# Russell Brand's Ethnicity **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** actor-characters\ **Created:** [December 5, 2010, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brands-ethnicity/562978 "2010-12-05T00:02:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2013, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brands-ethnicity/562978/41 "2013-04-26T02:51:42Z")
For most Americans of a certain age, [this is a typical Englishman](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Arthur_Treacher_Merv_Griffin_Merv_Griffin_late_night_show_1969.JPG) (the chap on the left). ---
**Author:** ![April\_R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@April\_R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/April_R)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2013, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brands-ethnicity/562978/42 "2013-04-26T03:00:26Z")
> [@Candyman74](#): > > I’m having trouble identifying what a “typical white British person” look like? Does Hugh Grant look like Stephen Fry looks like Jason Statham, looks like Prince Charles, looks like Gordon Brown, looks like Winston Churchill, looks like Brian Blessed? Other than the fact that they’re caucasian? > . No body looks like Jason Statham, hubba hubba 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2013, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brands-ethnicity/562978/43 "2013-04-26T04:09:39Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > In that picture he looks exactly like every single British rock star circa 1970. The rest of the posters on this page must be extremely young. > > For the haters out there, I can tell you that My Booky Wook and My Booky Wook II are very good. > > And bob1212, you don’t have any idea what political correctness is supposed to mean, do you? Really, it seems as though some of these whippersnappers never saw a hippie before–especially of the decadent dandy type. The peoples of the British Isles have always included some with dark hair & dark eyes; blame most of the blondes & redheads on the Anglo, Saxon & Danish riff-raff… Thanks to **bob1212** (are you somebody’s uncle?) for reviving this zombie & giving me the opportunity to link [Brand’s rather surprising piece](http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2013/apr/09/russell-brand-margaret-thatcher) in _The Guardian_, iinspired by Dame Thatcher’s recent demise. > [@](#): > > All of us that grew up under Thatcher were taught that it is good to be selfish, that other people’s pain is not your problem, that pain is in fact a weakness and suffering is deserved and shameful. Perhaps there is resentment because the clemency and respect that are being mawkishly displayed now by some and haughtily demanded of the rest of us at the impending, solemn ceremonial funeral, are values that her government and policies sought to annihilate. > > I can’t articulate with the skill of either of “the Marks” – Steel or Thomas – why Thatcher and Thatcherism were so bad for Britain but I do recall that even to a child her demeanour and every discernible action seemed to be to the detriment of our national spirit and identity. Her refusal to stand against apartheid, her civil war against the unions, her aggression towards our neighbours in Ireland and a taxation system that was devised in the dark ages, the bombing of a retreating ship – it’s just not British. Damn, the guy can actually write… ---
**Author:** ![si\_blakely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@si\_blakely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/si_blakely)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2013, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brands-ethnicity/562978/44 "2013-04-26T12:39:26Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > Wonder if Katy Perry smells too? Mmm. Not sure about her smell, but I do have to question her taste :smack: just as valid now in 2013 as in 2010 ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2013, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brands-ethnicity/562978/45 "2013-04-26T12:53:13Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > For most Americans of a certain age, [this is a typical Englishman](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Arthur_Treacher_Merv_Griffin_Merv_Griffin_late_night_show_1969.JPG) (the chap on the left). I would use a picture of any Doctor from Doctor Who…except maybe Christopher Eccletson, who was a very different looking Doctor. ---
**Author:** ![aa2zz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/54ee81/32.png) [@aa2zz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aa2zz)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2014, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brands-ethnicity/562978/46 "2014-10-12T19:51:37Z")
As we all know, England has received many immigrants/ invaders since the first human habitation of the island. For most of history, England had been inhabited by a relatively continuous homogenaity of the original stone age settlers. Modern history has changed that, not only in the form of immigrants from all corners of the globe, but also from invaders including the Roman empire, the Celts, the Normans, Scandinavian peoples, etc. On the subject of Mr. Brand’s looks, it is not only his coloring but also the setting of his features, the angles and proportions, etc. that look perhaps Mediterranean or Eastern. Please understand that the issue of ethnicity is not a simple one: it regards self-identity, a people’s disposession of their powers and culture by an outside group, and most mysteriously to the majority of humanity: a person’s or group’s unique conceptual organization of reality, which is the true hidden language that divides us. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2014, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brands-ethnicity/562978/47 "2014-10-12T20:27:40Z")
Wow. Zombied twice. My two cents: Brand’s hair and beard are curlier than your stereotypical Brit, which makes people think he looks like a stereotypical Mediterranean. Also, he often combines the shaggy-hair-and-beard with a fairly conservative-looking suit and tie. This makes him look like a model in an Italian fashion designer’s ad campaign. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2014, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brands-ethnicity/562978/48 "2014-10-12T20:40:42Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > Also, he often combines the shaggy-hair-and-beard with a fairly conservative-looking suit and tie. [Not all that often.](https://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1857&bih=972&q=russell+brand&oq=Russel&gs_l=img.1.1.0l10.2396.5213.0.8892.6.5.0.1.1.0.75.338.5.5.0....0...1ac.1.55.img..0.6.340.75URGqhqzno) ---
**Author:** ![LC\_Strawhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e19adc/32.png) [@LC\_Strawhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LC_Strawhouse)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2014, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brands-ethnicity/562978/49 "2014-10-12T20:46:16Z")
Hey, anyone know the ethnicity of the [Crown Princess of Sweden](http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Victoria,_Crown_Princess_of_Sweden.jpg)? 🙂 Seriously, I think people would find that the stereotypical “look” of many countries are actually a distinct minority in those places. Most Scots and Irish don’t have red hair either. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2014, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brands-ethnicity/562978/50 "2014-10-12T20:48:09Z")
> [@aa2zz](#): > > For most of history, England had been inhabited by a relatively continuous homogenaity of the original stone age settlers. :dubious: Before the bronze age, maybe. Though, mind you, before the bronze age, and even well into it, history hadn’t even started yet. Calling the age of the Romans, and even the Celts (who came to Britain well _before_ the Romans, and were far from being the first wave of invaders), “modern history” is pretty weird. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2014, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brands-ethnicity/562978/51 "2014-10-12T21:04:53Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > [Not all that often.](https://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1857&bih=972&q=russell+brand&oq=Russel&gs_l=img.1.1.0l10.2396.5213.0.8892.6.5.0.1.1.0.75.338.5.5.0....0...1ac.1.55.img..0.6.340.75URGqhqzno) OK, make that “sometimes”. One thing I noticed in your set of pictures: He often combines long, shaggy hair with a close-cropped beard. This can make him look like a stereotypical “blue-cheeked” Sicilian. ---
**Author:** ![Belowjob2.0](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Belowjob2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Belowjob2.0)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2014, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brands-ethnicity/562978/52 "2014-10-13T00:25:36Z")
I have no information as to whether Brand has Welsh ancestry, but if he does, his appearance would be fairly typical of many Welsh. [Catherine Zeta Jones, Welsh actress.](https://www.google.com/search?q=catherine+zeta+jones&espv=2&biw=2133&bih=1072&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=TRs7VNmrJIfioATehICACw&sqi=2&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ&dpr=0.9) > **[Welsh people could be most ancient in UK, DNA suggests](https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-18489735)** > > Welsh people could lay claim to be the most ancient Britons, according to scientists who have drawn up a genetic map of the British Isles. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2014, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brands-ethnicity/562978/53 "2014-10-13T03:49:44Z")
Going back to the OP, I have to say that (a) he sure looks like a white guy to me and has never looked like anything else and (b) how far back does your parentage in Old Blighty have to go to be considered “100% English”? All 8 Great-grandparents? All 16 great-great grandparents? Back to before the Act of Union? I look at Russel Brand, I see a European so-called Caucasian, a.k.a. “white guy”, who grooms himself updated Hairy Hippie style. I listen to Russell Brand, and his manner of speech and the vocabulary he uses makes me hear an Englishman. If _Russell Brand_ feels Russell Brand is an Englishman and has lived as an Englishman his whole life, what else is there? “Englishman” is a cultural-national identity, not a genetic marker. And if the mixing spans the Romans, various flavours of Celts, the Normans, Scandinavian peoples, etc., that’s quite a bit of influences. Took them a while until someone finally figured that if you prevent the invading force from even\* landing to begin with \*it becomes much more defensible. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2014, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brands-ethnicity/562978/54 "2014-10-13T04:03:25Z")
He’s clearly from a small planet somewhere in the vicinity of Betelgeuse. 😃 Really, if you could reach into my brain and pluck out the image of Zaphod Beeblebrox as I was reading those books, you’d have Russell Brand. I’m still gobsmacked he didn’t audition/wasn’t cast in the movie. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2014, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brands-ethnicity/562978/55 "2014-10-13T04:37:37Z")
> [@Pierrot\_Le\_Fou](#): > > Obviously it is a slippery issue. Brand just looks more Spanish or Italian than British. Wow, I really don’t think so. ---
**Author:** ![Namkcalb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Namkcalb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Namkcalb)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2014, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brands-ethnicity/562978/56 "2014-10-13T05:06:04Z")
> [@Belowjob2.0](#): > > I have no information as to whether Brand has Welsh ancestry, but if he does, his appearance would be fairly typical of many Welsh. > [Catherine Zeta Jones, Welsh actress.](https://www.google.com/search?q=catherine+zeta+jones&espv=2&biw=2133&bih=1072&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=TRs7VNmrJIfioATehICACw&sqi=2&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ&dpr=0.9) Half-Spanish actress ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2014, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brands-ethnicity/562978/57 "2014-10-13T13:53:55Z")
> [@Namkcalb](#): > > Half-Spanish actress If you can verify that, you should go edit her wikipedia entry. > [@](#): > > Her father is of Welsh descent, while her mother is of Welsh and Irish descent.[5] [Catherine Zeta-Jones - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_Zeta-Jones) ---
**Author:** ![Belowjob2.0](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Belowjob2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Belowjob2.0)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2014, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brands-ethnicity/562978/58 "2014-10-13T14:29:46Z")
> [@Namkcalb](#): > > Half-Spanish actress [http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/c/catherinez409657.html](http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/c/catherinez409657.html) > [@](#): > > After Zorro, people spoke Spanish to me for ages. I’m Welsh but that movie instantly gave me a new ethnicity. > > Catherine Zeta-Jones Along with **Why Not** , I don’t find any evidence of anything other than Welsh and Irish ancestry. More than a few Welsh have a Mediterranean look. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2014, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brands-ethnicity/562978/59 "2014-10-13T15:33:37Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > He’s clearly from a small planet somewhere in the vicinity of Betelgeuse. 😃 > > Really, if you could reach into my brain and pluck out the image of Zaphod Beeblebrox as I was reading those books, you’d have Russell Brand. I’m still gobsmacked he didn’t audition/wasn’t cast in the movie. [There is another…](http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2009/10/6/1254848541009/Zaphod-Beeblebrox-001.jpg) [Mark Wing-Davey](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0934983/?ref_=tt_cl_t5) ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2014, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brands-ethnicity/562978/60 "2014-10-13T15:40:12Z")
> [@AncientHumanoid](#): > > [There is another…](http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2009/10/6/1254848541009/Zaphod-Beeblebrox-001.jpg) > > [Mark Wing-Davey](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0934983/?ref_=tt_cl_t5) Even accounting for the lousy prosthetic, Wing-Davey didn’t do it for me. Close, but not quite…big…enough. Zaphod has to fill a room with personality and stature. The kind of guy that leaves you just sort of pinned in your chair for a minute after he leaves, feeling a dazed, “whut?” feeling. Brand nails it, just by being himself (or the “himself” that is his public persona.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brands-ethnicity/562978.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brands-ethnicity/562978.md?page=4)