At 15 Brand performed in a school production of Bugsy Malone and loved it. 'It was amazing. A blissful epiphany.' in 1991, Brand was accepted into the Italia Conti Academy and had his first year of tuition funded by Essex County Council. After his first year at the academy, Brand was expelled for illegal drug use and poor attendance, and "for smashing things up, crying and cutting myself, breaking down in tears all the time"