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