger, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., Call Me By Your Name, On The Basis Of Sex and more. 

He’s also had roles in many TV shows, including but not limited to the CW series, Gossip Girl, Reaper, and guest roles on many other shows like Veronica Mars or Desperate Housewives. 

Rose Leslie (Lousie Bourget)

Up next is Rose Leslie, who plays Louise Bourget in Death on the Nile. Leslie has appeared in some great roles in movies, including The Last Witch Hunter, The Last Dance, Morgan and more, but television is where she really shines. 

For three seasons, Leslie starred as Ygritte on Game of Thrones. Besides that, she’s also had main roles in shows like Downton Abbey, where she played Gwen Dawson during the first season, portrayed Emma Lane in Luther, played Maia Rindell in The Good Fight, and played Kirsten Longacre in the miniseries, Vigil. 

Emma Mackey (Jacqueline de Bellefort)

Playing Jacqueline de Bellefort in Death on the Nile is Emma Mackey. While she’s younger than many of her other co-stars on this list, Mackey has been making strides in Hollywood through her roles. 

In terms of movies, she’s appeared in the films The Winter Lake and Eiffel, but her biggest role this far is being a part of the Sex Education cast, playing Maeve Wiley in the popular Netflix series.  

Sophie Okonedo (Salome Otterbourne)

Next up is Sophie Okonedo, who plays Salome Otterbourne in Death on the Nile. With a career that has spannwd decades, Okonedo has almost done too many roles to list them all, but rest assured, you’ve probably seen her before. 

Some of her biggest roles in movies have been starring in Hotel Rwanda (which got her a nomination for an Academy Award), Martian Child, The Secret Life of Bees, Skin, Hellboy, Christopher Robin and more. 

Okonedo has also appeared in a variety of TV shows. These include The Governor, Starting Alive, In Defence, Clocking Off, Tsunami: The Aftermath, Criminal Justice, Flack, the Ryan Murphy-created series, Ratched, the Amazon Prime original series, Modern Love and Wheel of Time, His Dark Materials, and many, many other roles. 

Jennifer Saunders (Marie Van Schuyler)

Second to last is Jennifer Saunders, who plays Marie Van Schuyler in Death on the Nile. Saunders is most known for her sketch comedy show, French and Saunders, which she hosted with her comedy partner, Dawn French (as previously seen on this list). However, Saunders has had quite the career in both movies and TV. 

In terms of movies, Saunders has appeared in roles that include Fairy Godmother in Shrek 2, Coraline, Minions, Sing and Sing 2, Patrick, and more.

Saunders has also had quite the TV career. Besides her popular sketch shows with her partner, including Absolutely Fabulous, Parkinson, Dead Boss, Blandings, Josh, The Stranger miniseries and more, alongside many guest appearances in reality and talk shows, examples being Richard Osman’s House of Games and The View, among others. 

Letitia Wright (Rosalie Otterbourne) 

Lastly, we have Letitia Wright, who plays Rosalie Otterbourne in Death on the Nile. Wright has been making her name known these last couple of years with her big appearance as Shuri in the popular Marvel film, Black Panther, a role that she reprised again in both Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame, and is reprising once more in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

Besides her character in the MCU, Wright was also a part of the Sing 2 cast, and appeared in movies such as Guava Island, The Commuter, and Ready Player One. 

Wright has also had a pretty big career in television, including roles in shows like Banana, Cucumber, Top Boy, Humans, the Netflix original series, Black Mirror and the miniseries, Small Axe. 

With so many stars in this movie, it’s no wonder they’ve been in so many movies and TV shows, but now, they can all add Death on the Nile onto their resume as well. And I for one can’t wait to see what they do next.  

It's hard to believe that this April marks Forgetting Sarah Marshall's 13th anniversary. Jason Segel's unorthodox-but-heartfelt-and-often-funny rom-com was a delightful mix of raunchy humor and romantic sweetness. Aided by a top-tier comedy cast, which also includes Kristen Bell, Mila Kunis, Russell Brand, Paul Rudd, Bill Hader, and Jonah Hill, this Judd Apatow production propelled Segel into leading man status, started Nicholas Stoller's directing career, and lead to 2010's spin-off film, Get Him to the Greek. Thus, it was quite a charming comedy hit, which begs the question, "What are they doing now?" Let's see! Here's what the Forgetting Sarah Marshall cast is working on at the moment.

Also, it's worth noting that the film is available to stream on Amazon Prime on April 1st!

Jason Segel (Peter Bretter)

As Peter Bretter, our lovelorn composer who travels to Hawaii to get his mind off his traumatic break-up, only to run into his ex — and her new lover — on the trip, Jason Segel made his own starring vehicle with 2008's outrageous Forgetting Sarah Marshall. In addition to playing the leading man, Segel wrote the film, too, based on his own experiences. Furthermore, Segel also wrote and starred in 2011's The Muppets, The Five-Year Engagement, and Sex Tape. For TV lovers, Segel is known for CBS' long-running sitcom, How I Met Your Mother. He also appeared in short-lived shows like Freaks & Geeks and Undeclared. His other film credits include I Love You Man, Jeff Who Lives At Home, Bad Teacher, Knocked Up, The Discovery, and The End of the Tour.

Recently, Jason Segel starred in Our Friend. He also created, wrote, directed, and acted in AMC's anthology series, Dispatches from Elsewhere. Additionally, Segel appeared in Quibi's Home Movie: The Princess Bride. Next, the actor stars in The Sky Is Everywhere.

Kristen Bell (Sarah Marshall)

In the role of Sarah Marshall, a famous TV star who dumps Peter after a long-standing relationship, Kristen Bell plays a heartbreaking character in Nicholas Stoller's directorial debut. Prior to this titular role, Bell was best known for playing another titular character in Veronica Mars. She later played this part in a film continuation and Hulu's revival. Also, Bell starred in Showtime's House of Lies, as well as NBC's Heroes and The Good Place, the latter for which she was Golden Globe-nominated. In film, the actress appears in Spartan, Pulse, Fanboys, Couples Retreat, When in Rome, You Again, Burlesque, Scream 4, The Lifeguard, and the Bad Moms movies, which reunited her with Mila Kunis. Also, Bell lent her voice to the Frozen movies and The CW's Gossip Girl.

Recently, Kristen Bell was heard in Apple TV+'s Central Park, as well as the Disney+ short film, Once Upon a Snowman. Next, she stars in Queenpins. Additionally, the actress is attached to several upcoming projects, both in film and television, including Molly and the Moon, The Woman in the House, Do, Re & Mi, and Gossip Girl's revival.

Mila Kunis (Rachel Jansen)

Playing the part of Rachel Jansen, a kind-hearted receptionist who forms a close kinship with Peter during his vacation stay, Mila Kunis became the real love interest in Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Most famously, Kunis starred in Fox's long-running sitcom, That '70s Show. The actress also voices Meg Griffin in Family Guy. Additionally, Kunis is regularly heard in Robot Chicken. Her other notable film credits include Black Swan, for which she was Golden Globe-nominated, Friends with Benefits, Ted, Oz the Great and Powerful, Jupiter Ascending, The Spy Who Dumped Me, Friends with Benefits, Extract, The Book of Eli, American Psycho 2, Get Over It, Max Payne, Date Night, and the Bad Moms movies, alongside Kristen Bell. Additionally, Kunis can be heard in Wonder Park.

Most recently, Mila Kunis starred in February's Breaking News in Yuba County. She also guest-starred in Curb Your Enthusiasm. Next, the actress appears in Four Good Days, which comes out this May. Additionally, Kunis will star in Netflix's Luckiest Girl Alive.

Russell Brand (Aldous Snow)

As Aldous Snow, a charismatic, self-infatuated English rock star who dates Sarah shortly after her break-up with Peter, Russell Brand plays a competitive personality in Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Later, the actor reprised this standout part in Get Him to the Greek. Also, Brand starred in Arthur (2011) and voiced the main character in Hop. His other film credits include St. Trinian's, Bedtime Stories, Rock of Ages, Army of One, and The Tempest. The voice actor can also be heard in Despicable Me, Despicable Me 2, Trolls, and The Simpsons. Additionally, Brand played a recurring role in HBO's Ballers.

Most recently, Russell Brand lent his voice to Four Kids and It. Next, Brand will be seen in Death on the Nile and heard in Minions: The Rise of Gru. Outside of acting, the comedian also keeps an active YouTube account. Additionally, Brand has authored several books, including My Booky Wook: A Memoir of Sex, Drugs, and Stand-up and, most recently, 2019's Mentors: How to Help And Be Helped.

Paul Rudd (Chuck/Kunu)

In the role of Chuck, who goes by the name "Kunu," a cool-talking, ocean-loving surf instructor who doesn't always offer the sagest advice, Paul Rudd plays a scene-stealing supporting character in Forgetting Sarah Marshall. The actor's other notable film credits include Wet Hot American Summer, Knocked Up, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, This is 40, Clueless, Role Models, I Love You Man, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and the Anchorman movies. He also plays Ant-Man in the MCU. Additionally, Rudd stars in Netflix's Living with Yourself.

Most recently, Paul Rudd provided a voice role in the Audible series, Escape from Virtual Island. He also appeared in A Parks and Recreation Special and Quibi's Home Movie: The Princess Bride last year. Additionally, the actor guest-starred in The Simpsons and At Home with Amy Sedaris. Next, Rudd stars in Apple TV+'s The Shrink Next Door. He'll also soon be seen in Ghostbusters: Afterlife. Currently, Rudd is reprising his title role in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, which is now filming. He also plays the Marvel character in Disney+'s What If ...?

Bill Hader (Brian Bretter)

Playing the part of Brian Bretter, Peter's stepbrother and best friend who often gives some tough love advice, Bill Hader plays a mindful supporting character in 2008's Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Most notably, Hader was a long-standing cast member on Saturday Night Live, for which he was Emmy-nominated. Hader is also the star and co-creator of IFC's Documentary Now! The actor's other notable film credits include Tropic Thunder, The Skeleton Twins, Trainwreck, Adventureland, The To Do List, Men in Black 3, Superbad, Hot Rod, Pineapple Express, and IT: Chapter 2. Additionally, as a voice artist, Hader is heard in the Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs movies, Monsters University, Inside Out, Finding Dory, Sausage Party, Toy Story 4, The BFG, and Ralph Breaks the Internet, as well as Bob's Burgers, The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, and South Park.

Currently, Bill Hader stars in HBO's Emmy-nominated dark comedy, Barry, which he also created and writes and directs. Next, Hader will be heard in the Addams Family sequel.

Liz Cackowski (Liz Bretter)

As Liz Bretter, Brian's wife and the only woman he has ever been in a relationship with, Liz Cackowski played a cheery character in Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Her other film credits include I Love You, Man, The To Do List, Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping, and the Neighbors movies. Additionally, Cackowski can be seen in Netflix's Wine Country, which she co-wrote and co-produced. Her other writing credits include Saturday Night Live, Up All Night, Community, Funny or Die Presents ..., The Jeanine Tate Show (which she starred in), The Last Man on Earth, and the MTV Movie Awards.

On television, Liz Cackowski can also be seen in Speechless, Happy Together, Children's Hospital, and SNL. Additionally, the actress can be heard in Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. Cackowski was seen in HBO Max's An American Pickle last year. Outside of acting, she was also a writer for this year's Golden Globes Awards.

Jonah Hill (Matthew Van Der Wyk)

In the role of Matthew Van Der Wyk, a kind-hearted waiter who's an obsessive fan of Aldous, Jonah Hill played a friendly supporting character in Nicholas Stoller's Forgetting Sarah Marshall. One year before this movie's release, Hill gained notice and acclaim for Superbad and Knocked Up. He also co-starred in Get Him to the Greek. His other notable film credits include 21 Jump Street, Funny People, This is the End, 22 Jump Street, Accepted, Hail Caesar!, War Dogs, The Sitter, Cyrus, and The Beach Bum. His voice can also be heard in the How to Train Your Dragon films, The Lego Movie, Horton Hears a Who!, Sausage Party, and Megamind.

Additionally, Jonah Hill is a two-time Oscar-nominated actor for his supporting turns in Moneyball and The Wolf of Wall Street, respectively. He also starred in Netflix's Maniac. Furthermore, Hill wrote and directed Mid90s. Also, the actor has screenwriting credits for both Jump Street films and Why Him? Next, Hill appears in Netflix's Don't Look Up.

Da’Vone McDonald (Dwayne)

Playing Dwayne, a caring bartender, Da'Vone McDonald was a conversational character in Forgetting Sarah Marshall. He also appeared in Get Him to the Greek. McDonald's other notable film credits include Drillbit Taylor, Walk of Shame, The Five-Year Engagement, The Gambler (2014), A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas, Funny People, Miss March, and InAPPropriate Comedy. On TV, the actor was seen in Drunk History, The PET Squad Files, Dads, Raising Hope, and House. Most recently, he appeared in 2019's The Turkey Bowl and Grand-Daddy Day Care. His next project is unannounced.

Jack McBrayer (Darald Braden)

As Darald Braden, a recently-married man who's insecure about pleasing his sexually-demanding wife, Jack McBrayer plays a timid character in Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Most notably, McBrayer is known for his Emmy-nominated performance on NBC's 30 Rock. He also received an Emmy nomination for his guest role in Your Pretty Face Is Going to Hell. Additionally, as a voice actor, McBrayer is known for Wreck-It Ralph and Ralph Breaks the Internet. He's also heard in Phineas and Ferb, Wander Over Yander, Big Mouth, Smurfs: The Lost Village, Bob's Burgers, Despicable Me, and Star Trek: Lower Decks. The actor also starred in the short-lived series, The Jack and Triumph Show.

Jack McBrayer's other notable film credits include Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, The Campaign, Cats and Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, Movie 43, Cooties, and The To Do List. Next, he'll be seen in Queenpins alongside Kristen Bell. McBrayer will also be heard in Songs for a Sloth.

Maria Thayer (Wyoma Braden)

In the role of Wyoma Braden, Darald's sexually-liberated newlywed wife, Maria Thayer plays a frisky supporting character in Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Away from this movie, Thayer is known for her lead roles in Adult Swim's Eagleheart and truTV's Those Who Can't. Also, the actress played the title role in Hallmark Channel's Annie Claus is Coming to Town. Also, Thayer is known for Comedy Central's cult-favorite series, Strangers with Candy. On the big screen, meanwhile, Thayer appeared in Accepted, Hitch, State of Play, Table 19, Storytelling, and Strangers with Candy's film continuation.

Most recently, Maria Thayer appeared in a few episodes of NBC's Superstore. The actress also guest-starred in the pilot for Peacock's Punky Brewster reboot, as well as the latest season of A.P. Bio. Additionally, Thayer was recently seen in I've Got Issues.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall is currently available to stream on Peacock.

Kenneth Branagh’s version of Hercule Poirot, author Agatha Christie’s famed Belgian detective, is heading back to the big screen soon for a new case. Shortly after Murder on the Orient Express came out in 2017, a film adaptation of Death on the Nile was given the green light. Earlier this week, the first trailer for the movie finally dropped, giving us our first taste of its all-star cast assembled for 1930s mystery mayhem.

Nowadays with trailers drop, you can also count on some of the actors piping on the advertising through their social media channels. Case in point, Gal Gadot shared the Death on the Nile trailer with her Twitter followers, along with the following commentary:

Very succinct, and it’s clear that Gal Gadot had a good time working on Death on the Nile. Armie Hammer, on the other hand, opted for a more… subdued approach when he shared the trailer on Instagram:

Hey, at least Armie Hammer posted the trailer; the caption’s just a bonus, and evidently he wasn’t feeling expressive. Then we have Russell Brand, who decided to call attention to his hair while promoting Death on the Nile on Twitter:

And while she didn’t add her own comment when retweeting the Death on the Nile trailer, Dawn French was pretty excited about the movie’s poster:

Like its namesake source material, Death on the Nile follows Hercule Poirot traveling to Egypt on holiday, but getting wrapped up in a murder investigation aboard a ship that involves a love triangle. Besides the aforementioned actors, the cast includes Tom Bateman, Annette Bening, Letitia Wright, Ali Fazal, Rose Leslie, Emma Mackey, Sophie Okonedo and Jennifer Saunders. Along with his Hercule Poirot duties, Kenneth Branagh sat back in the director’s chair, and Michael Green returned to write the script.

This marks Death on the Nile’s second time getting the feature film treatment, with the previous movie coming out in 1978 and starring Peter Ustinov (this was the first of his six appearances as Hercule Poirot), Bette Davis, Mia Farrow, Maggie Smith and Angela Lansbury, among others. This story was more recently adapted for live action back in 2004 for ITV’s Agatha Christie’s Poirot series.

While 2017’s Murder on the Orient Express was met with mixed critical reception, it did pretty well for itself at the box office with a $352.8 million global haul off a $55 million budget. Death on the Nile promises to provide just as much mystery and intrigue as its predecessor, if not more so, and if the sequel is similarly successful, maybe Kenneth Branagh will be game for a third round of mustachioed investigating.

Death on the Nile hits theaters on October 23, so keep checking back with CinemaBlend for continuing coverage. Learn what other movies are slated for later this year with our 2020 release schedule.

Nowadays, we're seeing more and more vloggers become bonafide celebrities through their popular YouTube channels. So much so that genuine movie stars and TV personalities are not only taking notice and turning themselves into prominent YouTubers as well. The results are... interesting, to say the least. Not every superstar has what it takes to be YouTube famous — surprisingly enough — but there are a handful of famous, popular media personalities who've made the jump into YouTube stardom, including Will Smith. His YouTube channel is just one of several celebrity-made platforms where movie/TV stars produce regular, sometimes even daily, online content for their subscribers. 

These are celebrities with active YouTube accounts.

Will Smith

While Will Smith's blockbuster status ultimately isn't what it used to be, the world-famous actor/musician remains popular and active through his engaging YouTube account. Whether it's birthday celebrations that involve bungee jumping in the Grand Canyon, celebrity interactions with Liza Koshy, Joyner Lucas, and Larry David (among others), admitting casting decisions he later regretted, or even a colonoscopy video (seriously), Smith will produce content on a monthly, sometimes even weekly, basis for his followers. The results are high-energy and comical, though he'll occasionally get serious when discussing his passions and beliefs. In any case, there's no doubt that when it comes to YouTube, Smith still does things Big Willy Style.

Check Out Will Smith's YouTube Channel here.

Jack Black

An immensely talented, charismatic performer, Jack Black is an actor-musician with outstanding range and a great screen presence, though Black has recently shifted his focus towards making YouTube videos. Specifically, as Jablinkski Games, Black makes game-plays, playing the newest, hottest video games in quick-bite videos. The YouTube page allows Black to reach his audience from the comfort of his home, and it looks like he enjoys that accessibility. Last year, when Jumanji: The Next Level hit theaters, Black claimed that he was retiring from moviemaking to spend more time with his family and working on other projects, including fostering his YouTube channel and new Tenacious D music. It would be a great shame to no longer see Black on the silver screen, but with nearly five million subscribers and counting, Jack Black is definitely gaining a massive YouTube fanbase.

Check Out Jack Black's YouTube Channel here.

Kevin James

Though he's best known for sitcoms like The King of Queens and Kevin Can Wait, as well as movies like Grown Ups 1 & 2, Paul Blart: Mall Cop 1 & 2, Hitch, and the Hotel Transylvania franchise, Kevin James forged an odd new YouTube career, where he'll regularly post short films that surprisingly aren't always directly comedic. Even some of the intentionally funny videos are more darkly amusing, like the one above. In fact, as Polygon noted, these shorts show a previously-unseen dramatic range for James, suggesting that he might want to venture into more serious projects. They're based on thin premises, like James eagerly waiting for a green light, misreading a hand wave, or spending birthdays by himself, but many carry a sense of melancholy and restraint that was previously unseen from the performer.

Check Out Kevin James' YouTube Channel here.

Ryan Reynolds

Even though Ryan Reynolds is a world-famous movie star, the actor-producer keeps an active online presence. Much like Deadpool, Reynolds is jokey, fun-loving, and irreverent when it comes to his YouTube account. The actor is more active on the platform whenever there's a movie to promote (makes sense), but he's known to post goofy, genuinely funny videos, including the one seen above, as well as this meta advertisement, which gives the actress at the center of the widely-mocked Peloton ad the redemption she deserves while also peddling out Reynolds' signature gin. While a majority of these videos promote his movies or alcohol brand, they all carry the A-lister's signature cheeky sense of humor. They certainly have more consistent entertainment value than some other celebrity YouTube accounts. Of course, we'd expect nothing less from Reynolds.

Check Out Ryan Reynolds' YouTube Channel here.

Tia Mowry - Tia Mowry's Quick Fix

Better known as one half of the popular sitcom, Sister, Sister, as well as Disney Channel movies like Twitches and Twitches Too, actress Tia Mowry has continued to work as a TV personality, notably in The Game, Instant Mom, and the ongoing Family Reunion, but the former child star has also been building a YouTube presence. Her channel, Tia Mowry's Quick Fix, finds her making food, answering questions, providing updates on her family life, and more. Mowry produces a new video on at least a monthly basis, sometimes weekly, and has gained nearly 718,000 subscribers.

Check Out Tia Mowry's YouTube Channel here.

Russell Brand

An English actor-comedian who came to fame through Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Get Him to the Greek, Hop, Arthur, and the first two Despicable Me movies, Brand shifted his career towards activism and campaigner, and that's more commonly reflected on his YouTube channel. If you go to Brand's YouTube and expect more jokey videos, you'll be disappointed. Brand's YouTube presence focuses on the British comic discussing political and psychological topics, while also exploring religion, neuroscience, mediation, and other heady conversation pieces. The videos can be broad-reaching in their focus, though they showcase Brand's eagerness to explore a variety of dense topics in a thoughtful, mindful way. Brand is also consistent in his content. He'll post more-than-a-few videos a week. Sometimes, he'll post daily. He has amassed more than two million followers.

Check Out Russell Brand's YouTube Channel here.

Zac Efron

The former teen heartthrob who became a household name through his High School Musical role, Efron's adult years have featured a few daring, unconventional career choices, though his YouTube channel is more mainstream. Though he doesn't post as often as some other celebrities on this list, Efron provides celebrity-filled workout tips, as well as taste tests and a few adventure-filled videos. Admittedly, Efron hasn't produced any new content here in five months, though his consistency on YouTube tends to come in waves.

Check Out Zac Efron's YouTube Channel here.

Gordon Ramsay

A chef, restaurateur, and television personality, Ramsay has juggled several professions throughout his career, which means that his YouTube transition was understandingly swift. Through his account, which welcomes celebrities like Rhonda Rousey, the Bella twins, Steve-O and more, Ramsay is seen making a variety of dishes in a short span of time. There are also comical videos where Rasmay "tries out" for the NFL and indulges in a Christmas-themed road trip. But for the most part, the content is predominately food-based, which makes sense. Though he's known for his temper, Ramsay's videos seem more casual and informative in their approach, garnering him 14-plus million subscribers.

Check Out Gordon Ramsey's YouTube Channel here.

Adam Savage - Adam Savage's Tested

Best known for his long-running Discovery Channel series, MythBusters, Adam Savage's YouTube page is expectedly in a similar vein. The account, which primarily finds Savage working on inventions and gadgets, continues the TV personality's interest in inventions and science, allowing him to continue building/assembling strange and exciting new tech while he providing informative tips and lessons to his nearly five million subscribers. If you enjoyed watching MythBusters, there's a good chance you'll enjoy Savage's YouTube account as well.

Check Out Adam Savage's YouTube Channel here.

Jenna Dewan

A back-up dancer-turned-actress-turned-TV personality, Jenna Dewan has made several career transitions over the years, which might explain how she was comfortably able to become a YouTube star. On her channel, the dancer-actress makes videos that provide viewers with Q&As, tips, dance tutorials, haircare products, personal reflections, and more. The actress had a habit of posting a new video every two weeks in the early days, though she's been less consistent lately. Specifically, it should be noted that Dewan hasn't published a new video in six months, which means she might've moved away from her channel, though Dewan's active presence on the site prior to this extended absence — through which the TV personality gained nearly 500,000 subscribers — suggests she might come back to YouTube later down the road.

Check Out Jenna Dewan's YouTube Channel here.

Madelaine Petsch

Though she's best known for her role on The CW's Riverdale, Madelaine Petsch has also kept a consistent YouTube profile, where she makes make-up tutorials, craft videos, Q&As, hairstyle tips, and more. Similar to the other channels listed above, these various videos give Petsch's followers regular updates on the TV actress, but some of them also give helpful and informative beauty and wellness tips, notably with a few new videos that provide feedback and opportunities for people like herself who are stuck at home, looking for ways to past the time in quarantine.

Check Out Madelaine Petsch's YouTube Channel here.

Who is your favorite celebrity on YouTube? Tell us in the comment section!

2017's Murder on the Orient Express opened to mixed reviews, but that didn't stop Warner Bros. from greenlighting a sequel. Like the first film, the sequel Death on the Nile will be directed by Thor helmer/Harry Potter actor/Shakespeare enthusiast Kenneth Branagh. This new film is also taking after its predecessor in another way: by showcasing a stacked cast that may, admittedly, be the film's major selling point.

Death on the Nile follows vacationing Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, who must set aside his leisure time to solve the murder of a young heiress. Not much else is known about Branagh's still-distant interpretation, except, of course, for its impressive cast. Logan, Blade Runner 2049, and Alien: Covenant co-writer Michael Green is writing the script. Green is a fabulous screenwriter (arguably among Hollywood's better ones) and doesn't get nearly as much recognition as he should.

Leading the Death on the Nile cast is Branagh as Hercule Poirot, along with Gal Gadot and Armie Hammer, with Russell Brand currently circling a role in the film as well.

Gal Gadot is best known for her role as Wonder Woman in the DCEU, but she also starred in multiple Fast and Furious movies and tried out comedy in Keeping Up with the Joneses. Armie Hammer is probably best known for Call Me by Your Name, The Social Network, and The Man from U.N.C.L.E. Russell Brand, a British actor and comic, appeared in Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Get Him To The Greek, the first two Despicable Me movies, and a handful of other films you've definitely heard of.

Kenneth Branagh gained popularity as a director of Shakespeare adaptations before appearing in blockbusters such as Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. He also directed 2011's Thor, one of the earliest entries in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Based on Agatha Christie's bestselling novel of the same name, Murder on the Orient Express, starred Branagh, Willem Dafoe, Penelope Cruz, Judi Dench, Daisy Ridley, Michelle Pfeiffer, Johnny Depp, and Josh Gad. It made an impressive $352.7 million worldwide off a reported $55 million production budget, per Box Office Mojo. Death on the Nile is also an adaptation of a popular Agatha Christie novel.

Both Murder on the Orient Express and the anticipated Death on the Nile were published in the 1930s and have both been adapted numerous times. It will be interesting to see what Branagh does with the material and if he strays too far from Christie's original story. If Murder on the Orient Express is any indication of where he might take things, then we should be in good hands. He did a fabulous job with that film so color us excited.

Death on the Nile is scheduled for release on December 20, 2020. Filming will reportedly begin at the end of September. We've still got a long way to go before it hits our eyeballs, but what do you think of what you know so far? Worth it? Not worth it? Rental-worthy at best? Let us know in the comments below and, to hold you over, take a look at our list of upcoming 2019 films.

Russell Brand has had his fair share of ups and downs in romantic relationships, and now the 42-year-old comedic actor has opened up about his new approach toward love and marriage. In a recent interview, Brand spoke with self-awareness about the tumultuous relationships he had with women before his current wife and how for a long time the wreckage of his past shaped his inability to have a successful relationship. According to Brand, to have a healthy relationship, one must take selfishness out of the equation, recognize that love is a two-way street, and sprinkle in a lot of patience. He revealed,

Much of Russell Brand's talk with People concerned his new book about overcoming addiction, an aspect of Brand's life that contributed to his difficulties in the romance department. Of course, the fact that he was an addict did not mean he could not love or feel loved in return, but it did influence his ability to locate that nurturing, patient side of himself he now can access.

These days, Russell Brand is happily married to his second wife, Laura Gallacher, with whom he has a baby daughter, Mabel Brand. But several years ago, the headlines about Brand mostly involved his marriage to and divorce from Katy Perry. Brand did not name Perry in the interview and instead spoke of "ex-girlfriends." Still, considering how Brand treated his divorce, he should cut himself some slack because he was a class act after splitting from Perry. For instance, Brand once refused to describe the separation for Howard Stern because he knew Perry was in a sensitive place, and he did not want to hurt her. In fact, when they divorced, Brand could have requested half of her $44 million earnings, but he turned it down.

Still, Russell Brand dated other women before Katy Perry, and from the sounds of it, he had trouble in those relationships because of where he was in his life, whether that was a state of active addiction or somewhere on the road to recovery. Now Brand has reflected on how some problems in his past relationships stemmed from his attitudes, behaviors, and choices.

Russell Brand's new book, Recovery: Freedom From Our Addictions, follows his personal take on the 12 steps to recovery. In the past, he has spoken in depth about his struggles with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, bipolar disorder, bulimia, pornography addiction, self-harming, and alcohol addiction and drug abuse. He began turning his life around in 2002 when he first sought treatment and became sober. Since then, Brand has spoken at length about how addiction and recovery influenced the quality of his relationships.

It is refreshing to hear a celebrity like Russell Brand take responsibility for the ways he, himself, contributed to the downfall of his past relationships. We don't often see people speaking with such thorough honesty when they reflect on their past, so Brand's words are a breath of fresh air.

The upcoming biographical comedy, Army of One, doesn't just echo a military recruitment motto, it plans to send Nicolas freaking Cage to a war-torn Middle East. Now, it looks like an impressive cast of comedic talent will join the man of maniacal mirth as he heads on an off-the-wall adventure to find the Osama Bin Laden.

Deadline recently reported that Nicolas Cage’s Bin Laden bonanza, Army of One, received an impressive influx of cast members, headed by names like Russell Brand and Rainn Wilson. Notable talents like Denis O’Hare, Ken Marino, and Paul Scheer are also set to join the war romp. It’s shaping up to be a great cast, especially with the previously announced addition of Wendi McLendon-Covey from Bridesmaids and TV’s The Goldbergs. At the moment, no details have been revealed about any of their characters.

Yes, as far as movies about Bin Laden, the world’s most notorious terrorist, are concerned, it seems that some folks found Katheryn Bigelow’s Zero Dark Thirty to be lacking zany slapstick flair. Well, thanks to Army of One, that gap will finally be filled. The film will see Nicolas Cage portray a real life construction worker from Colorado named Gary Faulkner, who, out of some ridiculous whim, armed with no skills whatsoever, tried to cross Pakistani and Afghan borders on a solo mission to capture the elusive asshat on his own. On that note, let’s take a look at the new cast members who will be supporting old Nic.

Russell Brand, the shock comedian and once-celebrated headliner, whose star power sank hard "between the Moon and New York City" with his excoriated 2011 remake of Arthur, will bring his bizarre observational witticisms to the picture. While he’s always been a divisive and controversial figure, his casting could imply a more light-hearted tone for this film’s black ops bananas.

Rainn Wilson, who currently stars in the Fox crime procedural Backstrom, and will be seen in the upcoming sci-fi drama Uncanny, will add a reliably hilarious presence. Of course, he will bring his fanbase from his long run on The Office, which his 2008 starring effort, The Rocker, couldn’t quite accomplish. He’s always great as a novel nutcase or an eccentric straight man.

Looking at the other additions (pictured above in order from left to right), Denis O’Hare should bring his signature vibe of "creepy meets badass" that he’s displayed in Dallas Buyers Club and on TV in shows like True Blood, American Horror Story, and The Good Wife. Ken Marino is a long-established sketch comedy veteran who has been seen on TV’s Marry Me. However, for a generation who came of age in the 1990’s, he’s best remembered from The State as Louie, the guys who perpetually wants to "dip his balls in it." Finally, the addition of Paul Scheer should please fans of TV’s The League, as the comedian will bring along his unmistakable brand of sarcastic wit.

Given the odd direction that Nicolas Cage’s career has taken in recent years, Army of One already distinguishes itself by providing a role where people are meant to laugh at his antics…on purpose. However, with Seinfeld legend Larry Charles in the director’s chair, and now the unveiling of a super-talented supporting cast, it’s becoming increasingly clear that this movie will be more satirically sophisticated than just having Cage scream and do crazy stuff for 90 minutes. (Although that film might appeal to a certain audience.)

It will be fascinating to see where this ridiculous real-life premise takes the creative process. The absurdity imbued in the idea of some ordinary schmoe setting out to find Bin Laden is full of potential hilarity in its own right. However, the degrees to which the film further applies its comedic qualities could render it a trainwreck either unintentionally or on purpose. Let’s hope for the latter when the film finally hits. There's no release date set for Army of One as of yet.

Russell Brand is certainly not one for silence. Whether it be his political activism or his stand-up comedy, Brand is a strong voice that is undoubtedly heard. And this year, as a new documentary about the life of the comic, actor and author will premiere at the South by Southwest Film Festival, one would expect to see Brand adding in his own two cents at the screening. But, Brand has just released a statement that confirms he will not be attending the premiere of the film for very specific reasons.

Brand wrote a detailed statement on his personal website explaining his reasoning behind skipping out on the debut. He wrote:

The documentary about the life and times of Russell Brand entitled, BRAND: A Second Coming includes a closer look into the evolution of the star from British stand-up comic to Hollywood star to marrying Katy Perry to his current political activist role. In his letter, Brand explains that the idea of the documentary first came 7 years ago when he was “a newly recovering junkie sinking [his] teeth into the succulent transatlantic fame”. The documentary went through a number of directors until Ondi Timoner, director of Dig! finally stuck. This pushed Brand to give the reigns to someone else, dropping his own “mad ambition” to direct and star, but in doing so, he did not realize that he became the subject of a biography which was “oddly intrusive”, and for that reason Brand finds watching the movie too painful.

Brand affirmed that the film is still great, but his reasons for not taking part in the debut are sound:

Brand was sure to apologize to the organizers of SXSW and for those responsible for the keynote talk that he was supposed to do, but from his heartfelt note, it seems that Brand is pretty earnest, and with such a difficult past the film is probably a unnecessary reminder, especially on the big screen with a whole slew of press awaiting his reaction.

While it’s impossible to find an iota of humor in the school shootings that occasionally occur here in the U.S., novels and films have a way of adding levity and darkly comedic sensibilities to any form of subject matter one can think of. Case in point: DBC Pierre’s 2003 debut novel Vernon God Little is a satirical Man Booker Prize-winning look at the aftermath of a high school massacre, and was previously announced as the next film from the often-challenging filmmaker Werner Herzog. Three of the film’s leads are nearly locked in place, as comedian Russell Brand, Pretty Little Liars actress Sasha Pieterse and Austin Abrams of MTV’s The Inbetweeners are all in talks to join the cast. I can’t wait to hear the outspoken Brand’s promotional campaign for this one.

Set in Martirio, Texas, Vernon God Little centers on the titular character and best friend Jesus Navarro, who turns from bullied outcast into juvenile murderer as he kills six of his classmates before taking his own life in a school shooting. Because he is Jesus’ only friend, Little is soon suspected to have played a part in the heinous crime, and a string of unfortunate occurrences do nothing to help his case. The story then pokes and prods at the U.S. legal system and our population’s obsession with violence and the mildly ironic championing of the most notorious criminals. There are also a few more pitch black plot points that may or may not end up making it to the final feature, the script for which is being written by Perfume: The Story of a Murderer scribe Andrew Birkin.

According to The Wrap, Abrams will star as the tragedy-struck teenager Little, while Pieterse will play the self-obsessed girl of Little’s dreams. Brand will take on the role of Lally, a reporter whose smile is always worth more than his word, and one who will do anything to put himself in front of the story.

While his recent film career has been limited to starring in Diablo Cody’s directorial debut Paradise, the incredibly pointed comic made a handful of headlines at the end of last year for blasting MSNBC on the air and for the most memorable acceptance speech of all time at the GQ Awards show, which he was kicked out of shortly after his Oracle Award thank yous. Check it out below.

Pieterse, who has been one of the Pretty Little Liars leads since it premiered in 2010, starred in the recently released comedy G.B.F. for Darren Stein and has a notable role in Paul Thomas Anderson’s upcoming stoner detective drama Inherent Vice. Abrams, who had bit roles in last year’s Gangster Squad and Kings of Summer, will be starring in another teen tragedy drama, Michael Cohn’s Sacrifice, as well as Kyle Wilamowski’s prank-gone-wrong drama Grass Stains.

While no specific dates for Vernon God Little are given, Herzog is expected to go into pre-production mode for it once he has wrapped shooting for his upcoming Gertrude Bell biopic Queen of the Desert.

Diablo Cody's directorial debut Paradise popped up on our radar big time last week, and not exactly for the right reasons. The film, still scheduled for a theatrical release in October, will now be premiering on DirecTV… on Thursday. That's a sudden and under-the-radar debut for a film that by all rights should be massively anticipated, directed by the Oscar-winning screenwriter of Juno and starring up-and-comer Julianne Hough, Oscar-winner Octavia Spencer, Parks & Recreation's Nick Offerman, Holly friggin' Hunter, and Russell Brand, who continues to get work despite all logic. How can something so promising get caught in such a weird situation?

Sadly, this first trailer may help answer it. The story of a girl raised as an ultra-fundamentalist Christian, now on the Las Vegas strip to find herself, Paradise is being sold based on insights like "The world is not the Las Vegas strip," and punchlines like "In the next election, I may vote Democrat." You get some hints of Cody's trademark snappy dialogue, and I genuinely like the "L.L. Bean tote bag full of cash," but Hough is no Ellen Page, and seems even here to be stumbling a bit over the wiseacre dialogue she's handed. She's the girl most recently famous for starring in the Nicolas Sparks adaptation Safe Haven, and though she gets credit for shaking up her image so early into her career, it seems to be an awkward fit so far.

Bad trailers trip up good movies all the time-- remember how unpromising the bullet train sequence in The Wolverine looked, and how great it was in the The Wolverine?-- and viewers with DirecTV will have a chance to judge Paradise for themselves soon enough, so it's a little silly to toss off judgment based on two and a half minutes of hastily assembled footage. Coming off the acerbic brilliance of Young Adult, Cody seemed as smart and capable of strong storytelling as ever. Paradise may indeed have that… but this trailer does a mighty great job of hiding it.

As someone stuck with awful Time Warner Cable, I won't be able to see Paradise on Thursday. Do you have DirecTV? Come back and let us know how it is.

The directorial debut from Diablo Cody, the Oscar-winning screenwriter of Juno and creator of The United States of Tara, ought to be a big deal. So why is it going to slink on to your TV screens next Thursday with seemingly no fanfare whatsoever? Cody herself broke the news via Twitter that her film Paradise is making its way to the decidedly small screen much, much sooner than we figured:

The DirecTV won't replace a traditional theatrical release, though, which Cody promises is still on schedule for October:

The movie, which was shot last year, has kept a bizarrely low profile since then, even though it includes among its cast Octavia Spencer, Nick Offerman, Russell Brand and Julianne Hough, who stars as an Evangelical Christian girl who survives a plane crash, denounces God, and travels to Las Vegas to commit all the sins she's avoided all these years. A piece in USA Today a few weeks ago revealed more details about the film, along with some first-look images, including this one which transforms Offerman into… well, you just ought to see it for yourself:

Paradise was looking a little odd and quirky, and despite the plum October 18 release date probably not a mega Oscar contender the way Juno was (and that's OK!) But this early DirecTV drop, especially with so little advance warning, has us concerned. Is the distributor trying to find a way to gauge early buzz from the audience without paying for screenings? Did they sign some kind of crazy rights deal with DirecTV and get stuck with this bizarre release pattern? Is this TV debut a prelude to them giving up on the film entirely? That sure seemed to be what they were doing with the first poster, which popped up online via Film Drunk and is a genuine horror show. Take a look:

Listen, it's no easy thing to win an Oscar for your first screenplay, and then to forge a pretty successful career despite hundreds of people who want to write you off as the hamburger phone girl. Cody's career since Juno has been varied and had its share of misses (sorry, Jennifer's Body), but it's also been careful and true to her own voice. We expected exactly the same from Paradise and we still might get it, no matter what wonky release plan eventually makes that possible. Hopefully this weird DirecTV arrangement is just part of what allowed Cody to make exactly the movie she wanted to make. That's the only bright side I can hunt out of this muddled release strategy. Well, that and the fact that some lucky satellite subscribers get to see the film super early. If you wind up being one of them, come back on August 8 and let us know how the movie is.

When Katy Perry and Russell Brand decided to end their high profile marriage after a measly fourteen months back in December of 2011, people who care about such things collectively had a near panic attack trying to figure out which mega-star was the real bad guy. For days, the relationship implosion was worldwide news, and in the subsequent months, whispers about even the smallest divorce-related details were traded like rare pogs. At one point, the comedian decided to unfollow his wife on Twitter, and it seemed like a legitimate story worth reporting, which is why it should surprise no one that fans are still willing to gobble up any new details about the split. Like this one.

Apparently, Brand told his wife he wanted a divorce via text message. That’s right. The preferred mode of communication for junior high dance invites was used to end a marriage of fourteen months. How mature. Here’s what Perry told Vogue during a recent interview…

You know what happened when one of my friends broke up with a girl he’d been dating for two months via text message in high school? Every single one of his friends told him he was a dick. Deep down, he even knew it was a dick move. If you’re going to break up with someone, you need to look him or her in the eyes when you do it. The other person deserves the right to melt your soul with death glares. That’s just how the world works. It’s shitty when people go against that natural order by doing it during a phone conversation, and it’s way way way shittier when people go against the natural order by doing it via text message.

As for exactly why the relationship cratered like one of Perry’s dresses, we still don’t know exactly what happened, but the singer did kinda sorta imply it was Brand’s fault in a vague, runaround type way. Here’s a look at another one of her quotes from the article…

Does that mean he cheated? Does that mean he briefly got excited about drugs again? Does that mean he secretly wanted out and became distant to make her pull away so he could justify splitting in some kind of complicated multi-step divorce plan? I have no idea. She would have needed to give the world more words, or at least more purposeful words, but until that rainy day comes, we’ll probably never know. Luckily, if these past eighteen months have been any indication, people will definitely still give a shit when the truth is revealed, even if it’s decades from now.

Here’s to hoping Perry is able to find her happy ending with someone, whether it’s John Mayer, that dude from Florence + The Machine or an entirely unexpected candidate. And here’s to hoping Brand nets himself the same. They may not have had a break-up they can be proud of, but that doesn't mean they should be doomed to unhappiness.

Over the summer, FX decided to take a run at late night programming. The network hired actor Russell Brand to host BrandX and stand-up comedian W. Kamau Bell to host Totally Biased. The network started tentatively with both series, signing on for six episodes each. Both shows were later given a few more episodes, and now each has signed on for the biggest contract yet.

Both shows are nearing their episode run, and FX announced today that BrandX with Russell Brand and Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell have both been given additional 13 episode orders. Both shows will begin airing again after the holidays, although one of the programs will undergo a few changes before it returns. BrandX has been given a big push, as it will go from a half-hour series to a full-hour series at the start of the next cycle. Deadline is reporting the final episode of this cycle of BrandX will air this Thursday, and will be given the full-hour treatment to let fans know what to expect.

Totally Biased will be the first late night program to return to the schedule, reappearing on January 17. BrandX will follow on February 7. Both shows look like they are around to stay, at least for a little while. If you haven’t caught them in the past, you can get a taste this Thursday. Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell will air its final episode of the cycle on Thursday, November 29 at 11 p.m. and BrandX with Russell Brand will follow at 11:30 p.m. ET on FX.

Russell Brand has never talked about the specific reasons behind his divorce from Katy Perry, but he vaguely addressed the subject during a new interview. Apparently, he and the pop star had compatibility issues, and from his perspective, it’s best to split from a partner who you can’t share things with.

The sitdown in question occurred with the Australian version of 60 Minutes earlier this week, and not surprisingly, Brand took the comedic approach. His long-winded explanation wound up touching on everything from mountain biking to crystal meth. You can take a look at a portion of its surprisingly astute weirdness below, courtesy of US Weekly…

Brand may not have been able to work it out with Perry, but the fact that he’s continually refused to say anything negative about her is really impressive. It might be momentarily satisfying to bash an ex-wife, but in the long run, it doesn’t do anyone any favors.

More than likely, we’ll never know what happened between Brand and Perry, but that’s okay. A lack of compatibility is enough of an explanation for all of us.

Earlier this week it was announced that Russell Brand would play Pierre Pierre for director Larry Charles' next project and now there's word that Warner Bros. has brought the British comedian on-board to play Cupid.

The project was pitched by Joe Nussbaum, who last directed the 2011 Disney film Prom, and Brand is not only attached to star but he will also serve as a producer. The romantic comedy, according to Variety, will follow Cupid, the Roman god of love, as we works to create "an ideal romance." The trade doesn't say if this means we will soon be seeing Brand rocking a diaper and a quiver filled with red, heart-tipped arrows on his back. The trade doesn't say if Nussbaum will be writing the project as well, though he does have a history as a writer, having previously scripted the short film George Lucas In Love as well as the upcoming feature Cabin Pressure.Nussbaum's other credits as director include the 2007 Amanda Bynes movie Sydney White as well as 2004's teen comedy Sleepover.

Brand first introduced himself to America with the Nicholas Stoller-Jason Segel comedy Forgetting Sarah Marshall and last year starred in both the animated film Hop and the remake of Arthur. This summer he appeared and made out with Alec Baldwin in Adam Shankman's Rock of Ages and recently completed work on Diablo Cody's directorial debut, which also stars Julianne Hough. As the project is still very much in the early stages, it's hard to know where Cupid will fall into Brand's schedule. Stay tuned here for more news about Cupid as it develops!

Larry Charles doesn't direct a lot of movies, but when he does his star of choice is quite obvious. Though he has had a long career in television, working as a writer on shows like Seinfeld, Mad About You and The Arsenio Hall Show, since he made his way onto the big screen he has directed four features and three of them have starred Sacha Baron Cohen (the exception being 2003's Masked and Anonymous, which, strangely enough, starred Bob Dylan). From 2006 to 2012 Charles directed Cohen in character-based comedies Borat, Bruno and The Dictator, but for his next project he's found a new star.

Variety has learned that Russell Brand has been cast as the lead in Larry Charles' Pierre Pierre. The script was writteh by Edwin Cannistraci and Frederick Seton and was featured on the annual Black List (a list of the most popular unproduced scripts written during a year). Brand will play a French nihilist in the movie who “transports a stolen painting from Paris to London.” Over the course of his journey he runs into a serial killer (named Pigeonshit), a French police inspector, and his own mother (who owns a brothel). There was talk at one time that Jason Reitman would direct the movie with Jim Carrey starring, but the project went into turnaround and only recently resurfaced.

In addition to heading to television with his FX series Brand X with Russell Brand, the actor has kept busy on the big screen, starring alongside Julianne Hough in Diablo Cody’s directorial debut. He also has a role in the upcoming Despicable Me 2 and is attached to the fantasy comedy The Hauntrepreneur.

One of the reasons to celebrate the fact that it's June is FX's approaching comedy line-up, which gets going later this month. With two returning shows (Louie and Wilfred) and two new series (Brand X and Anger Management), we'll hopefully have four reasons to laugh on Thursday nights. FX released a new teaser for Russell Brand's new comedy series, which gives us a sample of what we're in store for when the series gets going.

Brand X will feature comedian and actor Russell Brand as he "tells the honest truth about all sorts of things." I'm guessing that being a fan of Brand's style of comedy will be a pretty big requirement to enjoying this show. Fortunately, I happen to think he's pretty hilarious, so I have high hopes that things are going to work out with this show. The teaser below has Brand giving us a brief introduction to the series, after which we get a look at him discussing current events in the news with a live audience…

You can view a few other teasers for the series here. And below we have a couple of promotional stills with Brand, who seems to love the camera.

Brand X premieres Thursday, June 28 at 11:00 p.m. ET on FX.

Well, that didn’t last long. Just weeks after trying her hand at romance for the first time following her divorce from Russell Brand, Katy Perry has reportedly decided Florence + the Machine guitarist Robert Ackroyd isn’t worth immediately settling down with. Obviously, that seems like a pretty mature decision given the paperwork to end her marriage hasn’t even been approved yet, but it’s still worth pointing out since far bigger celebrities have moved on far quicker with far stranger options.

According to US Weekly, Perry was reportedly the one who initiated the split, but given the short time they were together, it seems unlikely there will be any long term hard feelings. She’s a busy pop star with engagements a plenty, and his band is certainly doing pretty well for itself too.

Perhaps the most interesting tidbit to the Perry/ Brand divorce has been the altered mindsets each has seemingly taken. Last week, the comedian told Ellen DeGeneres he didn’t regret the time he spent married to Perry. In the singer’s new song however, she croons, “I wish I knew then what I know now. I wouldn’t dive in, I wouldn’t bow down.”

Neither of those approaches is inherently wrong. It’s just fascinating that two people who decided to marry each other could see the time they spent together so much differently. Maybe that's evidence of why it didn't work out.

Months after his soon-to-be ex-wife Katy Perry unfollowed him on Twitter, comedian Russell Brand finally reciprocated last week. A lesser man likely would have made the talk show rounds this week and explained why he’s no longer interested in hearing about his estranged partner’s life, but Brand actually took the opposite approach. In an interview with Ellen DeGeneres, he praised his former partner and said he doesn’t regret any of the time they spent together.

According to US Weekly, Brand spoke extensively about making life what you want it to be and continuing to find the positive aspects in yourself even when life isn’t necessarily what you’d planned. Here’s what he had to say about Perry…

It might have felt better for Brand to lay the hammer down and admit all the reasons why Perry wasn’t the right woman to be his wife, but ultimately, that would have done nothing but make him look like a bad person. It’s a testament to his character that he put on a smile and spoke of the good times, and I truly hope that mentality continues into the future. The relationship might have failed, but that doesn’t mean both parties weren’t affected positively by something they took from the other.

Perry and Brand’s divorce is still being sorted through, but by all accounts, they’ve hammered out most of the details and monetary arrangements.

It was looking like we were going to have to wait until much later in June to see Russell Brand on cable TV. The actor, known for his stand-up comedy as well as various film roles, is set to star in his own comedy series titled Brand X on FX. But before that premieres, he'll be serving as host on the MTV Movie Awards.

Deadline posted the announcement today, stating that MTV has announced that actor/comedian Russell Brand will host the MTV Movie Awards, which are set to air live on Sunday, June 3rd at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT. Brand has some experience hosting MTV award shows, having hosted the Video Music Awards in 2008 and 2009. He was relatively unknown in the U.S. when he took on the job of headlining the 2008 Video Music Awards (he appeared in Forgetting Sarah Marshall earlier that year) and caused a fuss when he poked fun at the Jonas Brothers for their purity rings. That didn't stop MTV from inviting him back the next year. And now it looks like he'll have the opportunity to take a few shots at this (and last) year's movies. In fact, it looks like he already did. MTV's announcement included a brief statement by Brand, in which he said:

Being a comedian as well as an actor certainly makes Brand a good fit for the job. As a fan of his comedy and some of his films, I'm glad to see he's returning to hosting. It should be interesting to see what he does with the job this time around, and it'll hopefully give him some added exposure in anticipation of the premiere of Brand X, which is set for June 28 on FX.

Nominations for this years MTV Movie Awards were posted earlier this month and voting has gotten underway at MTV's website.

FX is going into promotion overdrive. And, to be fair, they are doing a pretty fantastic job of marketing their promising new Thursday night comedy line-up. Well, minus one key piece of the puzzle, or so we thought. While wrapped up in the tease released for two of the networks' best returning comedies - Louie and Wilfred - not to mention glimpses at the obviously much hyped new show starring Charlie Sheen, Anger Management - these four first looks at Russell Brand's Brand X sort of fell by the wayside.

Previously operating under the title Strangely Uplifting, Brand X is FX's first foray into late night original programming but by the looks of it, the series that focuses on the British comedian's off-kilter take on current events will be anything but a traditional late night talk show. He's got the monologuing part down pat but the rest of the usual scheduled programming that accompanies said shows - the skits, guests and/or musical acts - are not part of this project. Brand X is simply six, half-hour episodes of Russell Brand's musings in front of a live audience. Basically, a protracted comedy special. Take a look and be teased.

Practicing A Television Show

Benevolence & Joy

Porn In A Library

Revolution Against Us

The series looks to be shot in beautiful, high contrast black and white (unless that is just for the promos, but I don't believe that's the case), which is just another of the many ways that Brand X already comes across as very distinct from your average late-night fare. Also worth noticing, is the level of audience interaction which will apparently be a large portion of the program each week. I think Brand is an absolutely charming and funny fella, and even though I am not an admirer of his early work on British TV with MTV UK, he's been great in everything I've seen him in since Forgetting Sarah Marshall.

Brand X premieres on June 28 at 11 p.m. on FX. It stars Russell Brand.

Now that Russell Brand’s little cell phone incident has turned into a felony, the comedian has decided to take the potential charge a bit more seriously. In accordance with that direction, the actor has hired New Orleans-based attorney Robert Glass to handle his defense. The litigator will reportedly attempt to have the charge reduced to a misdemeanor and then argue his client was provoked into throwing the iPhone.

As far as lessening the charged offense, Glass and Brand might actually have a case here. In Louisiana, any property damage over five hundred dollars is automatically a felony. The law firm window the actor broke has already been paid for at a cost of roughly two hundred and fifty dollars, and if it can be proven that the cell phone was broken but just needed fixing, it’s likely the total may run under two hundred and fifty dollars, thus automatically reducing the severity.

As for arguing Brand was justified in swiping and hurling the iPhone, there’s simply not enough facts out there right now to determine if that case could be argued. Glass told E! News he will, in fact, argue the provocation defense, but we haven’t even heard from Brand himself or the photographer/ victim yet. What we do know is that earlier this week the actor was walking through New Orleans when another man began taking pictures of him in his iPhone. Some type of argument ensued and Brand threw his phone through a window. Were no prosecutors involved, it’s likely the Forgetting Sarah Marshall star would just buy the dude a new cell phone, but with possible jail time in place, there’s no way he’ll admit to wrongdoing.

We’ll keep you updated when the authorities decide whether or not to press charges.

Russell Brand’s time in New Orleans hasn’t quite gone as well as the actor probably expected. He threw an iPhone through a law office’s window, got arrested, got charged with a felony and now he’s pissed off the owner of a cozy little shop. The Get Him To The Greek star apparently rented two bicycles from Greg’s Antiques to take a ride with his lady friend. Numerous photographs indicate he had a pretty good time cruising around the city. Unfortunately, it seems he may not have actually returned the bikes.

At least that’s what the owner of Greg’s Antiques is saying. He told Radar Online, the two wheelers were rented on March 9th and have not been seen since. Brand’s assistant reportedly called the store to let employees know the bikes have not been forgotten, but as of this morning, they still have not found their way back.

Obviously, Brand had a bit of a trying week after his bike ride. I get why returning the rentals wouldn’t be at the top of his priority list now, but I’m confused why he didn’t just drop them back off the same night. I thought that’s how bike rentals worked. You checked them out for a few hours and went home in your own vehicle.

Regardless of why it happened, I’m sure Russell will return the property and pay for the time he used them. He gladly shelled out for the window he broke earlier this week, and I can’t imagine him trying to screw a nice business out of a few hundred dollars.

Here’s to hoping Brand will get back to making positive headlines real soon.

When Russell Brand turned himself in to Louisiana authorities yesterday, it was assumed the actor would wind up with a warning or perhaps a small slap on the wrist. After all, while throwing a photographer’s iPhone through a law office window isn’t an awesome thing to do, the action hardly amounts to a jail worthy offense. At least that’s what I and most other people thought, but it turns out down South, damaging any property worth more than five hundred dollars is a felony. Brand already replaced the window at a cost of roughly two hundred and fifty dollars, but once you toss the iPhone into the mix, the damage exceeds that threshold.

According to TMZ, it’s still unclear whether prosecutors will actually follow through and take Brand to court, but if they curiously decided to send a message, a criminal damage felony in Louisiana carries a maximum of two years in prison. That would be an absurd amount of time to spend incarcerated for one cell phone throw he already promised to pay back, but stranger things have certainly happened.

When the court officially decides how they will move forward, we’ll make sure and keep you updated. I can’t imagine the producers of the Arthur star's upcoming projects would be pleased about him potentially flying off to clear up a legal issue as foolish as this, but given his popularity, something tells me most people would be willing to work around the schedule.

Russell Brand’s impulsive cell phone throw might end up costing him a whole lot of time in addition to the money he’s already committed to pay. The comedian was taking a stroll through New Orleans on Monday night when a photographer pulled out his iPhone and began taking pictures of the soon to be divorced actor. Brand apparently wasn’t overly pleased with the situation because when the clicks continued, he snatched the cell phone and heaved it. The pitch wound up crashing through the front window of a law office, leaving Brand likely a bit sheepish and the owner of the iPhone less than pleased.

A few days ago, the Arthur star decided he’d pay to have the window replaced, but according to TMZ, that monetary apology wasn’t good enough for the state. An arrest warrant was filed yesterday, and Brand willingly turned himself in a few hours ago. Give his willingness to own up to the mistake and offer to pay damages, it’s unlikely the case will amount to anything except a slap on the wrist. Still, being booked and charged is hardly a vacation.

Luckily, I’ve never had photographers relentlessly hound me while running errands, but I can imagine what an annoying pain in the ass that must be. I can see how a celebrity would snap now and again amidst that personal space violation. Unfortunately, understanding why it happened doesn’t make it okay.

We’ll update you when some sort of plea agreement is reached.

Russell Brand, in my honest opinion, hasn’t found the right project for his exaggerated sense of humor. Maybe Adam Shankman’s uproarious musical Rock of Ages will figure out how to use him. Maybe it will be the currently untitled Diablo Cody film he’s about to begin filming. Or maybe, just maybe, it will be The Hauntrepreneur, a picture Variety says he’ll film for Paramount and Platinum Dunes.

Based on a spec script by Scott Rosenberg, the awkwardly titled Hauntrepreneur -- I seriously don’t want to have to type that multiple times for the next year and a half -- casts Brand as a strange man hired to help a family adjust to their new home town. “In an attempt to bring them together,” Variety reports, “the man creates a haunted house filled with an odd cast of characters.”

Ah, it’s Brand’s attempt at Beetlejuice. But you see, introducing a supernatural element to Brand’s comedy could allow him to think big and find the offbeat visuals to match his imagination. I’m not exactly sure why a family needs to hire some oddball to help them grow accustomed to their new digs, but if Rosenberg can explain away that blip, I’m on board.

The trade says a director will be hired shortly. They also mention that Platinum Dunes, on addition to Brand’s film, could be close to getting a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle reboot off the ground. That’s good news. We’ll see what happens.

Post divorce announcement, Katy Perry has done a bit to stay out of the public eye. She shied away from the People’s Choice Awards, and even dyed her hair in the attempt to camouflage herself like a blue chameleon. I would bet the 27 year-old singer even wants to hightail off of Twitter, but with a loyal fanbase, that is probably not her best call. Thus, Perry has attempted the next best thing: unfollowing Russell Brand.

As of Saturday, Brand is still following Perry.

While it may seem a little immature to unfollow someone she was once married to on Twitter, I understand the impulse. If a person honestly loves another person but cannot find a way to make it work, it must be antagonizing to hop onto Twitter or another social networking source and to hear about whatever that person is thinking at any given moment. Some people may be able to handle the pressure, but there is no shame in bowing in a time as strenuous as a break in an important relationship.

According to US Weekly, Perry is all about limiting her interactions with her soon-to-be ex-husband and focusing on her career.

Now there is no Twitter to worry about, maybe Perry’s healing process can truly begin.

Russell Brand and Katy Perry’s marriage might be over, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t still wrinkles to iron out. Word is the soon to be ex-spouses are planning a get together this weekend in Los Angeles to provide some measure of closure and work on the specifics of the divorce prior to any future meetings the couple might have in court. Details are a bit fuzzy on where and when the sit down might take place, but some reports indicate it may occur at the Beverly Hills Hotel where the pop star currently resides.

According to The Mirror, the impetus for the meeting is the Golden Globes. Brand has been spending time in London following the separation, but he flew back to attend tonight’s ceremony. Last night, he was even spotted out at Boa Steak House where he enjoyed a meal alone. To some observers, that solo dinner might be seen as an indication of how far Brand has fallen, but given how much of a homebody he reportedly is, I wouldn’t put too much stock into it. Some people are completely unbothered by doing things alone.

Various sources have been saying for the past few days that Perry might use the meeting to try and win back her soon to be ex-husband, but the word from Brand’s camp is that he’s completely over the relationship. She’s supposedly too apt to go out, and he’s too excited about quiet evenings. The differences in philosophy played a big role in the couple’s marriage troubles, and it’s unlikely a problem like that would change anytime in the near future.

Pop Blend wishes Brand and Perry nothing but the best as they move forward apart.

Daytime television is getting a slew of new headliners set to host programs in the upcoming year, including Katie Couric and Survivor’s Jeff Probst. Things have been a bit calmer in the world of late night television. However, that looks like it is about to change with the addition of an unlikely and outspoken candidate headed to FX’s late night realm.

Russell Brand has worked out a deal with FX to appear in six-episodes of an as-yet untitled late night unscripted series that will be taped in front of a live studio audience. According to Reuters, Brand will be able to opine about politics, other current events, and even pop culture for a half hour. If all goes well in the ratings, it seems likely Brand might earn a lengthier contract for the program.

Brand has also worked out a nice little deal with FX’s big brother network, Fox, that will allow him to get going on a presentation and a script for a new animated comedy program for the network. If the comedy goes to series, Brand will be on board as a co-creator as well as the lead voice. 20th Century Fox Television and Chernin Entertainmen will produce.

While the deal with FX seems slightly farther along than the deal with Fox, both are still in the early stages. TV Blend will keep you posted about changes in the future. Until then, I’m more firmly excited to see Brand attempt some late night. The actor and comedian is known for being a spitfire, and giving him free reign to say what he wants could either be brilliant or a disaster. Either way, I’m tuning in.

Are you more excited for the animated comedy or the late night show? Sound off in the comments, below.

Russell Brand has yet to find the perfect vehicle for his unique skill set. The Arthur remake sounded like it had potential, but something got lost in the execution. His co-starring turn in Forgetting Sarah Marshall comes the closest to capturing Brand’s quasi-drunken, devil-may-care comedy, but he’s still looking for a feature film that can sustain his particular energies.

Maybe it will be The President Stole My Girlfriend, a comedy The Hollywood Reporter says Brand plans to produce and star in for Warner Bros. Screenwriter Matt Portenoy penned the story of a “sexy hippie” (in Brand’s own words) who loses his girlfriend to our nation’s leader. As if you couldn’t tell that from the title.

"It was inspired by the night I naively invited [Warners president] Jeff Robinov for dinner," Brand jokes. Great line.

Portenoy is the talk of the town as of late, having turned in a solid polish on the pending remake of the teen-sex comedy Porky’s. He also wrote a segment for the upcoming comedy anthology film Movie 43. The trade says Portenoy’s segment stars Emma Stone, and was directed by Griffin Dunne.

But really, I just hope that he comes up with a way to tap into Brand’s boundless creativity for President. What the project needs is a proper foil in the presidential role, kind of the way Helen Mirren bounced one-liners off of Brand in Arthur -- of which that remake needed more. So, who would you like to see on screen as Brand’s romantic rival?

Diablo Cody has flown remarkably under the radar since 2007, when her first movie Juno won her a Best Original Screenplay Oscar and she, her stripper past and her leopard print Oscar dress were seemingly everywhere. But even though her name has become an unfair punchline for hacky and gimmicky writing, Cody herself has kept her head down and continued to work hard, completing a screenplay for Young Adult (which will be out later this year), starting work on a Sweet Valley High film adaptation, and signing on to write a remake of The Evil Dead. OK, that move definitely put her back in the crosshairs of pop culture.

And she'll be getting more attention, good or bad, once again as she prepares to embark on her directorial debut, based on a script she wrote called Lamb of God. The project has been in the works for a while, with Julianne Hough and Russell Brand bandied about as leads, and now Mandate Pictures has confirmed the casting and a spring start date. The film no longer has a title, though, going into production as Untitled Diablo Cody project. Here's the brief synopsis they provided:

Hough and Brand are both public figures who could probably relate to Cody's experience of both good and bad press-- Hough is a Dancing With The Stars breakout star who's got her first starring role in the automatically controversial Footloose remake, while Brand became a star playing a lovable lout in Forgetting Sarah Marshall but had a hard time translating that into something different with this Arthur remake this year. Cody's sharp writing may or may not translate into strong directing skills, but I like where he's headed from what we've seen so far. She's a completely unique and valuable voice in screenwriting right now, and here's hoping she can be a good one as a director as well.

After coming out of pretty much nowhere to win an Oscar for her Juno screenplay in 2008, Diablo Cody has been laying relatively low-- her follow-up screenplay Jennifer's Body became a hugely underseen film, and her show The United States of Tara ran on Showtime for three successful but low-key seasons before being cancelled earlier this year. But this fall Cody will be back to the big screen with what's looking like a likely Oscar run for Young Adult, directed by Jason Reitman, and she's also gearing up to make her directorial debut on Lamb of God, based on her own screenplay.

The initial announcement of the project didn't tell us much about the plot, but now a rumor from Twitch has started shedding light on the situation they report that Russell Brand has been offered the male lead in the film, and that Dancing With the Stars and upcoming Footloose star Julianne Hough is a top choice to play the female lead. Over at The Playlist they've read the script and say the plot kicks off when the main character, a young Christian girl named Lamb, survives a plane crash but loses her faith. She travels to Vegas and befriends a craps dealer and a bartender, the character that recovered alcoholic Brand would play. Between his raucous Get Him to the Greek character and the alcoholic in Arthur, this guy sure can't stay sober onscreen.

It's unclear when production on Lamb of God might start, though I imagine it has to be after Cody is done doing the publicity circuit for Young Adult this fall. I like the idea of Brand hopping on board a project that's a little different, though, and also not entirely about his personality. Since breaking out for U.S. audiences in Forgetting Sarah Marshall he's really just been playing various incarnations of his public persona, whether in the spinoff Greek or even as the voice of an energetic animated bunny in Hop. But Cody's name will be the big one on Lamb of God, and it might be nice to see Brand recede back into part of an ensemble.

Alec Baldwin came very, very close to walking away from the musical Rock of Ages before the producers convinced him to stick around, and I think we can all now be insanely grateful he stayed. Director Adam Shankman just tweeted a photo form the set, in which both Russell Brand and Baldwin are getting their hair metal on, but only one of them needs a ridiculous wig to make it happen. Look at the photo below and giggle wildly at will.

Shankman accompanied the photo with the caption "Russell and Alec making my life heaven on #rockofagesmovie," which may be a reference to the cover of the song "Heaven" by Warrant that the entire cast performs at one point in the original Broadway show that the movie is based on. Baldwin plays the owner of the rock club at the center of the show, The Bourbon Room, and Brand plays his trusty assistant Lonny; at one point in the second act, when the club seems to be closing down, the two joke around that they have feelings for each other by singing "Can't Fight This Feeling" by REO Speedwagon. I have no idea how any of this lands them at the fair, which is clearly the setting of this photo, but when you're making a movie musical you've got to open up the settings, and why not allow Russell Brand to walk around with a giant lollipop?

With a cast that also includes Catherine Zeta-Jones, Paul Giamatti, Malin Akerman, Mary J. Blige and of course Tom Cruise, there's plenty of room for Shankman to tweet more ridiculous photos from the set. Here's hoping they keep coming in this slow post-holiday week.

Even though he didn't quite pull off having the #1 and #2 movie at the box office last weekend-- Hanna pulled ahead of Arthur at the last minute, with Hop up at #1-- Russell Brand has once again earned consideration as an actual movie star. And next he'll be bringing that starpower to the already crowded cast of Rock of Ages, the movie adaptation of the hair metal Broadway musical that Hairspray's Adam Shankman is directing. Rumor had it back in January hat he might join the cast, and now Shankman himself has confirmed on Twitter that Brand has indeed signed on.

As rumored Brand will be playing Lonny; thanks to the Rock of Ages Wikipedia page, which I have worn out trying to piece together this lengthy casting process, I've learned that Lonny is the narrator of the stage play, and works at the rock club that's central to the narrative, the Sunset Strip-based Bourbon Room. He's the right hand man to the club's owner Dennis Dupree, played by Alec Baldwin in the movie; yes, the world will soon be blessed with a duet between Alec Baldwin and Russell Brand as they sing REO Speedwagon's "Can't Fight This Feeling" and confess their true feelings for each other. Apparently it's all part of some hilarious joke. Yeah, the nuances get lost on Wikipedia sometimes.

This probably goes without saying, but though Amy Adams at one point was in the running for a major part, Deadline says her Superman shooting schedule has gotten in the way. Production on Rock Of Ages, with Tom Cruise, Julianne Hough, Diego Boneta, Mary J. Blige and Paul Giamatti also starring, starts later this spring.

Here’s a new poster for Arthur, in which Russell Brand strikes another relaxing pose while uptight people look uptight standing around him. It’s a lot like the previous poster except instead of a bowler above Russell Brand’s head, we get Greta Gerwig. Greta Gerwig is good.

Click on the new Arthur one-sheet below to see it in high-res.

Arthur is a remake of the classic, same-named Dudley Moore movie about a charming billionaire who must choose love over his lavish lifestyle. Look for it in theaters April 8th. While you wait, get more detailed info on the film in our Blend Film Database.

For the first two weeks of April this year, you are not going to be able to escape Russell Brand. He's already set to star in the remake of the 1980 Dudley Moore comedy Arthur, which opens April 8, but he'll also be lending his voice to the animated film Hop, which opens a week earlier on April 1. Hop seems to be less of a Brand film than a mass-appeal animated family film, but his distinctive voice and sense of humor are a key part of the film, at least as seen in the new trailer that dropped today at Apple.

You can watch it in HD over there or embedded below; we'll talk more about it afterwards.

Honestly, if you're looking for the typical raunchy, envelope-pushing Russell Brand, that's not what you're going to find here, though you probably shouldn't have expected as much from an animated movie about the rogue son of the Easter Bunny. A title card in the trailer promises "From the director of Alvin and the Chipmunks" (that'd be Tim Hill) and that's more of what you find here: an exasperated human (James Marsden) dealing with a small animated rodent (Brand's bunny) who moves into his house and wreaks havoc. There's jokes about the bunny pooping jelly beans, about a girlfriend character eating said jelly beans, and a lot of exaggerated reaction shots. It's all pretty broad comedy stuff, even more so that the last film to come from Universal's animation arm, Despicable Me (you can spy one of those iconic minions in the opening logo).

It's hard to say I'm disappointed by the trailer, since I wasn't expecting a whole lot from Hop to begin with, but it looks like the movie will be more strictly kid's fare, while I was hoping it might have something for Brand's fans as well. There might be more to it than what we're seeing in the trailer-- Despicable Me, after all, was surprisingly charming-- but I'm keeping my hopes in check for the moment.

For more on Hop-- including new images released alongside the trailer-- check out the movie's page in our Blend Film Database.

When Kelly West got the chance to visit the New York set of the Arthur remake and witness them shoot a scene between Russell Brand and Greta Gerwig, she also got a chance to interview Brand and the director Jason Winer. (You can read the Brand interview here and the Winer interview here). But we had to wait a little longer to catch up with Gerwig, and when the opportunity came to talk to her on the phone, I stepped in for Kelly to lob a few questions at the up-and-coming actress.

After making her name in small indies like Hannah Takes The Stairs Gerwig broke out big time in last year's Greenberg, which led to her snagging the lead role of Linda in Arthur, a remake of the 1980 Dudley Moore film. Brand is stepping into Moore's role as a carefree, careless playboy, while Gerwig reprises a part originated by Liza Minnelli, a working-class girl whom Arthur falls for despite himself. In the scene they witnessed on the set, Arthur and Linda walk through Central Park as a kind of first date. We asked Gerwig about the transition from indies to studio movies, her rapport with Russell Brand, and how she's treating the legacy of Liza Minnelli in the role. Look for Arthur in theaters on April 8.

Before every take you and Russell Brand were goofing off, singing Lena Horne and trying to keep the momentum going. Is it kind of hard when the takes take a long time to keep the energy up?

Well, no. I think Russell is kind of a live wire of energy and very infectious to everyone around him. What we heard more of was the director saying, “Settle. Settle,” because we would start laughing or we’d start joking around and then we’d kind of lose where we were in the scene. So I think it was more of a struggle to keep the energies focused rather than keep the energy up.

Did he play pranks on you?

He didn’t play pranks, but he did make fun of me a lot.

Really? Like how so?

Oh, he started this game where I’d say something and he’d say, “Greta Gerwig – undateable,” which was his favorite thing to do. But he lovingly teases everyone, so it wasn’t cruel. It’s really funny. But you have to have thick skin.

So you and Russell seemed to have great chemistry. Did you guys hit it off – right off the bat? And what was your first impression of him?

I met Russell while I was auditioning for Arthur, and it was one of those auditions that felt like playing, not performing. It just felt like I went in and we had this great script written by Peter Baynham, and then they let us improv. And it just felt like I had a half an hour of playing with the funniest person I’ve ever met. So I instantly wanted to do it very badly, but it also felt so effortless, in a way, and I think that that’s really a gift on a film like this.

Are you a fan of the original film, and, if so, do you feel an extra, added amount of pressure to live up to that classic comedy?

Yes, I was. I wasn’t actually born when the original was made, but it was one of the first movies that was shown on HBO all the time, and I never saw the whole thing because we didn’t have HBO, but friends of mine had HBO. So I had this memory of bits and pieces of the film scattered throughout my childhood. But I really loved it. I think that there’s an incredible sweetness to it, and Dudley Moore and Liza Minnelli are so wonderful and odd together. And I think that I do feel pressure. It’s beloved by so many people.

But, that being said, I think everyone was really trying to make it their own and looking at what’s different about making a film about an alcoholic playboy in 2010 versus 1980. So I think we did improve some things, and I’m sure that we made it different, and it will be up to other people to decide whether or not they like it better or worse.

On a similar note, what did you take from Liza Minnelli's performance in that? Is the character somewhat different or have you kind of taken cues from her?

I think that what Liza Minnelli is as an actress, both in this film and all of her films and her stage work and her singing, is that she’s such an individual that I think it would be a mistake to try to imitate it in any way, but to kind of get yourself fully behind yourself, and be who you are and be confident about it, even if it means wearing a weird cowboy hat and a yellow slicker in the first scene, or a very, very pink pantsuit-- she wears is so incredible as well.

What sorts of strange things have happened shooting in the city? Because, simply, given that New York’s a great place to shoot, there’s just a lot of bizarre things that can happen, and some people don’t even care that you’re filming.

Right. Well, when we were shooting at Grand Central, both outside Grand Central and in Grand Central, there were a number of angry commuters from New York who yelled at us, which is always kind of great. They don’t care. They don’t care who you are, what you’re doing. All they know is you’re there, you’re messing up their day, and I liked that.

I mean, of course, there are people who stand and gawk, but mostly there are people who are like, “What the hell is going on here?” and would get in your face, which is really fun. I live in New York, and I went to college here, so I’ve been here eight years and I think it was magical to shoot here. I got to shoot on an MTA New York City bus, going over the Queensboro Bridge, which I’ve done before, but, this time, I’m doing it with a camera crew and all these fancy lights and I’m in a movie. It was really exciting.

What's the transition been like for you moving from smaller mumblecore films to studio movies like this and Greenberg?

The transition from tiny movies to less tiny movies to really big movies has been actually quite seamless in a lot of ways as far as my experience of acting in them. I think what’s lucky is you don’t get cast in things that you’re not right for and when they don’t find something interesting about you. The people that will cast you are interested in making some kind of movie.

So I didn’t feel like I was being hired under false pretenses, that they thought I was somebody else. And I think that the spirit of Russell being a very strong individual and Helen Mirren, obviously, and Luis Guzman and Nick Nolte and Jennifer Garner as well, is that they really took everyone and allowed them to do what they wanted.

Jason Winer, Peter Baynham and all the producers really guided the tone of the movie and the performances, but it was an incredibly supportive and free environment. It didn’t feel like I was in a studio machine. It felt like I was working with an incredibly talented group of people who wanted everyone to just be doing their best on their own terms. And I think that’s just a larger version of what I’ve been experiencing before.

Last fall, I had the opportunity to visit the set of the Arthur remake and to speak with the film’s director, Jason Winer, as well as star Russell Brand. In my interview with Brand here you can read both what he had to say about the project and some details from what we saw on the set in Central Park. In the interview below Winer talks about his new take on the classic 1981 film, as well as his thoughts on Brand, Helen Mirren and the general tone of the movie.

The Arthur remake, coming to theaters on April 8, stars Brand, Mirren, Greta Gerwig and Jennifer Garner. One of the most interesting aspects of visiting the set was watching the evolution of the dialogue, and how Winer worked with both actors to make the conversation flow naturally as they walked from the top of the stairs to the bottom. This included letting the actors improvise a bit as they found the rhythm of the conversation their characters were having. It wasn’t a huge scene-- in fact, it seemed like a lead-up to something else--but it was definitely interesting to see how even the simplest of dialogues can be tinkered with by the actors and the director in order to get it right.

Winer is making his directorial debut with Arthur after years working in television, including as a co-executive producer and director for ABC’s Modern Family. Though many may feel the Arthur remake is unnecessary, Winer makes a good case for retelling the story of a rich playboy who’s forced to choose between money and true love. Read below for his thoughts on remakes, on Dame Helen Mirren, on alcoholism and how the movie is a whole lot different from a given episode of Modern Family.

You seem to be very flexible in terms of giving some fluidity to Russell and Greta in terms of the variations of their dialogue and so on.

That was nothing. What you saw was us working towards a tighter and tighter scripted piece. That was just our approach to that because that was just a oner, where we want the entire thing to play in one. That’s essentially our favorite take. So we adopt a different style in that. That’s where we feel our way through it. Feel what feels right, what doesn’t, what lines feel heavy handed, what don’t. I rely very heavily on the actors. I like to cast really smart actors and we have two really smart ones in Greta and Russell, so it would be stupid of me not to rely on their instincts when they come to me and say, “This feels heavy handed” or this is writerly or my character wouldn’t say this. Nine times out of ten, they’re right. So I listen to that, I feel that out and we make adjustments on the fly.

Russell’s a brilliant comedian and writer in his own right. He comes up with a joke on the spot that usually beats the one in the script.

One of the producers here was on the original and he was saying that the approach in the original was quite different and that Gordon would actually give line readings to John Gielgud. You seem to be taking a completely different tack.

It’s interesting. I wouldn’t necessarily compare this one and the original in terms of that difference in philosophy but I think it is emblematic of how comedy movie making has evolved. The notion of improvising, of letting actors discover things on film, in the scene – I’m not the first director to do that, I mean that’s very in vogue right now. I’m not doing it because it’s in vogue. It happens to be my experience. I started as an improviser. I was an actor at first and an improv actor in particular, at ImprovOlympic in Chicago and Second City. I studied with Del Close, who’s like the guru of comedy and improvisation. He taught Belushi, Radner, Murray, Farley. He was credited as the metaphysical consultant on the first two seasons of SNL. I’ll leave you to draw your own conclusions in terms of what that means.

The point is, I started my comedy career in improvisation. One of the first things I directed was an all improvised pilot for 20th Century Fox and ABC. Sort of in the vein of Curb Your Enthusiasm meets a doctor’s office. That’s where it took place. The point being, this feels tightly scripted in comparison to some of the stuff I’ve done, but then when you compare it back to the original or back to Steve Gordon or back to how they made movies in the ‘80’s, it’s wildly improvised. It all depends, I suppose, on how you look at it.

At one point Russell was joking, “Why do there have to be such enormous chasms between takes.” I get the sense, he likes to keep the energy [going]. How has that been throughout the shooting of the film.

He does. It’s interesting. On Modern Family, we shoot on High-Def video, and so we’re able to just roll and roll and roll. I’ll do five or six tapes in a row. I’ll wander on the set and give two minutes of direction while we’re still rolling. It keeps everybody focused and it keeps a nice momentum. On this, we’re shooting on film and we would roll out of film in the mag. So it’s out of pure practicality, we have to cut and reset and it goes against my instincts too. I would just like to roll and roll and roll, but I wanted the film to have a very romantic feeling. I wanted it to feel classical in a way, because it is a really romantic story and to me, that meant shooting on film and having to cut and reset more than either Russell or myself would like.

Do you think the film will have a far different tone than the original?

I think the movie, so far, retains the rebellious spirit of the original. I think at the time, Arthur in 1981 was like, “What the hell is this? It’s a movie where the protagonist is a rich drunk.” You could reverse the words in that sentence anywhere you like. And that was slightly shocking. In fact, that’s why I remember I loved the movie when I was a kid because I think for a lot of people my age, Arthur was the first sort of naughty movie that we saw on HBO when our parents weren’t around. You know? When HBO had just come on and it was in heavy rotation. So, I remember just loving the movie. It felt like this glimpse of a world I wasn’t quite supposed to see but it wasn’t that illicit. It was right on the line, and so I had this great affection for it. And when I heard that they were remaking it, I was like, “Well, that’s a terrible idea. Why would you want to remake it?” And then I heard it was Russell Brand, and I thought, “Well, that’s a great idea.” Because, if there’s one person on earth right now, that kind of redefines the part for a new generation, that has not seen the movie at all, it’s him.

My next question was, “What are you going to do about Hobson?” Because, you have this iconic performance from John Gielgud. How do you top that? How do you get out from under the shadow of it? When I heard Peter Baynham’s idea of making Hobson a woman… Making her his nanny instead of his butler, I was like, “Well, that’s both my objections taken care of. I guess I gotta have the meeting on this thing.”

You had to go from knight to dame.

Yes, exactly, from Knight to Dame. Feel free to title your article that. It seems like you’re angling that way and I think that you’ve got something good there.

You know, to Dame Helen Mirren’s credit, she never refers to herself as Dame Helen Mirren. We tease her with it, occasionally. It’s funny. Some of those Dames out there throw that Dame around a lot. She’s not one of them. She’s very humble about the Dame thing.

In fact, I’ll tell you a story. When I first went to her house to meet with her to talk about doing the movie, she had invited me over for tea. My agent called me up and was like, “You’re having tea with Helen Mirren!” – Because people think of her as the queen. And he’s like, “Do you know the etiquette of having tea with a British person?” And I was like, “No…” He sent me a link to a website and I read up on all these rules about how you’re supposed to stir the tea – back and forth, by the way. Not in a circle, it could chip the china – What you’re supposed to do with the tea… I studied having tea, and when I got to her house, she made us tea in two mismatching mugs with water from the tap, heated in the microwave, as we chatted. It couldn’t have been a more casual thing.

Helen is so wonderful, and so unlike how people perceive her. She’s a director’s dream to work with and frankly, just the loveliest person on earth.

In the original [Arthur], Steve Gordon seemed to be inspired by the films of the late-30’s/early-40’s... fast-talking, white-telephone meets lower-class comedies. I was wondering if you were drawn from similar places or other places.

You know, it’s weird. If he were inspired by the ‘30’s and ‘40’s, I was inspired by movies from the ‘70’s and ‘80’s. And not Arthur in particular. Oddly, a movie I looked at a lot in preparation for this movie was Tootsie, which has great chemistry between the actors, tonally has some really broad, funny, laugh-out-loud moments but has this dramatic core… this sort of emotional current, which gets you at the end. For me, Tootsie was a great tonal comparison for what we’re doing with the updated version of Arthur. I can’t say why exactly, but that was in my head and in my blood, and certainly that are an homage to Tootsie as much as they are to the original Arthur.

I interviewed John Landis three years ago and we were talking about some of the comedies of the early ‘80’s, like Trading Places, Animal House… really politically incorrect, that might not get made today or might not get made the same way. How does this really compare with the original? Did you try to keep the same kind of spirit?

Yeah, definitely. That’s the thing I want to keep alive and really want to honor about the original. It’s “rebellious, I can’t believe they’re letting us do this” –feeling. Frankly, it’s going to come out that way anyway because Russell will say and do things, on the day, while we’re rolling, that you could never get approved in a studio script from the get-go. And that’s what’s so wonderful about keeping things loose and free. Because, in that sense, it does honor the rebellious spirit of the original. You’re saying and doing those things that just walk the line. If you read it, you’re like, “Oh! Is that horribly unlikable?” or “Can we say that?” and then when you see it on its feet, and he can be so charming and pull it off with such a light touch, you manage it.

I don’t want to give too much away, but there is one scene in particular with Jennifer Garner and [Russell] rolling around and she’s virtually trying to take his clothes off. She’s wasted in the scene and he’s actually sober and she’s after him and such a borderline-racy joke came out that was so hilarious, but in order to keep it in the movie, it got tied into a huge stunt-gag that literally can’t be cut out now. It’s tied into this gag, and we looked at each other and we’re like, “You think we can get away with this? Is the studio going to be really mad? We came up with this joke this morning. Nobody’s seen it. Nobody’s heard it. It hasn’t been approved by anybody.” And then we said, “Screw it. We think it’s hilarious and we’re gonna do it.” And I think it’s going to be in there. I think that’s the kind of thing that Steve Gordon might have approved of.

Any chance we’ll see any Modern Family cameos?

No, no Modern Family cameos. We won’t see any cameos from those guys because they’re all working. They’re all busy. They’re up to Episode 7. They’re in the midst of shooting Episode 7 already, so they’re back to it.

Did you dive into the archives and look at the different versions of the original script?

I did, actually. Larry Brezner, who you may have talked to, who was one of the producers on the original, gave us some of Steve Gordon’s deleted scenes that nobody had ever seen, just to see the tone and jokes in them. The truth is, though, those jokes, like pretty much every homage line from the original, have been cut as we’ve discovered this movie’s own, unique voice.

The script itself, when I first read it, I loved that it repurposed and quoted lines from the original – tried to reinvent them, use them in new contexts – I thought that was really smart. And then when we started rehearsing the movie and putting it on its feet, every time we did an actual quoted bit from the original, we felt dirty about it. And Russell’s incarnation of the character started becoming its own thing and taking on its own life. We felt like, in a weird way, it honored the original more not to quote it directly and to find out own humor in some similar characters and situations.

Just going back to what you were saying earlier. You mentioned, Jennifer Garner. She’s playing the role of Susan…

Susan Johnson… yeah.

The scene that you described, I can’t picture original Susan…

[Laughs] No…

Can you just talk a little bit about the differences...?

You’re very astute to point that out. If you go back and look at the original movie, the character of Susan… if you simply did that as an exact recreation, would seem to a modern audience, to be a crazy person. She is irrationally, completely in love with a drunk and wants to marry him and be with him for the rest of her life. And in the original, they play that earnestly. Susan is simply a woman who believes she can get Arthur to stop drinking and she’s hopelessly in love with him. We looked at the original movie and said, “There’s a lot of things that you can borrow and just bring right into the modern day.” But I think a modern audience of women would look at that character and call “bullshit” on it. It doesn’t ring true anymore, at least. It hardly got by in 1981 movie-logic. It was essentially a minor character.

We wanted that character to not only have a certain logic to it, but to kind of drive the story in ours. So Susan, we really embraced as the villain of the story. She works with Arthur’s mother, and is sort of her right-hand woman. And the notion of this arranged marriage… of this essentially P.R. event to repair the damage that Arthur has done to his mother’s company and to the Bach empire is really cooked up by Susan. She has a couple of very twisted motivations for doing this that I’m not going to reveal, but she’s sort of a really fun, twisted character that’s in the movie a whole lot. I think Jennifer Garner’s really going to surprise people, sinking her teeth into this naughty, sexy role.

Can you describe the first time that Russell and Helen got together, when you were like, “Ok, this is going to work out.”

Well, Russell and Helen knew each other alreay a bit, from having worked on The Tempest together. But they only overlapped by a day, so they only barely knew each other. But Helen – and this is the side of her that people don’t know so well – has this very rambunctious, almost hippie spirit. She loves Russell. Loved him from afar, was aware of his book, knew of his comedy, loved the way he pushed people’s buttons both politically and sexually. That’s right up her ally, so the two of them get along like gangbusters.

In fact, sometimes we had to tone down their chemistry, frankly because in order to get the proper British reserve out of the character of Hobson, we had to have them stop having such fun together, because they love each other so much. And they make relentless fun of each other. In that sense, their off-screen relationship completely mirrors their onscreen relationship. But I think too, it’s the love and affection between them that’s really going to come through on screen and hopefully give this movie its own flavor.

I hope that I haven’t said anything that remotely disparages the original because I am the biggest fan in the world, but what I quickly discovered is that this story is like a fairytale when you boil it down to its essence. This rich playboy who’s sort of an overgrown man-child is threatened with losing his money for pursuing true love. I mean, that’s a fairytale story and if you take that essence, you can really retell it in a way that honors that original story but becomes it own thing altogether.

I was going to say something about that as it related to the Helen relationship. Oh, Helen would always tell me that a nanny was different than a butler. So, if I was looking for something in a scene that was similar to the original, she would remind me that, “I wiped his bottom when he was two-years-old…” was something she always had in mind as the character. And that informed her choices and creates a sort of warmer, more affectionate relationship, and we would be wrong if we didn’t embrace that and let it become its own thing.

So is that dynamic still there, though… of her being this very respectable looking person who says very irreverent things?

Oh, yeah. 100%. It’s really fun to get Dame Helen Mirren to say the word “balls.” Or to say, “Wash your winky.” That “balls” line, which I just referred to was originally written as, “She just referred to that man’s genitalia. Can we go?” And we found, it was funnier to just have Helen say “balls.” In reverse, we discovered that we should elevate Russell, and Russell should say “genitalia” and Helen should say “balls.” And the essence of the comedy lies there. And that’s similar to Gielgud. Part of the fun of this, is how much can we drag an incredibly respected actor through the comedy mud. We do our share of that.

Do you feel like overall, Hollywood embraces too many remakes? What are doing ensure that your take on Arthur is going to be worth it?

I think overall, there is a lack of original ideas in Hollywood and criticism that Hollywood sort of retreads too many ideas is merited… I mean, certainly warranted. That’s the word I’m looking for. That said, I think there are certain stories that are worth retelling. And this one, not just because it’s a fairytale but also because there’s an entire generation that’s unaware of this original story. It’s been thirty years. It’ll be thirty years exactly when the movie’s released, since the first one came out, so that means there’s a lot of people completely unaware of this awesome, hilarious story. In that sense, it’s worth exposing people to it. In another sense, it’s just when you have casting that you feel… it’s just too delicious to avoid. It’s too exciting to see Russell Brand do this… to see Helen Mirren do this. That makes it worth it.

And finally, in terms of our approach… I think we’re trying to just let this be its own movie… let it be its own story… to pay homage to the original, to respect how much we totally love the original and in so doing, to let this one fly on its own. And hopefully they’ll stand by each other.

You know, Russell brought up… to bring it to full circle… to Batman. We were talking about the original Batman, Tim Burton’s Batman versus Christopher Nolan’s Batman and the way it was a complete, tonal reinvention of the original story that brought it up to date. Not to even vaguely say that this approach is that scale or the scope of that attempt but I hope that this is, at its core, a legend or a fairytale or that sort of story that you can bring into the modern day in a way that resonates with modern audiences.

What are some of the most common romance pitfalls in movies today and how are you avoiding them?

I think that there are a lot of clichés that have developed since the ‘80s, and frankly, by ‘80s movies. They set the standard for the love montage, the make-out montage, the sad montage, all sorts of montages were clichéd by ‘80s movies. The structure of things became really patented. We didn’t realize it until we started working on this but the original Arthur itself helped define some of those clichés. The notion of the scary father of the bride came from Arthur. That scene with Burt where he shows him the moose head. I mean, I can’t remember a movie before that, that basically did that that way and that has trickled down to all kinds of movies, all the way up to Meet the Parents. That father who’s the hunter… shining his shotgun. That cliché quite possibly originated with first Arthur. So when we came to approaching the character of Burt Johnson, that was one in particular where we were like “We have to completely reinvent this scene. If we use any piece of that…” It’s been made into a cliché, not by the original Arthur, but by every movie that’s imitated the original Arthur since the original Arthur was made.

So we had to dig really deep and find something really new that nobody had seen and still do a scene about a father-in-law to be intimidating his son-in-law to be. I think we found something that’s suitably weird and wonderful, but completely different.

Since Arthur was made, we’ve become more of a rehab-culture or a recovery culture, which is a signal of progress. But to the extend that you’re not either obligated to or wanting to tell something that’s at least partially a recovery story, do you think you have the freedom to make recovery funny?

Russell Brand, in his real life, has made recovery funny. He wrote a really funny book about it and the second one is coming out soon. As an actor, he has a different perspective on drinking and on substance abuse in general than Dudley Moore had at the time they made the original. So, the script and our story by its nature, has a different perspective on drinking. It starts out just as fun. He’s just as lovable as a drunk. He really is. He has a fantastic time, his life is amazing. But I think its incumbent upon us, because of the way that the audiences’ views of this sort of behavior has changed, to find something in it, as the story goes along, that the original didn’t necessarily want or need to find. The original was able to be a great movie… a classic, even, without having the character really change that much. He changed a little. He found the capacity for love, the ability to take care of Hobson… All of those things helped him grow up, but he was extremely drunk at the end of the movie… just as drunk as he was at the beginning. And because of that, Liza Minelli’s character is put in the position… it’s suggested that she’s going to take care of him the same way Hobson did. It’d be interesting to see, if we presented that same ending, how modern women would feel about that ending.

And again, that worked in that story at that time. And so now, we’ve got to look at the story again through the prism of 2011 and give it a surprising and satisfying conclusion that’s different from the original but honors its spirit.

Are there any actors from the original that are going to show up in the remake?

We definitely thought about it. How specifically do we want to pay homage to the original? As we started discovering the unique rhythm and its own thing, we sort of wanted to let this movie fly with its own… I was going to say fly on its own two feet and then I was like, that’s a mixed metaphor if ever there was one…

Liza already did Sex and the City…

She just did, so we’ve just seen her in a cameo in a big movie. That’s true.

They remade The Bad News Bears and Walter Matthau in the original drank beer. In the remake, Billy Bob Thornton drank non-alcoholic beer. I’m just wondering if there was pressure from the studio to tone certain things down…

The reality is that the original movie was R and that Arthur picks up a hooker in the first scene. And that this movie wants to be PG-13 and is going to be, so that changes things to a certain extent but not in a way that bothers me even vaguely because we still have some pretty edgy humor and we’re still walking that line and I frankly think having the restrictions of that rating force you to be more creative in terms of the ways that you push that line.

The other thing is, there’s a difference between what Dudley Moore projects and what Russell Brand projects. Dudley’s character, you buy him picking up a hooker. Russell Brand’s character just goes home with a girl who wants to go home with him. There’s definitely some boundary-pushing humor but just personally as a director, I like working within the parameters of PG-13 and pushing the edges of that box.

Does Russell?

I think frankly, it’s good for Russell because Russell’s easiest place to go to as a comedian is hard-R, sexual, salacious. It’s certainly part of his natural back story. To take that and to feel that tension but feel it below the surface in a movie that has a sweetness to it, and present him really as a big kid, which is the essence of the original character and to focus on the ways that he’s lovable like a child, gives the movie a sweetness that’s special and opens it up to a lot of audiences.

At the same time, there’s still potential for tranny-hooker humor…

There’s still tranny-hooker humor. You can say tranny hooker in a PG-13 movie. And, in fact, there’s still a hooker or two in there, it’s just he doesn’t personally pay for it. It’s not the same kind of bastardization as Billy Bob Thornton drinking non-alcoholic beer. I think the changes in this are as a result of character. I’ll give you an example. Twin Peaks: one of my favorite TV shows of all time. Then, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me the movie came out and David Lynch got an opportunity to make his world R-rated and suddenly it was far less interesting. Because he could take you into all the back rooms that show you the drugs and danger that you could only imagine on the TV series and I’m not the only one that far preferred the TV series and the implied sense of danger. This is not unlike that. Feeling all of that racy, sexual, edgy drug and alcohol related stuff but bubbling just beneath the surface and trying to keep it just slightly inside the bounds of something that a really broad audience can enjoy is a really interesting challenge and to me, makes it even funnier.

Bet you didn’t think we were going to talk about Fire Walk With Me in this interview, did you?

Certainly makes it more subversive.

Yeah. Subversive is exactly right. By showing something a little dangerous to a wider audience, you’ve got something a little rebellious. Again, I hope Steve Gordon would have approved.

Last September I had the opportunity to visit the set of Arthur, a remake of the Oscar-nominated 1980 comedy due in theaters April 8th, to see stars Russell Brand and Greta Gerwig as they shot a scene in Central Park.

The original Arthur was not only a great comedy, but also a truly fantastic New York love story. Whether or not Brand and Gerwig are able to fill Dudley Moore and Liza Minelli’s extremely talented shoes remains to be seen, but as a fan of the original, I’m pleased that New York is reprising its role as the backdrop for this charming modern fairytale about a wealthy bachelor who falls for a working class girl.

The scene I saw them film took place on the southeast side of Central Park, not far from the Plaza Hotel. Since it was set up outside shooting had to be postponed until later in the evening due to the weather, but when the rain finally let up we were able to watch the scene play out from behind the cameras. In the scene, the rich playboy Arthur (Brand) and working-class Linda (Gerwig) descended a set of stairs on their way into the park and discussed Arthur’s lifestyle philosophy, which is to “just have fun”. From the way Arthur and Linda were talking to one another it seemed like they were just starting to get to know each other. Arthur made a joke about the park being his backyard, which was charming but also came off a little bit like he was trying to downplay his wealth, or make light of it anyway. He also offered Linda his jacket, which he said he inherited when she noted the name on the tag. The scene ended as they continued into the park.

They did around ten takes, between which Brand and Gerwig seemed casual and comfortable with one another, chatting, joking and if I’m remembering correctly, doing a bit of singing while the crew reset for the next take. Brand not only seemed at ease with his co-star but also comfortable with changing things up as director Jason Winer tweaked the scene, adjusting the dialogue slightly to get it to play right. Beyond the blocked off area just outside the park, a small cluster of curious New Yorkers hung back and watched, while extras waited for their cue to walk by Brand and Gerwig once the cameras started rolling again.

Brand seems to be going with a similar approach to Moore in the role as Arthur, with an easygoing attitude and a light heart. What I liked about what I saw of Gerwig in this brief scene was that she doesn’t seem to be trying to do an impersonation of Liza Minelli or model her performance of the role after Minelli’s. I think this version of Linda will be a bit different. Maybe not better or worse but updated and more fitting to Gerwig’s style and mannerisms.

Later on that night, we were given the opportunity to sit down with Russell Brand to talk to him about the film. Brand has quick sense of humor that doesn’t go away when the cameras stop rolling but he’s also courteous and professional with the press and, as we witnessed, with a few fans who passed by and asked for an autograph. The scene I watched being filmed was only a small glimpse of Brand’s portrayal of Arthur, but meeting him in person, I got the impression that he’s a man who truly loves to make people laugh. There’s a charm to him that I suspect will serve him well in this role.

Brand had some interesting and amusing things to tell us about the film, working with Helen Mirren, Greta Gerwig and Jennifer Garner, and reprising a role played by the great Dudley Moore. For more on the remake you can also check out our interview with director Jason Winer here.

Did you ever see the original [Arthur] growing up?

Yes, I’m a fan of the films. I love Dudley Moore. I’m from Grays and Essex, Dudley was from Dagenham. I adored the original Arthur. Watched it loads. My dad loves it and used to quote stuff from it. My mom loves Dudley Moore. I love Dudley Moore independently of this because of his stuff with Peter Cook -- Not Only… But Also, and all that.

Jason [Winer, the director] said that you’re the perfect person to reinvent this role. And also, you brought a lot of humor, talking about your own life with addiction and everything else. When you get a script like this, or even Get Him To The Greek, even though it’s comedy, there are certain things that are true to life and other things you think are obviously a script-writer’s invention, do you try to find a way to finesse it, and say well this is funny but I want to try to find a way to make this… you know, not making fun of it…

I think awareness of addiction is a particularly contemporaneous issue and being someone that suffers from it -– with it, I do have personal obligations in that area, but to tell you the truth, I interfere with the script regardless of whether or not I know anything about it. So if it was about ancient Muslim ceramics, I’d probably still express an opinion and expect to be heard.

Was there anything with this script that you wanted changed?

I changed the script all the time. I improvised all the time. It’s one of the things that I think helps me to enjoy what I do for a living, to keep spontaneity. Not that Peter Baynham isn’t a wonderful writer. And being British, it’s particular privilege to work with him, being so fond of his work on things like Alan Partridge and Borat and his work with Chris Morris… some geniuses of great comedy, currently. Still, improvisation is integral to what I do and it’s something that I’m fortunate to have embarked on a career with Judd Apatow in terms of films and stuff, so that’s something I plan to carry with me.

Even, in fact, when I worked on The Tempest, which I did with Julie Taymor and Helen Mirren, Julie said, “You can improvise if you want.” And I said, “But it’s Shakespeare…” And she said, “That’s alright! Improvise.” She said that the clown parts would have been improvised. I did improvise a few bits, but I did respect the bars as I would Peter Baynham.

Did you see any similarities between Aldous Snow and Arthur aside from the hard living?

No, none actually. Playing two characters that have so-called substance abuse issues is really no more significant than playing two characters that… have a hat. Arthur is a benevolent, whimsical, childlike, prince. Aldous Snow is dark, malevolent, twisted sort of macabre, purple brush stroke of contemporary celebrity. In terms of approaching it like an actor, they’re completely distinct and they’re redundant. I suppose from my perspective, being someone who’s… like with alcohol and addiction issues, now having taken on two roles where that theme is touched upon or central, it becomes… particularly in Britain it becomes “Oh, yeah, enough” but for me they’re really, really different. I see them as incredibly distinct.

Many attitudes have changed towards drinking necessarily, the disease is all the more apparent as awareness of it grows. In the original, Arthur drunk allows for a lot of bloody good physical comedy. And that’s what it does for this. I’m playing a character that plays in a way that socially, someone wouldn’t unless they’re a child, mentally ill or drunk. The same as all of us… we behave in a way… say things, do things… For me, that’s been incredibly liberating. There wasn’t much of that in The Greek. It was more about wildness and hedonism, which was lovely in a way, but this is about Arthur’s drunkenness is merely a utensil for Arthur to be sometimes a little blundering, sometimes a little clumsy, or clowny. Real, traditional beautiful comedy. Stuff that I adore.

It’s not Andy Capp?

No, it’s not a dark portrait of alcoholism and spousal abuse.

You would say, at his core, Arthur’s innocent?

Yes, precisely. It’s very much a part that’s built for Dudley Moore. Hence, there’s a scene where he uses his excellence as a pianist… sort of building this beautiful, mellifluous, peculiar laugh. Now, with the assistance of the brilliant director Jason Winer and wonderful writer Baynham tailored it for me, so there’s more linguistic, loquacious, articulate stuff.

The thing it reminds me most of in cinema is Big. That’s what the character’s like. Other than Dudley Moore’s original, it reminds me of Tom Hanks in Big. He’s someone that just doesn’t understand the rules of contemporary life. He doesn’t understand how to socialize correctly or how to behave.

I know you’re bringing your own take on the character but are there any instances when you’re channeling Dudley?

I really loved the original… (he pauses to do a spot-on Dudley Moore impersonation). When I do the stuff, like the scenes when he’s more drunk, that’s where I feel more Dudley Moore. It’s a vocal thing, I think. Certainly. (does another impersonation). It’s from the esophagus. Something in the sinuses.

What was your impression of Greta before you guys met, and what have you noticed about her as an actress?

I saw Greenberg anyway. I like Ben Stiller and I liked Squid and the Whale, so I went to see Greenberg and I thought she was gorgeous. Such a lovely and unusual performance and she was so sweet. I think she’s delightful. She’s got a very, very quick mind and a beautiful sensibility, and an aesthetic that’s very in keeping with this film, which retains some of the romance of the original, whilst incorporating a more contemporary aesthetic and cinematic style. Greta exemplifies that in her sort of naturalistic, low-key Mumblecore stuff. She’s perfect for it. I think she’s delightful and beautiful and funny and smart and the very kind of woman you’d give up a billion dollars for.

Is Jennifer Garner the same way?

She’s elegant and charming and sweet and thoughtful. I’d say 100% different from Greta, not that they don’t mutually share charming qualities, but Jennifer is more what one would associate with a romantic comedy of this nature. She is more in keeping of this style of romantic comedy while Greta represents more of an independent edge. They’ve both been an absolute joy to work with… and be near and touch on the mouth. Touch them both right on the mouth with my mouth.

It’s pretend, you can do what you want. You can say it in that context, that this is pretend. It makes me think I could invent various different contexts within which I can do what I want, which I always thought was possible as a child. I always thought, perhaps you could invent new paradigms within which morality would become redundant. Discuss.

I hear that Jennifer Garner’s very ravenous. She’s kind of the villain…

It’s nice to see a dark and villainous side to Jennifer Garner. It’s interesting. She’s obviously a very sweet-natured woman…

Are there any scenes that you can talk about that you found particularly…

Erotic?

Sure… enjoyable… memorable…

I loved working with Helen Mirren because she’s so exquisitely elegant.

Any specific moments…

[We don’t know if he was joking here or not…] Yeah, I got in bed with her. Reading me bedtime stories and one time she read a dirty version of it… Expecting it to be one of those Frog and Toad stories, those sweet stories and she’s like… (does an exaggerated Helen Mirren impersonation)… “Toad took frog and mounted him from behind and entered him deeply and smoothly with rhythmic strokes.” I’m like, (said in a scolding tone), “Helen, this is being filmed, as part of a film with a broad appeal, one would hope. So, she’s special, Helen Mirren.

That’s for the Rated-R version? That’s for the DVD?

For the DVD.