Russell Brand

Russell Edward Brand (born 4 June 1975) is an English comedian, actor, presenter, activist, and campaigner. He has received three British Comedy Awards and nomination for a BAFTA Award. After beginning his career as a comedian and later becoming an MTV presenter in the UK, in 2004 Brand gained a role as the host of the television show Big Brother's Big Mouth, a Big Brother spin-off. Brand had his first major film role in British comedy St Trinian's (2007) before starring in the Hollywood comedies Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008), Get Him to the Greek (2010), Arthur (2011), and Rock of Ages (2012). He also voiced roles in the animated films Despicable Me (2010), Hop (2011), Despicable Me 2 (2013), and Trolls (2016). In 2013, he released the successful stand-up special Messiah Complex. He hosted his own radio show The Russell Brand Show (2006–2008, 2010, 2013, 2017) and also hosts the podcasts Stay Free with Russell Brand and Under the Skin with Russell Brand. In 2009, Brand attended the 2009 G20 London summit protests. Three years later, the Dalai Lama selected him to host the Buddhist leader's 2012 youth event in Manchester, due to "the power of spirituality to effect change in his own life". Brand testified in front of a parliamentary committee in April 2012, about drug addiction. He shared his BBC Three documentary, Russell Brand: From Addiction to Recovery and his view that drugs should be decriminalised. Since guest-editing an edition of British political weekly New Statesman in 2013, Brand has become known as a public activist and campaigner, and has spoken on a wide range of political and cultural issues, including wealth inequality, addiction, corporate capitalism, climate change, and media bias. In 2014, he launched his political-comedy web series The Trews on YouTube, released a book entitled Revolution, and acted in the documentary The Emperor's New Clothes.