Russell Brand â€" movie star, provocateur, former addict, ex-pop-star husband and MTV awards show lightning rod â€" is seeking a higher purpose. He wants to be a consciousness-raiser.
The British comedian best known in America for his splashy portrayals of outrageous party animal / rocker Aldous Snow in"Forgetting Sarah Marshall"and"Get Him to the Greek,"is launching FX's first late-night series, "Brand X With Russell Brand," designed as a showcase for Brand's off-kilter observations about politics and celebrity culture as he interacts with a live audience inside an intimate venue.
But Brand said there's also a serious element to the venture.
"My interest is consciousness, and it's time for a genuine change in consciousness," he said at his office on theWarner Bros.studio lot in Burbank. "We're facing an important time in the world when we need to regard each other differently. The old divisions have to be put aside. The people I'm speaking to â€" the younger generation, the disillusioned, the disenfranchised â€" they don't feel like they're being addressed. I have an intuitive sense that things need to change."
Still, entering a TV comic commentary arena already ruled by Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert and Bill Maher might appear to be an unlikely endeavor for a performer with a thriving movie and stand-up career that has led to other flashy opportunities (he will be hosting the MTV Movie Awards June 3, marking the third time he's emceed an MTV awards show). But Brand said this show makes perfect sense, giving him the opportunity to explore his more profound musings.< /p>
"I want to have an authentic, real relationship with current events," he said. "We'll be dealing with the news in an irreverent but optimistic way. It's not going to be cynical, not 'Oh, this is the way things are and there's nothing we can do. It's about 'this is the way things are and there's something we can and must do.' It also has to be funny."
The first half of "Brand X" will feature Brand discussing news and culture with former congressional policy advisor Matt Stoller, brother of Nicholas Stoller, who directed "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" and "Get Him to the Greek." Brand believes their dynamic will be illuminating: "Matt comes from the perspective of someone who understands American politics and media and how it works, and I come from the perspective of an electrified Peter Pan Dionysus figure."
The second half of the show will involve Brand mixing with the audience. Executive producer Troy Miller said the show would be a no-frills affair, with no "glitz or show business between Russell and the audience. He's got this unique outlook â€" he can look at world politics and compare it to what he had for breakfast."
The show is one of several projects the comedian is juggling. He's got a featured role in the upcoming film musical"Rock of Ages"and is also involved in a documentary about addiction that he filmed in his native England.
But he said he is really thrilled by the potential of "Brand X": "I'm not doing this for money or what it might lead to. This is the first thing I've felt in a long time that is in and of itself what I want to do. I want to be funny and spontaneous."
Spontaneity has become one of Brand's hallmarks. While hosting the MTV Video Music Awards in 2008, he called then-President Bush a "retarded cowboy," teased the Jonas Brothers about their "purity rings" and blasted Bristol Palin and then-fiancé Levi Johnston during a rant about hypocrisy over teen pregnancy. His tone can be simul taneously sophisticated and lowbrow.
That comic style not only surfaces during his observations on politics but in his take on celebrities and tabloids. "Anyone who works in media and is a celebrity has a heightened awareness of how trite it is," he said. "I think popular culture has become this kind of sequin-covered turd."
Of course, he has a unique perspective on tabloid culture. A media furor erupted over his whirlwind romance with singer Katy Perry, whom he wed in a lavish ceremony in India in October 2010. A little more than a year later, the couple announced they were breaking up.
He grew reflective when asked about the fallout from his relationship with Perry.
"I was in a high-profile marriage with someone I really, really loved," he said. "I really wish it would have worked out. But it didn't work out. I feel peaceful, tranquil and excited, and this doesn't undermine the feelings that I have for my ex-wife. She is a person I will always hold in high, high esteem. But now that part of my life is over and I'm moving forward."
greg.braxton@latimes.com
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