British funnyman Russell Brand is returning to his comedy roots after his movie career left him "unfulfilled".
The comic first found fameas a TV presenter and stand-up, before landing roles in Forgetting Sarah Marshall, its spin-off Get Him to the Greek and a remake of Dudley Moore's Arthur.
Russell Brand shared the screen with Tom Cruise in Rock of Ages
But Brand, who recently shared the screen with Tom Cruise in movie musical Rock Of Ages, is now planning to scale back on Hollywood films.
He tells The Sunday Times Culture magazine, "I started to feel a little bit unfulfilled. I missed being around an audience, I missed being really honest and truthful...
Russell Brand has had a frenetic couple of years, including his divorce from singer Katy Perry
"People went, 'Do you want to star in movies?' I went, 'All right, I'll try all of that.' But now I know what 'that' is, I think I'll just get cast in things once in a while.
Having investigated it, I now think, 'No, stay true to what it is you actually do and what you're supposed to do.' And that is comedy, about things that are challenging and unsettling but ultimately very warm and loving."
The Brit is currently working on his satirical talk show BrandX, which he shoots in Los Angeles.
He adds, "I'm going to continue to make films because I think they're prestigious and they can be really enjoyable. But I suppose as an artist you want to be engaged creatively by what you do in a real way, so yeah, certainly I feel more directly engaged by this show...
"I just want to do something that's really, really authentic, that hasn't got any nonsense to it. I'm saying what I believe in - and then we can work it out and cut out the things that are too mental and unbroadcastable."
The life and times of Russell Brand, in pictures...
