“Grey Gardens” director Albert Maysles has evidently been in production of an Oliver Stone-produced documentary on British comedian and actor Russell Brand.
While the production seems to have flown under our radar, a new profile on the rise of Brand clued us in with the actor having previously discussed the project in spades.
“I’m making a documentary with Oliver Stone about enlightenment and happiness,” Brand revealed to Salon. “We’re going off to India, meeting all sorts of people, talking to people about happiness and enlightenment. What is the void we’re trying to fulfill? Some swami said to me that all forms of desire are the inappropriate substitutes for the desire we feel to be at one with God, or truth, or whatever it is. And I think that’s true.”
“Albert Maysles is filming it, the man who made “Gimme Shelter,” “Grey Gardens” and all that. He’s a really clever man. It’s him that told me that thing that I just said, that the removal of nuance is a form of tyranny. I didn’t credit him for it. Sometimes I don’t. Sometimes I just say stuff. And then people will question me on it and I’ll go, “Oh no! I have no more information on that subject!”
Despite his happy-go-lucky playboy image, Brand is actually a recovering alcohol and drug addict, a vegetarian and believer in many things Buddhist and Hari Krishna, both belief systems originating in India. Subsequently, this spiritual-themed documentary sounds very personal and will likely show a very different side of the actor to what audiences are used to. One aspect that may also play into the doc is Brand’s recent engagement to pop singer Katy Perry which took place in India as well.
The collaboration between Brand, Stone and Maysles is definitely an odd combination with the genesis of the project seemingly stemming from Stone’s own fascination with Brand — he previously compared the controversial actor-comedian to the late Doors lead singer, Jim Morrison.
No word as of yet on when the documentary could see the light of the day but it does sound like lensing on it has completed.