Why Russell Brand can't watch his 'uncomfortable' documentary

Russell Brand can't watch his own documentary, A Second Coming.

Russell Brand found making a documentary about his life "painful and sad".

The Forgetting Sarah Marshall star pulled out of attending the world premiere of Brand: A Second Coming - which reportedly features details about his relationships with women including his ex-wife Katy Perry - at the SXSW Festival in Austin, Texas after admitting he found watching it "uncomfortable".

He said in a statement: "I let go of my mad ambition to direct and star in what had become a shambles and handed the reigns over to [director] Ondi [Timoner], who wanted creative control and to make a documentary about me and my transition from a relatively conventional celebrity to whatever the hell it is I am now.

"Ondi is a very beautiful person and a director of peerless integrity, I suppose what I didn't consider was that in letting go of the film, I was agreeing to be the subject of a biography.

"Posthumously this is a great honour but while you're alive, oddly intrusive and melancholy.

"You'd think a narcissist would like nothing more than talking about themselves and their 'rags to riches', 'hard luck' story but actually, it felt like, to me, my life was hard enough the first time round and going through it again was painful and sad.

"I know Ondi is an artist and I'm told the film is good but for met watching it was very uncomfortable."

Admitting Brand was unhappy with how "raw" the final version of the documentary is, Ondi confessed she was shocked by his reaction to the film.

According to The Sun newspaper, she said: "I really wanted him to be at peace with this film, but I don't know if he'll ever really be at peace with it. It's so raw and so personal and he's never let anything like this out before.

"I mean this is a guy who has written 'Booky Wook' and makes a lot of his stand up about his personal life and his foibles and his history, but somehow, on film, it's a different story for him.

"He said to me a couple of times during filming, 'I went through it already. It was hard enough to live the first time."

Brand - who is sober after struggling with drug and alcohol addiction in the past - married Dark Horse hitmaker Katy in 2010 but they got divorced two years later.

- Bang! Showbiz