Kenneth Branagh
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- December 10, 1960 (age 65)
- Birthplace
- Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK
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).
Known For
Photos
Filmography
Goblin
Movie · as (voice)
Laird
TV · as Laird of Castle Drummoch · 1 ep
The Thomas Crown Affair
Movie
Mayday
Movie · as Nikolai Ustinov
Atonement
Movie · as Michael Reid
The Devil Wears Prada 2
Movie · as Stuart
Maverick: The Epic Adventures of David Lean
Movie · as David Lean (voice)
The King of Kings
Movie · as Charles Dickens (voice)
Tea with Judi Dench featuring Kenneth Branagh
Movie · as Self
The American Revolution
TV · as (voice) · 6 eps
A Haunting in Venice
Movie · as Hercule Poirot
Oppenheimer
Movie · as Niels Bohr
BLUE EYE SAMURAI
TV · as Abijah Fowler (voice) · 8 eps
Peter O'Toole: Along the Sky Road to Aqaba
Movie · as Self
Denzel Washington: A Model American
Movie · as Self
Death on the Nile
Movie · as Hercule Poirot
Fireheart
Movie · as Shawn Nolan (voice)
This England
TV · as Boris Johnson · 6 eps
Remembers…
TV · as Self · 1 ep
Tenet
Movie · as Sator
Looking at the World in a New Way: The Making of ‘Tenet’
Movie · as Self
Lost Lives
Movie · as Narrator
The Kelly Clarkson Show
TV · as Self · 1 ep
Avengers: Infinity War
Movie · as Asgardian Distress Call (voice) (uncredited)
All Is True
Movie · as William Shakespeare
Marvel Studios: The First 10 Years - More Than a Hero
Movie · as Self
Dunkirk
Movie · as Commander Bolton
Murder on the Orient Express
Movie · as Hercule Poirot
Branagh Theatre Live: The Entertainer
Movie · as Archie Rice
Mindhorn
Movie · as Himself
Branagh Theatre Live: The Winter's Tale
Movie · as Leontes
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
TV · as Self · 1 ep
Hot Ones
TV · as Self · 1 ep
Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit
Movie · as Viktor Cherevin
Marvel Studios: Assembling a Universe
Movie · as Self
Late Night with Seth Meyers
TV · as Self · 1 ep
National Theatre Live: Macbeth
Movie · as Macbeth
London 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony: Isles of Wonder
Movie · as Isambard Kingdom Brunel
Stars in Shorts
Movie · as Mark Snow
My Week with Marilyn
Movie · as Sir Laurence Olivier
Discovering Hamlet
Movie · as Hamlet (archive footage)
Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope
Movie · as Self
Prodigal
Movie · as Mark Snow
Thor: From Asgard to Earth
Movie · as Self
With Great Power: The Stan Lee Story
Movie · as Self
The Boat That Rocked
Movie · as Dormandy
1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year
Movie · as Narrator (voice)
A Night at the Movies: The Suspenseful World of Thrillers
Movie · as Self
A Night at the Movies: The Gigantic World of Epics
Movie · as Self
Valkyrie
Movie · as Henning von Tresckow
Alien Love Triangle
Movie · as Steven Chesterman
10 Days to War
TV · as Colonel Tim Collins · 1 ep
Wallander
TV · as Kurt Wallander · 12 eps
Sleuth
Movie · as Other Man on T.V.
Stephen Fry: 50 Not Out
Movie · as Self
James Ellis: An Actor's Life
Movie · as Himself
The Graham Norton Show
TV · as Self, Self - Guest · 6 eps
As You Like It
Movie · as Self (voice)
El hormiguero
TV · as Self · 1 ep
Walking with Monsters
Movie · as Narrator (voice)
Warm Springs
Movie · as Franklin Delano Roosevelt
The Goebbels Experiment
Movie · as Narrator (voice)
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
TV · as Self · 2 eps
Walking with Monsters
TV · as Narrator (voice) · 3 eps
Five Children and It
Movie · as Uncle Albert
The Magic Touch of Harry Potter
Movie · as Self - Gilderoy Lockhart
Cecil B. DeMille: American Epic
Movie · as Narrator (voice)
Parkinson
TV · as Self - Guest · 1 ep
Following the Rabbit-Proof Fence
Movie · as Himself / Narrator
The Ellen DeGeneres Show
TV · as Self · 2 eps
Real Time with Bill Maher
TV · as Self · 1 ep
World War I in Colour
TV · as Narrator · 6 eps
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Movie · as Gilderoy Lockhart
Rabbit-Proof Fence
Movie · as A. O. Neville
How to Kill Your Neighbor's Dog
Movie · as Peter McGowan
The Tramp and the Dictator
Movie · as Narrator (voice)
Shackleton
TV · as Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton · 2 eps
Conspiracy
Movie · as Reinhard Heydrich
Schneider's 2nd Stage
Movie · as Joseph Barnett
The Beasts Within
Movie · as Narrator (voice)
Triumph of the Beasts
Movie · as Narrator (voice)
Walking with Beasts
TV · as Narrator · 6 eps
The Road to El Dorado
Movie · as Miguel (voice)
Love's Labour's Lost
Movie · as Berowne
The Making of Walking with Dinosaurs
Movie · as Narrator
Lon Chaney: A Thousand Faces
Movie · as Self / Narrator
The Book That Wrote Itself
Movie · as Kenneth Branagh
Altman on His Own Terms
Movie · as Self
The Ballad of Big Al
TV · as Narrator · 2 eps
Wild Wild West
Movie · as Dr. Arliss Loveless
IMAX: Galapagos 3D
Movie · as Narrator
The Periwig-Maker
Movie · as Periwig-maker (voice)
The Theory of Flight
Movie · as Richard
It's a Whole New West: The Making of 'Wild, Wild West'
Movie · as Self
Wild Wild West: Evil Devices
Movie · as Himself
Wild Wild West: Loveless's Ladies
Movie · as Himself
Walking with Dinosaurs
TV · as Self - Narrator (voice) · 6 eps
Celebrity
Movie · as Lee Simon
The Gingerbread Man
Movie · as Rick Magruder
Universal Horror
Movie · as Narrator
The Proposition
Movie · as Father Michael McKinnon
The Dance of Shiva
Movie · as Colonel Evans
Cold War
TV · 24 eps
Parkinson
TV · as Self · 1 ep
The View
TV · as Self · 1 ep
Leute heute
TV · as Self · 1 ep
Hamlet
Movie · as Prince Hamlet
Looking for Richard
Movie · as Self - Interviewee
TFI Friday
TV · 1 ep
Othello
Movie · as Iago
Shadow of a Gunman
Movie · as Donal Davoren
Anne Frank Remembered
Movie · as Narration (voice)
Cinema Europe: The Other Hollywood
TV · 6 eps
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
Movie · as Victor Frankenstein
It's Alive: The True Story of Frankenstein
Movie · as Self
Much Ado About Nothing
Movie · as Benedick
Swing Kids
Movie · as Herr Knopp, Gestapo (uncredited)
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
TV · as Self - Guest · 1 ep
Peter's Friends
Movie · as Andrew Benson
Symphony for the Spire
Movie
Dead Again
Movie · as Roman Strauss / Mike Church
Performance
TV · as Donal Davoren · 1 ep
Discovering Hamlet
Movie · as Himself / Hamlet
Henry V
Movie · as Henry V
Look Back in Anger
Movie · as Jimmy Porter
Thames Wallah
Movie · as Narrator
Thompson
TV · as Self · 6 eps
American Experience
TV · as Narrator (voice) · 1 ep
Strange Interlude
TV · as Gordon Evans · 3 eps
A Month in the Country
Movie · as James Moon
High Season
Movie · as Rick
Ghosts
Movie · as Oswald Alving
The Lady's Not For Burning
Movie · as Thomas Mendip
Lorna
Movie · as Billy Martin
Fortunes of War
TV · as Guy Pringle · 7 eps
Coming Through
Movie · as D.H. Lawrence
Theatre Night
TV · as Oswald Alving · 1 ep
A Coming to Terms for Billy
Movie · as Billy Martin
The Boy in the Bush
TV · as Jack Grant · 4 eps
A Matter of Choice for Billy
Movie · as Billy Martin
To the Lighthouse
Movie · as Charles Tansley
Easter 2016
Movie · as Student
Too Late to Talk to Billy
Movie · as Billy Martin
Wogan
TV · as Self · 1 ep
American Playhouse
TV · as Gordon Evans · 3 eps
Chariots of Fire
Movie · as Cambridge Student at Society Day (uncredited)
Film '72
TV · as Self · 5 eps
Play for Today
TV · 3 eps
Omnibus
TV · 1 ep
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
TV · as Self · 1 ep
Tony Awards
TV · as Self · 1 ep
The Oscars
TV · as Self · 2 eps
Golden Globe Awards
TV · as Self - Nominee · 2 eps