Russell Brand: Taking my mum to the Oscars was payback for all the bad stuff I’ve put her through
'I was a broken person and I had broken my family' ... Russell Brand opens up about his past
DAVE HOGANPUTTING your mother through the agony of seeing you in rehab on Christmas Day can't be easy.
But Russell Brand finally wiped that particularly grimy slate clean with his beloved mum Barbara by taking her to last month's Oscars.
The stand-up comic, 35 whisked her away from Grays, Essex, to escort her on a once-in-a-lifetime walk up the red carpet.
Chat ... Russell Brand with Sun man Gordon Smart
DAVE HOGAN
He said: "One of the main memories I have from when I was on drugs is feeling really low with my mum. There were all those horrible things for her, like getting calls from police stations."I remember when I was in rehab on Christmas Day in 2002, with my mum visiting and sat on my bed - you could see that she was scared and disappointed.
"Jimmy Carr was on TV and I'd been in a show with him not long before at the Hackney Empire's New Act Of The Year.
"I had been in the same heat to get to the final but there he was on TV doing a tribute to Peter Cook - and I'm sat in rehab with my mum.
"I was a broken person and I had broken my family. I felt lonely. So being able to take her to the Oscars - a bit of payback for the stuff she went through when I was a kid - was good."
Despite the glitz and glamour of the Oscars, Russell admitted he had a better time on a rainy day at Timbuk2 adventure park in Upminster, Essex, with pop star wife Katy Perry and some of his pal's kids.
The star told The Sun: "By the time you've been through a night of that glamorous stuff, you realise it's not all that.
"We had a better time at Timbuk2 with my pal Danny's nephews. We went with all the kids, my mum and Katy."
To say things have changed for Russell would be the understatement of the century.
The first time I met him in 2005, we were in a north London club as he prepared to retire for the night with an army of female groupies.
Skinny scrapper ... Russell Brand sparring with boxing legend Evander Holyfield in the re-make of Arthur
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Our latest encounter happened in far more salubrious surroundings - The Marlboro and Eisenhower suites in the plush Dorchester hotel in London, a suite he once visited when climbing the greasy pole of fame as a young star on MTV.
There are no groupies in sight. Just the smell of fresh laundry and posh air fresheners as he emerges from a rare lie-in with his pop star missus, who is on tour dates in the UK.
The life of an A-list star is something he is now well accustomed to thanks to the big-money production of his latest movie, a remake of hit Eighties comedy Arthur, with Russell filling the shoes of the late, great comic Dudley Moore, who died in 2002. The new script was written by Peter Baynham, a British comedian who created classic material for Alan Partridge, Borat and Brass Eye.
Proud ... Russell Brand's beaming mum
Barbara joins him on the red carpet
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Russell leads a great cast including Helen Mirren and Nick Nolte.
He said: "I've got a really good relationship with Helen. In interviews she'll come out with stuff... she's outspoken. When I'm doing Press with her, I'm like, 'Woah! Careful mate, you can't just say that."
There are obvious similarities between Russell and Dudley. Both funnymen hail from the same part of the world and have had their share of trouble with booze and women.
Russell said: "He was from Essex so I'm so proud of it. Also, I feel like the new film is not in any way disrespectful to the original and I feel like I properly loved Dudley Moore. I watched Not Only... But Also, Beyond The Fringe - I'm a student and a fan."
Like the pre-rehab Russ, his character Arthur likes a drink, and the now-teetotal comic enjoyed playing the drunken scenes.
Russ said: "Arthur is a very different drunk than I was. He's like a fun-loving drunk, I was like a miserable, moany smackhead.
"The way we approached it, well if you didn't have to go to work, why not spend the whole day drunk?
"On set I'd carry a bottle of Courvoisier, or tequila, I'd smell different boozes depending on how drunk I wanted to be in the film then remember mad nights slumped outside pubs in north London and waking up on a sofa drenched in wee wee."
Arthur - which opens here on April 22 - is a big role for Russell and a major step from his days of stand-up comedy and MTV to major global stardom.
And he is embracing every minute - especially the mickey-taking his success has attracted from famous pals including Oasis star Noel Gallagher.
He explained: "Noel's in LA at the moment and outside his hotel window he said all he can see is a great big billboard for Arthur.
The highest bidder ... Russell Brand and Helen Mirren in scene from new Arthur film
Warner bros
"He said they showed him the room and the bloke asked, 'Is there anything you'd like to change, sir?' He said, 'Yeah. That f****** poster. I want another room', so they moved him."
There's a line in the original film where Arthur gets a dressing down from his father, who says: "Every time you get an erection Arthur, it seems to make the paper."
It's a line that resonates with Russell. He joked: "Thank God we live in the age of the internet because newspapers couldn't come out regularly enough to keep up with my priapism.
"When I first got famous. I'd been given the keys to the sweet shop with the women, and I went about it like anyone would. Getting married has helped."
And he says married life to US pop starlet Katy is working out beautifully.
Smooching ... Russell Brand and co-star Helen Mirren
Jim Smeal/BEI / Rex Features
He added: "Considering her schedule and the way I'm working as well, it's amazing.
"She does two or three gigs then has four days off. During those days we're meeting. She's been brilliant. We're still excited to see each other."
Russ has also recently got back in touch with his dad Ron, who split with his mum when Russell was just a baby. He has only seen him sporadically since.
Russ said: "I left a message for him the other day. I've not spoken to him for ages but I want to talk to him. I feel a lot better about my dad. I just hope we'll finally be happy together."
Perhaps a bonding trip back to Upton Park, the home of his beloved West Ham United, would be a decent starting point - before the Hammers move to the Olympic Stadium after the games in 2012.
Russell says: "I've got mixed feelings about the ground move. Obviously it'd be economically good for the club.
"But Upton Park is one of the last great grounds where there is an atmosphere where you can feel what football was like at its origin.
"So I'm a little bit sad about that, but I think it's progress.
Russell is also disappointed that the Hammers' ex-owner, Icelandic moneyman Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson, failed to improve his team's fortunes.
"When we got a billionaire the entire Icelandic banking system collapsed," he said. "We don't have much luck with billionaires."