Kenneth Branagh
Born: 1960-12-10 in Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK
Known For: Acting
Biography
Sir Kenneth Charles Branagh (born 10 December 1960) is a British actor and filmmaker. Born in Belfast and raised primarily in Reading, Berkshire, Branagh trained at RADA in London and served as its president from 2015 to 2024. His accolades include an Academy Award, four BAFTAs, two Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and an Olivier Award. He was appointed a Knight Bachelor in 2012 and was given Freedom of the City in his native Belfast in 2018. In 2020, he was ranked in 20th place on The Irish Times's list of Ireland's greatest film actors. Branagh has directed and starred in several film adaptations of William Shakespeare's plays, including Henry V (1989), Much Ado About Nothing (1993), Othello (1995), Hamlet (1996), and As You Like It (2006). He was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actor and Best Director for Henry V and Best Adapted Screenplay for Hamlet. He directed Swan Song (1992), which earned a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film. He also directed Peter's Friends (1992), Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994), Thor (2011), and Cinderella (2015). For his semi-autobiographical film Belfast (2021), he was nominated for the Academy Awards for Best Picture and Director and won Best Original Screenplay. Branagh directed and starred as Hercule Poirot in the Hercule Poirot film series (2017–present). He has also acted in Celebrity (1998), Wild Wild West (1999), The Road to El Dorado (2000), Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002), and Valkyrie (2008). His portrayal of Laurence Olivier in My Week with Marilyn (2011) earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. He played supporting roles in Christopher Nolan's films Dunkirk (2017), Tenet (2020), and Oppenheimer (2023). Branagh has starred in the BBC1 series Fortunes of War (1987), the Channel 4 series Shackleton (2002), the television film Warm Springs (2005), and the BBC One series Wallander (2008–2016). He received a Primetime Emmy Award and an International Emmy Award for Best Actor for portraying SS leader Reinhard Heydrich in the HBO film Conspiracy (2001).
Filmography
2026
- The Devil Wears Prada 2 as Stuart
- Mayday as Nikolai Ustinov
- Atonement as Michael Reid
2025
- The King of Kings as Charles Dickens (voice)
- The American Revolution as (voice)
- Tea with Judi Dench as Self
2023
- Oppenheimer as Niels Bohr
- BLUE EYE SAMURAI as Abijah Fowler (voice)
- A Haunting in Venice as Hercule Poirot
2022
- Remembers… as Self
- Death on the Nile as Hercule Poirot
- Fireheart as Shawn Nolan (voice)
- This England as Boris Johnson
- Denzel Washington: A Model American as Self
- Peter O'Toole: Along the Sky Road to Aqaba as Self
2021
- Belfast ... (Producer)
2020
- Tenet as Sator
- Artemis Fowl ... (Director)
- Looking at the World in a New Way: The Making of ‘Tenet’ as Self
2019
- The Kelly Clarkson Show as Self
- Lost Lives as Narrator
2018
- Avengers: Infinity War as Asgardian Distress Call (voice) (uncredited)
- All Is True as William Shakespeare
2017
- Dunkirk as Commander Bolton
- Murder on the Orient Express as Hercule Poirot
2016
- Mindhorn as Himself
- Branagh Theatre Live: Romeo and Juliet ... (Director)
- Branagh Theatre Live: The Entertainer as Archie Rice
2015
- The Late Show with Stephen Colbert as Self
- Cinderella ... (Director)
- Branagh Theatre Live: The Winter's Tale as Leontes
2014
- Late Night with Seth Meyers as Self
- Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit as Viktor Cherevin
- Marvel Studios: Assembling a Universe as Self
2013
- Thor: The Dark World ... (Producer)
- National Theatre Live: Macbeth as Macbeth
2012
- Marvel Studios: Building a Cinematic Universe as Self
- Stars in Shorts as Mark Snow
- London 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony: Isles of Wonder as Isambard Kingdom Brunel
2011
- Thor ... (Director)
- My Week with Marilyn as Sir Laurence Olivier
- Discovering Hamlet as Hamlet (archive footage)
- Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope as Self
- Thor: From Asgard to Earth as Self
- Prodigal as Mark Snow
2010
2009
- The Boat That Rocked as Dormandy
- 1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year as Narrator (voice)
- A Night at the Movies: The Suspenseful World of Thrillers as Self
- A Night at the Movies: The Gigantic World of Epics as Self
2008
- Wallander as Kurt Wallander
- Valkyrie as Henning von Tresckow
- 10 Days to War as Colonel Tim Collins
- Alien Love Triangle as Steven Chesterman
2007
- The Graham Norton Show as Self
- Sleuth as Other Man on T.V.
- Stephen Fry: 50 Not Out as Self
- James Ellis: An Actor's Life as Himself
2006
- El hormiguero as Self
- As You Like It as Self (voice)
- The Magic Flute ... (Director)
2005
- The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson as Self
- Walking with Monsters as Narrator (voice)
- Warm Springs as Franklin Delano Roosevelt
- Walking with Monsters as Narrator (voice)
- The Goebbels Experiment as Narrator (voice)
2004
- Five Children and It as Uncle Albert
- The Magic Touch of Harry Potter as Self
- Cecil B. DeMille: American Epic as Narrator (voice)
2003
- Real Time with Bill Maher as Self
- The Ellen DeGeneres Show as Self
- World War I in Colour as Narrator
- Listening ... (Director)
- Following the Rabbit-Proof Fence as Himself / Narrator
2002
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets as Gilderoy Lockhart
- Shackleton as Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton
- Rabbit-Proof Fence as A. O. Neville
- How to Kill Your Neighbor's Dog as Peter McGowan
- The Tramp and the Dictator as Narrator (voice)
2001
- Walking with Beasts as Narrator
- Conspiracy as Reinhard Heydrich
- Schneider's 2nd Stage as Joseph Barnett
- The Beasts Within as Narrator (voice)
- Triumph of the Beasts as Narrator (voice)
2000
- The Road to El Dorado as Miguel (voice)
- Big Al as Narrator
- Love's Labour's Lost as Berowne
- Altman on His Own Terms as Self
- The Book That Wrote Itself as Kenneth Branagh
- Lon Chaney: A thousand faces as Self / Narrator
- The Making of Walking with Dinosaurs as Narrator
1999
- Wild Wild West as Dr. Arliss Loveless
- Walking with Dinosaurs as Self - Narrator (voice)
- The Theory of Flight as Richard
- IMAX: Galapagos 3D as Narrator
- It's a Whole New West: The Making of 'Wild, Wild West' as Self
- Wild Wild West: Evil Devices as Himself
- The Periwig-Maker as Periwig-maker (voice)
- Wild Wild West: Loveless's Ladies as Himself
1998
- Parkinson as Self
- Celebrity as Lee Simon
- The Gingerbread Man as Rick Magruder
- Cold War
- The Proposition as Father Michael McKinnon
- Universal Horror as Narrator
- The Dance of Shiva as Colonel Evans
1997
- The View as Self
- Leute heute as Self
1996
- Looking for Richard as Self - Interviewee
- Hamlet as Prince Hamlet
1995
- Othello as Iago
- In the Bleak Midwinter ... (Director)
- Cinema Europe: The Other Hollywood
- Anne Frank Remembered as Narration (voice)
- Shadow of a Gunman as Donal Davoren
1994
- Mary Shelley's Frankenstein as Victor Frankenstein
- It's Alive: The True Story of Frankenstein as Self
1993
- Late Night with Conan O'Brien as Self - Guest
- Much Ado About Nothing as Benedick
- Swing Kids as Herr Knopp, Gestapo (uncredited)
1992
- Peter's Friends as Andrew Benson
- Swan Song ... (Director)
- Symphony for the Spire
1991
- Performance as Donal Davoren
- Dead Again as Roman Strauss / Mike Church
1990
- Discovering Hamlet as Himself / Hamlet
1989
- Henry V as Henry V
- Look Back in Anger as Jimmy Porter
1988
- American Experience as Narrator (voice)
- Thompson as Self
- Twelfth Night, or What You Will ... (Stage Director)
- Strange Interlude as Gordon Evans
- Thames Wallah as Narrator
1987
- Fortunes of War as Guy Pringle
- A Month in the Country as James Moon
- High Season as Rick
- Ghosts as Oswald Alving
- Lorna as Billy Martin
- The Lady's Not For Burning as Thomas Mendip
1985
- Theatre Night as Oswald Alving
- Coming Through as D.H. Lawrence
1984
- The Boy in the Bush as Jack Grant
- A Coming to Terms for Billy as Billy Martin
1983
- To the Lighthouse as Charles Tansley
- A Matter of Choice for Billy as Billy Martin
1982
- Wogan as Self
- Too Late to Talk to Billy as Billy Martin
- Easter 2016 as Student
1981
- Chariots of Fire as Cambridge Student at Society Day (uncredited)
1970
1967
1962
1956
- Tony Awards as Self
1953
- The Oscars as Self
1944
- Golden Globe Awards as Self - Nominee