On the set of Get Him to the Greek, Russell Brand tells us about rock stardom and being slapped around by a chick.
What’s the lowdown on this flick? You play the same rock star dude from Forgetting Sarah Marshall, hey?
He has resumed his drug addiction and goes on an adventure with Jonah Hill where he has to travel from London to the Greek Theater in Los Angeles. His personality causes many obstacles.
Does playing a character like this tempt you to fall off the wagon?
It reaffirms my position as a sober, clean person of some six years now.
How’s working with Jonah Hill?
We seem to have an effortless chemistry, such as you sometimes strike up with a sexual partner. We don’t really work on our relationship much. We don’t spend lots of time doing trust exercises or quizzing each other about our star signs. But it’s a surprisingly successful on-screen relationship, I think.
How was the chemistry between you and Aussie hottie Rose Byrne?
She’s amazing. She hit me hard in the face during an argument scene. It hurt and it was not discussed and it was not scripted. It was against my human rights and had it been the other way around and I had struck her, I think I would be conducting this interview from death row.
Did you give her a stern talking to?
I went, “What on earth are you doing? Why did you hit me? Ow. Ow. Just ’cos I’m a man and you’re a woman... I do have nerve endings.”
Surely you enjoyed being slapped by her a little bit?
I’ll admit I was a little turned on, but that doesn’t mitigate the pain. Sometimes an arousal is an anaesthetic, but it is never mitigation.
Being a rock star is every bloke’s dream. Is that something you’ve always wanted to be?
Yeah, and it was amazing, as a matter of fact. When I did a big gig at the Greek Theater in front of thousands and thousands of people, I was kinda worried about it because I didn’t really rehearse. But then I thought of the endless rehearsals I’ve done in front of mirrors in the nude with a hairbrush. The hairbrush wasn’t a microphone – I was using it at the other end.
Did any rockers inspire your acting?
Well, because I know Noel Gallagher, it’s difficult to not be influenced by that. I’m friendly with Pete Doherty, too. I’m friends with Morrissey and that had an impact. But I think all this is more like Robert Plant and Jimmy Page and sort of the late ’60s/early ’70s rock scene.
Brad Blanks
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