Russell Brand Kept On 'Short Leash'

James Marsden has joked that Russell Brand was kept on a 'short leash' whilst filming new movie Hop.

Hop blends live action with animation and while Marsden stars in the movie Brand lends his voice to the character of the Easter Bunny.

And while Brand may not have been able to be as flamboyant as usual Marsden admits that working with  the funnyman was one of the reasons he wanted to do the movie.

Speaking to The Press Association the actor said: "We had to keep him on a short leash for this movie!"

"He still gets to be Russell but he has to do it within the confines of [playing] the Easter Bunny."

"[We] got to hang out a bit before I was shooting, obviously because he's a voice and I was a live action character, but I thought it was important to figure out what Russell was going to do with the his character."

"[Russell is] a brilliant comedian and one of the big reasons I wanted to do this movie."

Hop is out now.