Russell Brand is a “walking contradiction”, according to his documentary director Ondi Timoner.
'Brand: A Second Coming' took six years to make and follows the comedian's rise to fame, deals with his marriage and split from Katy Perry and focuses on his disenchantment with the celebrity lifestyle and the start of his social activism.
Although Russell was involved with the project every step of the way he has now distanced himself from the film, describing it as “oddly intrusive and melancholy”, and Ondi - who previously directed Dandy Warhols documentary 'Dig!' - thinks he could be upset because it shows a side to his character he'd rather keep hidden from the public.
Speaking to NME magazine, the Canadian filmmaker said: “He talks about us all being one, but he really does hold himself as 'the royal Russell' in so many ways. I think in a lot of ways he is a walking contradiction. He's still self-destructive. He's invested six years in this film but he's still trying to undercut it every step of the way.”
Ondi - who was reportedly the sixth director to work on the project - has also claimed Russell insisted he would stop the documentary from being released unless he edited certain aspects of it.
Ondi stated: “He threatened me by saying that if I didn't change certain things, the film would never see the light of day. He wanted to control his image instead of allowing an authentic portrait to come out.”
Offering some words of praise for Russell, she added: “He really challenged me and taught me a lot about how to work with words, rhythm and humour. I have the utmost respect for him, I'm cheering him on.”
The documentary also features interviews with Russell's parents Barbara and Ron and several of his friends such as Noel Gallagher, Jonathan Ross and Matt Morgan.
Former Oasis rocker Noel insists he won't be going to see his close pal's film because it's a “s**t story”.
Speaking to BANG Showbiz, Noel said: “I did an interview for it. I'm sure it's got cut though because I was slagging him right off in it! I've heard that's he not very happy with it, I read that he's kind of washed his hands of it. Like I said to him at the time, 'It is a s**t story, who the f***ing hell is going to want to go and see that?!' It's about a comedian that used to be funny. I'm assuming mine was the best part of it which was why it was cut out, I won't be going to see it no.
“I read that the woman who made it called him a narcissist and a control freak and I was thinking, 'Yeah, that's right.' “
'Brand: A Second Coming' is out on 23 October in the UK.
Bang Showbiz