Russell Brand is a person.
Russell Edward Brand ( born 4 June 1975 ) is an English comedian , actor , radio host , author , and activist . Beginning his career as a stand-up comedian and later becoming an MTV presenter , Brand first achieved notoriety in 2004 as the host of Big Brother 's Big Mouth , a Big Brother spin-off . He also worked as a voice actor in the animated films Despicable Me in 2010 , Hop in 2011 , and Despicable Me 2 in 2013 , and played the title character of the 2011 remake of the romantic comedy Arthur . This includes a much publicised interview with Newsnight host Jeremy Paxman in 2013 , in which he disparaged the British political system as ineffectual , encouraged the British electorate not to vote , and endorsed an egalitarian socialist revolution to replace the status quo . In 2014 , Brand launched his political-comedy web series The Trews , released a book entitled Revolution , and began work on a documentary about financial inequality with Michael Winterbottom .