Kenneth Branagh
Born
December 10, 1960 (64 years old)
Known For
Acting
Place of Birth
Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK
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
The Thomas Crown Affair
2027

A Haunting in Venice
Hercule Poirot
2023

London 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony: Isles of Wonder
Isambard Kingdom Brunel
2012

My Week with Marilyn
Sir Laurence Olivier
2011

With Great Power: The Stan Lee Story
Self
2010

The Boat That Rocked
Dormandy
2009

Valkyrie
Henning von Tresckow
2008

Sleuth
Other Man on T.V.
2007

Walking with Monsters
Narrator (voice)
2005

Warm Springs
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
2005

Five Children and It
Uncle Albert
2004

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Gilderoy Lockhart
2002

How to Kill Your Neighbor's Dog
Peter McGowan
2002

Rabbit-Proof Fence
A. O. Neville
2002

Conspiracy
Reinhard Heydrich
2001

The Road to El Dorado
Miguel (voice)
2000

Love's Labour's Lost
Berowne
2000

The Periwig-Maker
Periwig-maker (voice)
1999

IMAX: Galapagos 3D
Narrator
1999

Wild Wild West
Dr. Arliss Loveless
1999

The Theory of Flight
Richard
1999

Celebrity
Lee Simon
1998

The Gingerbread Man
Rick Magruder
1998

Hamlet
Prince Hamlet
1996

Othello
Iago
1995

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
Victor Frankenstein
1994

It's Alive: The True Story of Frankenstein
Self
1994

Much Ado About Nothing
Benedick
1993

Peter's Friends
Andrew Benson
1992

Dead Again
Roman Strauss / Mike Church
1991

Henry V
Henry V
1989

Strange Interlude
Gordon Evans
1988

A Month in the Country
James Soon
1987

High Season
Rick
1987

Ghosts
Oswald Alving
1987

Chariots of Fire
Cambridge Student at Society Day (uncredited)
1981

Mayday
The Devil Wears Prada 2
2026

The King of Kings
Charles Dickens (voice)
2025

Death on the Nile
Hercule Poirot
2022

Fireheart
Shawn Nolan (voice)
2022

Looking at the World in a New Way: The Making of ‘Tenet’
Self
2020

Tenet
Sator
2020

Lost Lives
2019

All Is True
William Shakespeare
2018

Avengers: Infinity War
Asgardian Distress Call (voice) (uncredited)
2018

Branagh Theatre Live: The Entertainer
Archie Rice
2016

Mindhorn
Himself
2016

Thor: From Asgard to Earth
Self
2011

Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope
Self
2011

Prodigal
Mark Snow
2011

A Night at the Movies: The Gigantic World of Epics
Self
2009

A Night at the Movies: The Suspenseful World of Thrillers
Self
2009

Wallander
Kurt Wallander · (12 episodes)
2008

James Ellis: An Actor's Life
Himself
2007

The Ellen DeGeneres Show
Self · (1 episode)
2003

The Beasts Within
Narrator (voice)
2001

Triumph of the Beasts
Narrator (voice)
2001

Walking with Beasts
Narrator · (6 episodes)
2001

The Book That Wrote Itself
Kenneth Branagh
2000

Altman on His Own Terms
Self
2000
Wild Wild West: Loveless's Ladies
Himself
1999

Wild Wild West: Evil Devices
Himself
1999

It's a Whole New West: The Making of 'Wild, Wild West'
Self
1999

The View
Self · (1 episode)
1997

Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Self - Guest · (1 episode)
1993

Swing Kids
Herr Knopp, Gestapo (uncredited)
1993

Thames Wallah
Narrator
1988

Lorna
Billy Martin
1987

The Lady's Not For Burning
Thomas Mendip
1987

To the Lighthouse
Charles Tansley
1983

Too Late to Talk to Billy
Billy Martin
1982
Atonement

BLUE EYE SAMURAI
Abijah Fowler (voice) · (8 episodes)
2023

Oppenheimer
Niels Bohr
2023

Peter O'Toole: Along the Sky Road to Aqaba
Self
2022

Denzel Washington: A Model American
Self
2022

This England
Boris Johnson · (6 episodes)
2022

Marvel Studios Assembled: The Making of Thor: Love and Thunder
Self - Director (archive footage)
2022

The Kelly Clarkson Show
(1 episode)
2019

Murder on the Orient Express
Hercule Poirot
2017

Dunkirk
Commander Bolton
2017

Branagh Theatre Live: The Winter's Tale
Leontes
2015

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Self · (1 episode)
2015

Marvel Studios: Assembling a Universe
Self
2014

Late Night with Seth Meyers
Self · (1 episode)
2014

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit
Viktor Cherevin
2014

National Theatre Live: Macbeth
Macbeth, Thane of Glamis and Cawdor, general in the King's army
2013

Stars In Shorts
Mark Snow
2012

Honest Trailers
Hercules Poirot (archive footage) · (1 episode)
2012

Discovering Hamlet
Hamlet (archive footage)
2011

1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year
Narrator (voice)
2009

10 Days to War
Colonel Tim Collins · (1 episode)
2008

Alien Love Triangle
Steven Chesterman
2008

Stephen Fry: 50 Not Out
Self
2007

The Graham Norton Show
Self · (6 episodes)
2007

The Graham Norton Show
Self - Guest · (1 episode)
2007

El hormiguero
Self · (1 episode)
2006

As You Like It
Self (voice)
2006

Walking with Monsters
Narrator (voice) · (3 episodes)
2005

The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
Self · (2 episodes)
2005

The Magic Touch of Harry Potter
Self
2004

Cecil B. DeMille: American Epic
Narrator (voice)
2004

World War 1 in Colour
Narrator · (6 episodes)
2003
Following the Rabbit-Proof Fence
Himself / Narrator
2003

Real Time with Bill Maher
Self · (1 episode)
2003

The Tramp and the Dictator
Narrator (voice)
2002

Shackleton
Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton · (2 episodes)
2002
Schneider's 2nd Stage
Joseph Barnett
2001

Big Al
Narrator · (2 episodes)
2000

Lon Chaney: A Thousand Faces
Self / Narrator
2000
The Making of Walking with Dinosaurs
Narrator
2000

Walking with Dinosaurs
Narrator (voice) · (6 episodes)
1999

The Dance of Shiva
Colonel Evans
1998

Universal Horror
Narrator
1998

Cold War
(24 episodes)
1998

The Proposition
Father Michael McKinnon
1998

Parkinson
Self · (1 episode)
1998
Leute heute
Self · (1 episode)
1997

Looking for Richard
Self - Interviewee
1996

Shadow of a Gunman
Donal Davoren
1995

Cinema Europe: The Other Hollywood
(6 episodes)
1995

Anne Frank Remembered
Narration (voice)
1995

Performance
Donal Davoren · (1 episode)
1991

Discovering Hamlet
Himself / Hamlet
1990

Look Back in Anger
Jimmy Porter
1989
Thompson
Self · (6 episodes)
1988

American Experience
Narrator (voice) · (1 episode)
1988

Fortunes of War
Guy Pringle · (7 episodes)
1987

Coming Through
D.H. Lawrence
1985
Theatre Night
Oswald Alving · (1 episode)
1985

A Coming to Terms for Billy
Billy Martin
1984

The Boy in the Bush
Jack Grant · (4 episodes)
1984

A Matter of Choice for Billy
Billy Martin
1983

Easter 2016
Student
1982

Wogan
Self · (1 episode)
1982

Play for Today
(3 episodes)
1970

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
Self · (1 episode)
1962

Tony Awards
Self · (1 episode)
1956

The Oscars
Self · (2 episodes)
1953

Golden Globe Awards
Self - Nominee · (2 episodes)
1944