Russell Brand brings a British twist to this year's MTV awards

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By Sandy Cohen
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

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LOS ANGELES - America is about to meet Russell Brand.

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THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Host of the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards, actor Russell Brand, poses for a portrait in Los Angeles.

In his native England, he is a comedy giant -- instantly identifiable by his Einstein-like tousle of black hair and formfitting, chest-baring, glam-rock clothes -- a television host and standup comic with his own radio show and weekly column in The Guardian. In the United States, he's that British guy who was in the movie "Forgetting Sarah Marshall."

But that all could change Sunday, when Brand hosts the MTV Video Music Awards -- the TV institution that lured millions of viewers with Britney Spears' fumbled comeback last year and her fabled kiss with Madonna before that.

Brand said he has no intentions to hijack the awards for his own promotional purposes but he knows the show will serve as his introduction to a broad American audience.

"It's amazing because, obviously, I'm not known in this country, so it's a really unusual situation to be in," said the 33-year-old, noting that past hosts have been "really, really famous."

"I think I'd be insane if I wasn't anxious, although I've clinically been declared insane on several occasions. Perhaps my slight apprehension is a mark of my return to sanity."

Brand might not be exaggerating about his diagnosis. At home he's known for his hedonistic tendencies and drug-addled past and he sought treatment for drug addiction and sex addiction. He detailed his storied history in "My Booky Wook," a memoir that was a best-seller in Britain and is due to be published in the U.S. in February.

A movie-version of his story has already been greenlit but the film has been put on hold while Brand juggles other projects, including shaping his American image.

"I was just advised that this is not the right time to do that due to the content," he said. "Also because, really, I'm getting a lot of offers to play a lot of other people and I play myself," in the movie. "Maybe that isn't the best way for the people in America to get to know me because that book is kind of candid in some places."

Besides, Brand's schedule is packed. He'll appear with Adam Sandler and Keri Russell in the Christmas family film "Bedtime Stories." He's also co-writing and starring in a film Sandler will produce next year, Brand said.