Russell Edward Brand (born 4 June 1975) is an English comedian, actor, radio host, author, and activist.

In 2004, Brand achieved notoriety as the host of Big Brother’s Big Mouth, a Big Brother spin-off. In 2007, he had his first major film role in St Trinian’s, a film about an anarchic school for uncontrollable girls. In 2008, he had a major role in the romantic comedy-drama Forgetting Sarah Marshall; the film led to him starring in the spin off, the rock comedy Get Him to the Greek in 2010. He also worked as a voice actor in the animated films Despicable Me in 2010, Hop in 2011, and Despicable Me 2 in 2013. He played the title character of the 2011 remake of the romantic comedy Arthur.

Brand has received media coverage for controversies such as his dismissal from MTV, his behaviour as a presenter at various award ceremonies, and his drug use. In 2008, he resigned from the BBC following prank calls he made to actor Andrew Sachs on The Russell Brand Show. He has incorporated his drug use, alcoholism, and promiscuity into his comedic material.

Since guest editing an edition of the New Statesman, a British weekly magazine, Brand has become known as an activist and campaigner.^[9] This includes a much publicised interview with Newsnight host Jeremy Paxman in 2013, in which he encouraged the British electorate not to vote and endorsed a system based on the “massive redistribution of wealth” to replace the status quo.^[10] In 2014, he launched his political-comedy web series, The Trews, released a book, Revolution and began work on a documentary about financial inequality with Michael Winterbottom.