
Actor
Kenneth Branagh
Born December 10, 1960 in Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK66 films
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.
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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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The best way into Kenneth Branagh's work
First watchAvengers: Infinity War20188.2as Asgardian Distress Call (voice) (uncredited)As the Avengers and their allies have continued to protect the world from threats too large for any one hero to handle, a new danger has emerged from the cosmic shadows: Thanos.View filmEssential films
Ranked by acclaim and reachFilmography
66 films as actor- TBAGoblin(voice)
- 2027The Thomas Crown Affair
- 2026AtonementMichael Reid
- 2026MaydayNikolai Ustinov
- 2026The Devil Wears Prada 2Stuart
- 2025The King of KingsCharles Dickens (voice)
- 2023A Haunting in VeniceHercule Poirot
- 2023OppenheimerNiels Bohr
- 2022Death on the NileHercule Poirot
- 2022FireheartShawn Nolan (voice)
- 2020TenetSator
- 2018All Is TrueWilliam Shakespeare
- 2018Avengers: Infinity WarAsgardian Distress Call (voice) (uncredited)
- 2017Murder on the Orient ExpressHercule Poirot
- 2017DunkirkCommander Bolton
- 2016Branagh Theatre Live: The EntertainerArchie Rice
- 2015Branagh Theatre Live: The Winter's TaleLeontes
- 2014Jack Ryan: Shadow RecruitViktor Cherevin
- 2013National Theatre Live: MacbethMacbeth
- 2012Stars in ShortsMark Snow
- 2011My Week with MarilynSir Laurence Olivier
- 2011ProdigalMark Snow
- 2009The Boat That RockedDormandy
- 2008ValkyrieHenning von Tresckow
- 2008Alien Love TriangleSteven Chesterman
- 2007SleuthOther Man on T.V.
- 2005Warm SpringsFranklin Delano Roosevelt
- 2004Five Children and ItUncle Albert
- 2002Harry Potter and the Chamber of SecretsGilderoy Lockhart
- 2002How to Kill Your Neighbor's DogPeter McGowan
- 2002Rabbit-Proof FenceA. O. Neville
- 2001ConspiracyReinhard Heydrich
- 2001Schneider's 2nd StageJoseph Barnett
- 2000The Book That Wrote ItselfKenneth Branagh
- 2000The Road to El DoradoMiguel (voice)
- 2000Love's Labour's LostBerowne
- 1999The Periwig-MakerPeriwig-maker (voice)
- 1999Wild Wild WestDr. Arliss Loveless
- 1999The Theory of FlightRichard
- 1998The Dance of ShivaColonel Evans
- 1998CelebrityLee Simon
- 1998The PropositionFather Michael McKinnon
- 1998The Gingerbread ManRick Magruder
- 1996HamletPrince Hamlet
- 1995OthelloIago
- 1995Shadow of a GunmanDonal Davoren
- 1994Mary Shelley's FrankensteinVictor Frankenstein
- 1993Much Ado About NothingBenedick
- 1993Swing KidsHerr Knopp, Gestapo (uncredited)
- 1992Peter's FriendsAndrew Benson
- 1991Dead AgainRoman Strauss / Mike Church
- 1989Look Back in AngerJimmy Porter
- 1989Henry VHenry V
- 1988Thames WallahNarrator
- 1987A Month in the CountryJames Moon
- 1987High SeasonRick
- 1987GhostsOswald Alving
- 1987LornaBilly Martin
- 1987The Lady's Not For BurningThomas Mendip
- 1985Coming ThroughD.H. Lawrence
- 1984A Coming to Terms for BillyBilly Martin
- 1983A Matter of Choice for BillyBilly Martin
- 1983To the LighthouseCharles Tansley
- 1982Easter 2016Student
- 1982Too Late to Talk to BillyBilly Martin
- 1981Chariots of FireCambridge Student at Society Day (uncredited)







