Apr 1, 2026 · 1 hr 7 min · 12 segments
What do you do when you've flamed out as a Hollywood actor, a political commentator and a wellness guru? You make a YouTube channel. **Support us:** Hear bonus episodes on PatreonWatch Aubrey's…
Michael HobbesHost
Aubrey GordonHostAnd so we basically find Russell in 2008.
He has been kind of disgraced and fired from the BBC.
He's sort of on the outs in Britain.
But then he reemerges as a fairly mainstream Hollywood star starting in 2008 with, yes, the film Forgetting Sarah Marshall.
Hmm.
where it appears they essentially wrote the role for him.
So he's the love interest of the main protagonist's kind of ex-wife.
He's trying to get back together with her, but she's shacked up with this sort of woo-woo, over-sexed British guy.
The role was originally written as like a nerdy librarian.
But then when he auditioned, they were like, oh, let's make him this kind of like rock star stoner type of guy.
The only thing that's interesting about this in the book is still he has this weird thing where he's just opposed to authority, regardless of whether it makes any sense.
So at a certain point when he's going through the audition process, they ask him to go to San Diego to do like line readings with Kristen Bell, who's going to be playing his love interest in the movie.
And for no fucking reason, Russell is like, what if I don't want to leave? What if I want to stay in LA? And his agent is like, dude, this is a huge, you're a nobody.
And they're, they're offering you a major role in a major Hollywood movie.
and again he's telling this scene as if it's like kind of cool or he's like in some way sort of this like rakish raconteur type of figure but it's like you're just being a dumbass for no fucking reason you're like making people talk you into doing this thing that is manifestly in your self-interest
This movie comes out in 2008.
The movie is a big hit.
His role especially is like really memorable and it's kind of remarkable.
If you look at his IMDb, he starts showing up in like everything immediately.
Who the fuck does he play in The Tempest? uh trinculo whatever that is
yeah i'm reading his wikipedia entry it's fine i'm just glad they didn't cast him as like prospero or like a you know what i mean like don't don't give him a
And so we basically find Russell in 2008.
He has been kind of disgraced and fired from the BBC.
He's sort of on the outs in Britain.
But then he reemerges as a fairly mainstream Hollywood star starting in 2008 with, yes, the film Forgetting Sarah Marshall.
Hmm.
where it appears they essentially wrote the role for him.
So he's the love interest of the main protagonist's kind of ex-wife.
He's trying to get back together with her, but she's shacked up with this sort of woo-woo, over-sexed British guy.
The role was originally written as like a nerdy librarian.
But then when he auditioned, they were like, oh, let's make him this kind of like rock star stoner type of guy.
The only thing that's interesting about this in the book is still he has this weird thing where he's just opposed to authority, regardless of whether it makes any sense.
So at a certain point when he's going through the audition process, they ask him to go to San Diego to do like line readings with Kristen Bell, who's going to be playing his love interest in the movie.
And for no fucking reason, Russell is like, what if I don't want to leave? What if I want to stay in LA? And his agent is like, dude, this is a huge, you're a nobody.
And they're, they're offering you a major role in a major Hollywood movie.
and again he's telling this scene as if it's like kind of cool or he's like in some way sort of this like rakish raconteur type of figure but it's like you're just being a dumbass for no fucking reason you're like making people talk you into doing this thing that is manifestly in your self-interest
This movie comes out in 2008.
The movie is a big hit.
His role especially is like really memorable and it's kind of remarkable.
If you look at his IMDb, he starts showing up in like everything immediately.
Who the fuck does he play in The Tempest? uh trinculo whatever that is
yeah i'm reading his wikipedia entry it's fine i'm just glad they didn't cast him as like prospero or like a you know what i mean like don't don't give him a
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