Weekender Interview | Russell Brand and Jonah Hill
April 21Russell Brand and Jonah Hill sat down to discuss their characters in the upcoming "Get Him to the Greek," a spinoff of the hit comedy "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" (2008) by the same director, Nick Stoller. They also ruminated on consumerism, the true purpose of comedy and the proper execution of a sex scene. Question: So there's a lot of music in this movie; did you have any input in creating it? Russell Brand: Well I sang all of the songs obviously, out of my face. I opened it up, and out came the vibrations. The only times I'd change [the lyrics] is if people would deliberately try to write things that sound English but don't. But generally I'd leave them, because there were some brilliant songwriters, like Jarvis Cocker from Pulp wrote a couple, Carl Barat from the Libertines, so you know, you can't. Q: How do you feel when people imitate you to your face? RB: They do that a lot! It happens all the time. But I don't mind; it's sort of a tribute. Also, remember, I'm used to being in England where my Englishness and English accent are commonplace. So it's like sort of "Gulliver's Travels," it's like a Swift-ian satire, having people mimic my own accent at me. It's good because I think, "Oh wow! This thing that is commonplace here is exotic somewhere else." Q: I've heard your American accents in your standup, and it's really spot-on. RB: Thank you very much, I've been observing you people on the petri dish called Earth. Q: What are your findings? RB: Well this is the dominant culture. We're all to a degree Americans now, now that colonialism is achieved through commerce and consumerism and not through imperialism and the military, although one could argue to a lesser degree that it still is. We are all imbibing American culture. Q: Comparing Aldous Snow in "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" to Aldous Snow in "Get Him to the Greek," where would you say Russell Brand, the man, falls? RB: "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" was a laugh because that was very much about restraint. That was a supporting role in Jason [Segel]'s movie, and I had to be measured and gentle. The key thing for me was to make a sympathetic villain. The function of that character was to antagonize the protagonist.
