Russell Brand has battled drug addiction, waged war against groupthink and pushed the envelope as a free thinker – but he didn't do it alone.
He recently sat down with Fox News' Tucker Carlson on Fox Nation's "Tucker Carlson Today" to recount how he became the man he is today, emphasizing that faith is one thing that kept him afloat.
"Like many desperate people, I need spirituality," he continued. "I need God, or I cannot cope in this world. I need to believe in the best in people."
"I need to believe that there are new alliances possible, new ways of us communicating, because I see atrophying and corrupt systems delivering yet more misery to people, and I think it's increasingly necessary that we find new ways of framing the conversation and looking into our hearts when we're speaking."
In the two-part series available for streaming on Fox Nation, Brand discussed the need for change, for people to self-assess their intentions as they interact with others and to overcome the issues creating problems in order to facilitate the necessary change.
"Are we being kind? Are we being loving? Are we being the best that we can be? On whose behalf are we speaking? And what is my intention, moment to moment? Am I doing this for self-glorification? Am I doing this because I have obligations to rumble the platform I'm on? Or am I doing this because I genuinely believe that a better world is possible and that world is born individually within each of us, moment to moment? And it's possible to change. I genuinely believe in change," he said.
COMEDIAN RUSSELL BRAND: ‘FASCIST,’ ‘NAZI’ JUST CONVENIENT TERMS FOR ‘PEOPLE YOU DON’T AGREE WITH'
The 47-year-old actor, comedian and free-thinker told Carlson he keeps the company of others who are recovering for the sake of his own "wellness," "spiritual well-being" and growth from his time as a drug addict to now, focusing on a philosophy of self-improvement, kindness and acceptance of others and their opinions.
"In a way, I've simply remained connected to the conditions I'm from. I'm a recovering alcoholic and drug addict… and so that means that, wherever I go, I have to spend time among other people in recovery for my own wellness, for my own spiritual well-being," he said.
"As much as I might enjoy the feeling of privilege and luxury… I remember what reality is. I remember that my wellness is contingent upon spiritual connection, upon certain values and principles, and they involve sacrifice and self-scrutiny about my own conduct and behavior, which often falls short, and I'm working on improving myself," he added.
Delving into politics, Brand joined Carlson in criticizing the pharmaceutical industry and modern science for contributing to drug dependency and offering allegedly harmful medicines for profit, tying in the allusion that corporations boast more authority than government itself and that both used the COVID-19 pandemic to "opportunistically" enhance regulation and control over others.
"I think COVID provided a lens through which we could scrutinize the machinery of power and how the intentions and the agenda of power are able to play out, coalesce and conspire when a crisis occurs," he said.
Brand also talked at length about his transformation as a free-thinker, and the outrage that ensued following a decade-old interview with English journalist Jeremy Paxman in which he claimed the "liberal establishment" slammed him with attacks.
Still, Brand insisted on standing firm.
"I feel pretty committed to what I'm doing now. I never felt like I'm in alignment with my beliefs and principles in the way that I do right now… I believe in truth and freedom and the ability to express yourself," he said.
To watch both parts of Tucker Carlson's interview with Russell Brand, subscribe to Fox Nation and stream the latest episodes of "Tucker Carlson Today."
