Rustyboots

Cross-posted from russellbrand.tv.  Nice little interview.

Russell filming with Greta Gerwig and director Jason Winer on location at Grand Central Station in New York City.

(Click for Photos)

Here’s a Get Him to the Greek review that I missed when originally published — by Lindy West from The Stranger. I love this reviewer.

Don’t Knock Russell Brand. He’s the Most Beautiful Woman on Earth.

Hello. I know that in your small and extremely quaint island nation, Russell Brand is some sort of fancypants celebrity court jester to the stars, and you’re probably completely sick of him, or maybe you’re not, or whatever. I don’t care. Among my people (creepy Anglophiles aside), we hadn’t much heard of Brand until his smallish supporting role in 2008’s shockingly competent Forgetting Sarah Marshall. But with last week’s opening of Get Him to the Greek – a film that’s like a great big Brand-flavored adrenaline needle straight to the heart – America is getting acquainted with the man fast. And deep. And it’s giving me some feelings.

Apologies to that one Indian lady, but it must be said: Russell Brand is the most beautiful woman on earth. Slender as a willow wand, tall as a fairly tall human man, hair like corn silk if the corn had some sort of agricultural blight that turned its corn hairs black and curly, like a bearded Audrey Hepburn with a dirty mouth and an only slightly more serious sex addiction. Confidential to any eccentric fafillionaires reading this: I would like to touch Russell Brand on the mouth with my mouth. I promise not to suck out his soul like a witch, if that helps with the paperwork.

But beyond all that hey-let-me-rub-you-creepily-on-your-boday business (SERIOUSLY, THOUGH), Brand is an exquisitely bizarre and oddly affecting comedic actor.

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The New York Times has done a thoughtful, interesting feature on the filming of Arthur, which you can read here.

An excerpt:

On this day the cast and crew had assembled to shoot Arthur’s first encounter with his dream woman (Ms. Gerwig). In 1981 the character was a brassy shoplifter; today, she scams out-of-towners by conducting nonsense-filled walking tours. Better-known actresses tested with Mr. Brand, but according to one of the producers, Kevin McCormick, Ms. Gerwig “was the one who brought out a sweetness in him and also the one who could keep up with him.”

As Mr. Brand, bedecked in a Lincoln stovepipe hat, staggers up to her, kicking off each take with a different opening line, she quickly decides he’s a street crazy and incorporates him into her patter, comparing him in successive takes to Dylan Thomas, Willy Wonka and a cast member of the musical “Grand Hotel.”

Mr. Baynham, listening for what works and what doesn’t, took notes, refining their riffs into new jokes for later takes, and Mr. Winer frequently sprung from his chair to talk to the actors, then returned to study the monitors. After several takes, he realized what wasn’t working: There was no moment when Ms. Gerwig’s character stopped to take Arthur in with a look. After some discussion about whether a line was required, Mr. Winer decided to address it with a change in Ms. Gerwig’s blocking and body language.

All of this is more controlled than it sounds. “It’s unlike most other film experiences, where you don’t change lines that much,” Ms. Mirren said. “But Russell isn’t a wild cannon. He’s actually very careful about all the technical requirements, continuity and marks and all that stuff. He has an incredible comedian’s brain, but he pays attention to detail.”