
Kenneth Branagh
Sir Kenneth Charles Branagh 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).
Known For
Credits
- 2027 · The Thomas Crown Affair as
- 2026 · The Devil Wears Prada 2 as
- 2025 · The King of Kings as Charles Dickens (voice)
- 2023 · BLUE EYE SAMURAI as Abijah Fowler (voice)
- 2023 · A Haunting in Venice as Hercule Poirot
- 2023 · Oppenheimer as Niels Bohr
- 2022 · Peter O'Toole: Along the Sky Road to Aqaba as Self
- 2022 · Death on the Nile as Hercule Poirot
- 2022 · Fireheart as Shawn Nolan (voice)
- 2020 · Tenet as Sator
- 2019 · Lost Lives as
- 2019 · The Kelly Clarkson Show as Self
- 2018 · Avengers: Infinity War as Asgardian Distress Call (voice) (uncredited)
- 2017 · Murder on the Orient Express as Hercule Poirot
- 2017 · Dunkirk as Commander Bolton
- 2015 · The Late Show with Stephen Colbert as Self
- 2014 · Marvel Studios: Assembling a Universe as Self
- 2014 · Late Night with Seth Meyers as Self
- 2014 · Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit as Viktor Cherevin
- 2013 · National Theatre Live: Macbeth as Macbeth, Thane of Glamis and Cawdor, general in the King's army
- 2011 · My Week with Marilyn as Sir Laurence Olivier
- 2011 · Discovering Hamlet as Hamlet (archive footage)
- 2011 · Thor: From Asgard to Earth as Self
- 2011 · Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope as Self
- 2011 · Prodigal as Mark Snow
- 2009 · The Boat That Rocked as Dormandy
- 2008 · Valkyrie as Henning von Tresckow
- 2008 · Wallander as Kurt Wallander
- 2007 · Sleuth as Other Man on T.V.
- 2007 · The Graham Norton Show as Self
- 2007 · The Graham Norton Show as Self - Guest
- 2006 · El hormiguero as Self
- 2005 · The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson as Self
- 2003 · The Ellen DeGeneres Show as Self
- 2003 · Real Time with Bill Maher as Self
- 2002 · Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets as Gilderoy Lockhart
- 2002 · Shackleton as Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton
- 2001 · Conspiracy as Reinhard Heydrich
- 2000 · The Book That Wrote Itself as Kenneth Branagh
- 2000 · The Road to El Dorado as Miguel (voice)
- 1999 · Walking with Dinosaurs as Narrator (voice)
- 1999 · Wild Wild West as Dr. Arliss Loveless
- 1998 · Universal Horror as Narrator
- 1998 · Celebrity as Lee Simon
- 1998 · The Gingerbread Man as Rick Magruder
- 1998 · Parkinson as Self
- 1997 · The View as Self
- 1997 · Leute heute as Self
- 1996 · Hamlet as Prince Hamlet
- 1996 · Looking for Richard as Self - Interviewee
- 1995 · Othello as Iago
- 1995 · Shadow of a Gunman as Donal Davoren
- 1994 · Mary Shelley's Frankenstein as Victor Frankenstein
- 1994 · It's Alive: The True Story of Frankenstein as Self
- 1993 · Late Night with Conan O'Brien as Self - Guest
- 1993 · Much Ado About Nothing as Benedick
- 1991 · Performance as Donal Davoren
- 1990 · Discovering Hamlet as Himself / Hamlet
- 1988 · American Experience as Narrator (voice)
- 1987 · High Season as Rick
- 1984 · A Coming to Terms for Billy as Billy Martin
- 1983 · A Matter of Choice for Billy as Billy Martin
- 1982 · Wogan as Self
- 1981 · Chariots of Fire as Cambridge Student at Society Day (uncredited)
- 1970 · Play for Today as
- 1962 · The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson as Self
- 1956 · Tony Awards as Self
- 1953 · The Oscars as Self
- 1944 · Golden Globe Awards as Self - Nominee
- Future · Mayday as
- 2022 · This England as Boris Johnson
- 2018 · All Is True as William Shakespeare
- 2016 · Branagh Theatre Live: The Entertainer as Archie Rice
- 2016 · Mindhorn as Himself
- 2015 · Branagh Theatre Live: The Winter's Tale as Leontes
- 2010 · With Great Power: The Stan Lee Story as Self
- 2009 · 1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year as Narrator (voice)
- 2008 · 10 Days to War as Colonel Tim Collins
- 2008 · Alien Love Triangle as Steven Chesterman
- 2006 · As You Like It as Self (voice)
- 2005 · Walking with Monsters as Narrator (voice)
- 2004 · Five Children and It as Uncle Albert
- 2004 · The Magic Touch of Harry Potter as Self
- 2003 · Following the Rabbit-Proof Fence as Himself / Narrator
- 2002 · The Tramp and the Dictator as Narrator (voice)
- 2002 · Rabbit-Proof Fence as A. O. Neville
- 2001 · Walking with Beasts as Narrator
- 2000 · Big Al as Narrator
- 1999 · The Periwig-Maker as Periwig-maker (voice)
- 1999 · The Theory of Flight as Richard
- 1998 · Cold War as
- 1998 · The Proposition as Father Michael McKinnon
- 1993 · Swing Kids as Herr Knopp, Gestapo (uncredited)
- 1992 · Peter's Friends as Andrew Benson
- 1991 · Dead Again as Roman Strauss / Mike Church
- 1989 · Henry V as Henry V
- 1988 · Thompson as Self
- 1987 · Fortunes of War as Guy Pringle
- 1987 · Ghosts as Oswald Alving
- 1987 · Lorna as Billy Martin
- 1985 · Coming Through as D.H. Lawrence
- 1985 · Theatre Night as Oswald Alving
- 1984 · The Boy in the Bush as Jack Grant
- 1983 · To the Lighthouse as Charles Tansley
- Future · Atonement as Michael Reid
- 2022 · Denzel Washington: A Model American as Self
- 2020 · Looking at the World in a New Way: The Making of ‘Tenet’ as Self
- 2012 · Stars In Shorts as Mark Snow
- 2012 · Marvel Studios: Building a Cinematic Universe as Self
- 2012 · London 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony: Isles of Wonder as Isambard Kingdom Brunel
- 2009 · A Night at the Movies: The Gigantic World of Epics as Self
- 2009 · A Night at the Movies: The Suspenseful World of Thrillers as Self
- 2007 · Stephen Fry: 50 Not Out as Self
- 2007 · James Ellis: An Actor's Life as Himself
- 2005 · Walking with Monsters as Narrator (voice)
- 2005 · Warm Springs as Franklin Delano Roosevelt
- 2004 · Cecil B. DeMille: American Epic as Narrator (voice)
- 2003 · World War 1 in Colour as Narrator
- 2002 · How to Kill Your Neighbor's Dog as Peter McGowan
- 2001 · The Beasts Within as Narrator (voice)
- 2001 · Triumph of the Beasts as Narrator (voice)
- 2001 · Schneider's 2nd Stage as Joseph Barnett
- 2000 · Lon Chaney: A Thousand Faces as Self / Narrator
- 2000 · Love's Labour's Lost as Berowne
- 2000 · The Making of Walking with Dinosaurs as Narrator
- 2000 · Altman on His Own Terms as Self
- 1999 · Wild Wild West: Loveless's Ladies as Himself
- 1999 · Wild Wild West: Evil Devices as Himself
- 1999 · IMAX: Galapagos 3D as Narrator
- 1999 · It's a Whole New West: The Making of 'Wild, Wild West' as Self
- 1998 · The Dance of Shiva as Colonel Evans
- 1995 · Cinema Europe: The Other Hollywood as
- 1995 · Anne Frank Remembered as Narration (voice)
- 1989 · Look Back in Anger as Jimmy Porter
- 1988 · Strange Interlude as Gordon Evans
- 1988 · Thames Wallah as Narrator
- 1987 · A Month in the Country as James Soon
- 1987 · The Lady's Not For Burning as Thomas Mendip
- 1982 · Easter 2016 as Student
- 1982 · Too Late to Talk to Billy as Billy Martin