LOS ANGELES — America, meet Russell Brand.

In his native England, he’s a comedy giant — instantly identifiable by his Einstein-like tousle of black hair and formfitting, chest-baring, glam-rock clothes — a television host and stand-up comic with his own radio show and weekly column in The Guardian. In the U.S., he’s that British guy who was in the movie “Forgetting Sarah Marshall.”

But that all could change Sunday, when Brand hosts the MTV Video Music Awards — the TV institution that lured millions of viewers with Britney Spears’ fumbled comeback last year and her fabled kiss with Madonna before that. Brand said he has no intentions to hijack the awards for his own promotional purposes, but he knows the show will serve as his introduction to a broad American audience.

“It’s amazing, because obviously I’m not known in this country, so it’s a really unusual situation to be in,” said the 33-year-old, noting that past hosts have been “really, really famous.” “I think I’d be insane if I wasn’t anxious, although I’ve clinically been declared insane on several occasions. Perhaps my slight apprehension is a mark of my return to sanity.”

Brand might not be exaggerating about his diagnosis. At home he’s known for his hedonistic tendencies and drug-addled past, and he sought treatment for drug addiction and sex addiction. He detailed his storied history in “My Booky Wook,” a memoir that was a best-seller in Britain and is due to be published in the U.S. in February.

A movie version of his story has already been greenlit, but the film has been put on hold while Brand juggles other projects, including shaping his American image.

It’s Brand’s undeniable charm and knack for spontaneous comedy that inspired MTV to tap the relative unknown as host of its banner awards show, said MTV Networks Music Group President Van Toffler.

“He is both cerebral and straight-ahead lowbrow in the same sense, and he’s really got a great take on American culture,” Toffler said. “For us it’s similar to the first year we had Chris Rock and Arsenio Hall. They were kind of about to bust wide open. (They) weren’t huge household names, but they definitely brought the edge and the unpredictability.”