Kenneth Branagh
Personal Info
Known for
Acting
Gender
Male
Birthday
1960-12-10 (64 years old)
Place of Birth
Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK
Kenneth Branagh
Biography
Sir Kenneth Charles Branagh (/ˈbrænə/ BRAN-ə; 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).
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Known For
Acting
(2025)
The King of Kings
as Charles Dickens (voice)
(2023)
Oppenheimer
as Niels Bohr
(2023)
A Haunting in Venice
as Hercule Poirot
(2022)
Death on the Nile
as Hercule Poirot
(2022)
Fireheart
as Shawn Nolan (voice)
(2022)
Marvel Studios Assembled: The Making of Thor: Love and Thunder
as Self - Director (archive footage)
(2022)
(2022)
(2020)
Tenet
as Sator
(2020)
(2019)
(2018)
Avengers: Infinity War
as Asgardian Distress Call (voice) (uncredited)
(2018)
All Is True
as William Shakespeare
(2017)
Dunkirk
as Commander Bolton
(2017)
Murder on the Orient Express
as Hercule Poirot
(2016)
Mindhorn
as Himself
(2016)
Branagh Theatre Live: The Entertainer
as Archie Rice
(2015)
Branagh Theatre Live: The Winter's Tale
as Leontes
(2014)
Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit
as Viktor Cherevin
(2014)
(2013)
National Theatre Live: Macbeth
as Macbeth, Thane of Glamis and Cawdor, general in the King's army
(2012)
Stars In Shorts
as Mark Snow
(2012)
London 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony: Isles of Wonder
as Isambard Kingdom Brunel
(2011)
My Week with Marilyn
as Sir Laurence Olivier
(2011)
(2011)
Discovering Hamlet
as Hamlet (archive footage)
(2011)
Thor: From Asgard to Earth
as Self
(2011)
Prodigal
as Mark Snow
(2010)
(2009)
The Boat That Rocked
as Dormandy
(2009)
1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year
as Narrator (voice)
(2009)
(2009)
(2008)
Valkyrie
as Henning von Tresckow
(2008)
Alien Love Triangle
as Steven Chesterman
(2007)
Sleuth
as Other Man on T.V.
(2007)
Stephen Fry: 50 Not Out
as Self
(2007)
James Ellis: An Actor's Life
as Himself
(2006)
As You Like It
as Self (voice)
(2005)
Warm Springs
as Franklin Delano Roosevelt
(2005)
Walking with Monsters
as Narrator (voice)
(2004)
(2004)
Five Children and It
as Uncle Albert
(2004)
Cecil B. DeMille: American Epic
as Narrator (voice)
(2003)
Following the Rabbit-Proof Fence
as Himself / Narrator
(2002)
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
as Gilderoy Lockhart
(2002)
Rabbit-Proof Fence
as A. O. Neville
(2002)
How to Kill Your Neighbor's Dog
as Peter McGowan
(2002)
The Tramp and the Dictator
as Narrator (voice)
(2001)
Conspiracy
as Reinhard Heydrich
(2001)
The Beasts Within
as Narrator (voice)
(2001)
Schneider's 2nd Stage
as Joseph Barnett
(2001)
Triumph of the Beasts
as Narrator (voice)
(2000)
The Road to El Dorado
as Miguel (voice)
(2000)
Love's Labour's Lost
as Berowne
(2000)
Altman on His Own Terms
as Self
(2000)
The Book That Wrote Itself
as Kenneth Branagh
(2000)
The Making of Walking with Dinosaurs
as Narrator
(2000)
Lon Chaney: A Thousand Faces
as Self / Narrator
(1999)
Wild Wild West
as Dr. Arliss Loveless
(1999)
IMAX: Galapagos 3D
as Narrator
(1999)
The Theory of Flight
as Richard
(1999)
The Periwig-Maker
as Periwig-maker (voice)
(1999)
Wild Wild West: Loveless's Ladies
as Himself
(1999)
Wild Wild West: Evil Devices
as Himself
(1999)
(1998)
The Gingerbread Man
as Rick Magruder
(1998)
Celebrity
as Lee Simon
(1998)
The Proposition
as Father Michael McKinnon
(1998)
Universal Horror
as Narrator
(1998)
The Dance of Shiva
as Colonel Evans
(1996)
Hamlet
as Prince Hamlet
(1996)
Looking for Richard
as Self - Interviewee
(1995)
Othello
as Iago
(1995)
Anne Frank Remembered
as Narration (voice)
(1995)
Shadow of a Gunman
as Donal Davoren
(1994)
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
as Victor Frankenstein
(1994)
(1993)
Much Ado About Nothing
as Benedick
(1993)
Swing Kids
as Herr Knopp, Gestapo (uncredited)
(1992)
Peter's Friends
as Andrew Benson
(1991)
Dead Again
as Roman Strauss / Mike Church
(1990)
Discovering Hamlet
as Himself / Hamlet
(1989)
Henry V
as Henry V
(1989)
Look Back in Anger
as Jimmy Porter
(1988)
Strange Interlude
as Gordon Evans
(1988)
Thames Wallah
as Narrator
(1987)
High Season
as Rick
(1987)
A Month in the Country
as James Soon
(1987)
Ghosts
as Oswald Alving
(1987)
Lorna
as Billy Martin
(1987)
The Lady's Not For Burning
as Thomas Mendip
(1985)
Coming Through
as D.H. Lawrence
(1984)
A Coming to Terms for Billy
as Billy Martin
(1983)
To the Lighthouse
as Charles Tansley
(1983)
A Matter of Choice for Billy
as Billy Martin
(1982)
Easter 2016
as Student
(1982)
Too Late to Talk to Billy
as Billy Martin
(1981)
Chariots of Fire
as Cambridge Student at Society Day (uncredited)
Crew
The Last Disturbance of Madeline Hynde
Director, Screenplay
(2023)
A Haunting in Venice
Director, Producer
(2022)
Death on the Nile
Director, Producer
(2021)
Belfast
Producer, Writer, Director
(2020)
Artemis Fowl
Director, Producer
(2018)
All Is True
Director, Producer
(2017)
Murder on the Orient Express
Director, Producer
(2016)
(2015)
Cinderella
Director
(2015)
(2014)
Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit
Director
(2013)
National Theatre Live: Macbeth
Stage Director
(2013)
Thor: The Dark World
Producer
(2011)
Thor
Director
(2007)
Sleuth
Director, Producer
(2006)
The Magic Flute
Screenplay, Director, Adaptation, Producer
(2006)
As You Like It
Writer, Director, Producer
(2003)
Listening
Writer, Director
(2000)
Love's Labour's Lost
Writer, Director, Producer, Screenplay
(1996)
Hamlet
Director, Adaptation
(1995)
In the Bleak Midwinter
Director, Writer
(1994)
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
Director, Co-Producer
(1993)
Much Ado About Nothing
Director, Producer, Writer
(1992)
Peter's Friends
Director, Producer
(1992)
Swan Song
Director
(1991)
Dead Again
Director
(1989)
Henry V
Director, Writer
(1988)
Twelfth Night, or What You Will
Stage Director, Director