Kenneth Branagh
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- December 10, 1960
- Birthplace
- Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK
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).
Filmography
- The Last Disturbance of Madeline Hynde
The Last Disturbance of Madeline Hynde TBA
Director, Screenplay
- Goblin
Goblin TBA
as (voice)
The Thomas Crown Affair 2027
Actor
Maverick: The Epic Adventures of David Lean 2026
as David Lean (voice)
Atonement 2026
as Michael Reid
Mayday 2026
as Nikolai Ustinov
The Devil Wears Prada 2 2026
as Stuart
Tea with Judi Dench featuring Kenneth Branagh 2025
as Self
The King of Kings 2025
as Charles Dickens (voice)
A Haunting in Venice 2023
as Hercule Poirot, Director, Producer
Oppenheimer 2023
as Niels Bohr
Peter O'Toole: Along the Sky Road to Aqaba 2022
as Self
Denzel Washington: A Model American 2022
as Self
Death on the Nile 2022
as Hercule Poirot, Director, Producer
Fireheart 2022
as Shawn Nolan (voice)
Belfast 2021
Producer, Director, Writer
Looking at the World in a New Way: The Making of ‘Tenet’ 2020
as Self
Tenet 2020
as Sator
Artemis Fowl 2020
Director, Producer
Lost Lives 2019
as Narrator
All Is True 2018
as William Shakespeare, Director, Producer
Marvel Studios: The First 10 Years - More Than a Hero 2018
as Self
Avengers: Infinity War 2018
as Asgardian Distress Call (voice) (uncredited)
Murder on the Orient Express 2017
as Hercule Poirot, Director, Producer
Dunkirk 2017
as Commander Bolton
Branagh Theatre Live: The Entertainer 2016
as Archie Rice
Mindhorn 2016
as Himself
Branagh Theatre Live: Romeo and Juliet 2016
Director
Branagh Theatre Live: The Winter's Tale 2015
as Leontes, Director
Cinderella 2015
Director
Marvel Studios: Assembling a Universe 2014
as Self
Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit 2014
as Viktor Cherevin, Director
Thor: The Dark World 2013
Producer
National Theatre Live: Macbeth 2013
as Macbeth, Stage Director
Stars in Shorts 2012
as Mark Snow
London 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony: Isles of Wonder 2012
as Isambard Kingdom Brunel
My Week with Marilyn 2011
as Sir Laurence Olivier
Discovering Hamlet 2011
as Hamlet (archive footage)
Thor: From Asgard to Earth 2011
as Self
Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope 2011
as Self
Prodigal 2011
as Mark Snow
Thor 2011
Director
With Great Power: The Stan Lee Story 2010
as Self
A Night at the Movies: The Gigantic World of Epics 2009
as Self
A Night at the Movies: The Suspenseful World of Thrillers 2009
as Self
1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year 2009
as Narrator (voice)
The Boat That Rocked 2009
as Dormandy
Valkyrie 2008
as Henning von Tresckow
Alien Love Triangle 2008
as Steven Chesterman
Sleuth 2007
as Other Man on T.V., Director, Producer
Stephen Fry: 50 Not Out 2007
as Self
James Ellis: An Actor's Life 2007
as Himself
The Magic Flute 2006
Director, Screenplay, Adaptation, Producer
As You Like It 2006
as Self (voice), Writer, Director, Producer
Walking with Monsters 2005
as Narrator (voice)
Warm Springs 2005
as Franklin Delano Roosevelt
The Goebbels Experiment 2005
as Narrator (voice)
Five Children and It 2004
as Uncle Albert
The Magic Touch of Harry Potter 2004
as Self - Gilderoy Lockhart
Cecil B. DeMille: American Epic 2004
as Narrator (voice)
- Listening
Listening 2003
Director, Writer
- Following the Rabbit-Proof Fence
Following the Rabbit-Proof Fence 2003
as Himself / Narrator
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets 2002
as Gilderoy Lockhart
How to Kill Your Neighbor's Dog 2002
as Peter McGowan
The Tramp and the Dictator 2002
as Narrator (voice)
Rabbit-Proof Fence 2002
as A. O. Neville
The Beasts Within 2001
as Narrator (voice)
Triumph of the Beasts 2001
as Narrator (voice)
Conspiracy 2001
as Reinhard Heydrich
- Schneider's 2nd Stage
Schneider's 2nd Stage 2001
as Joseph Barnett
Lon Chaney: A Thousand Faces 2000
as Self / Narrator
The Book That Wrote Itself 2000
as Kenneth Branagh
Love's Labour's Lost 2000
as Berowne, Writer, Director, Screenplay, Producer
The Road to El Dorado 2000
as Miguel (voice)
The Making of Walking with Dinosaurs 2000
as Narrator
Altman on His Own Terms 2000
as Self
Wild Wild West: Evil Devices 1999
as Himself
- Wild Wild West: Loveless's Ladies
Wild Wild West: Loveless's Ladies 1999
as Himself
The Periwig-Maker 1999
as Periwig-maker (voice)
IMAX: Galapagos 3D 1999
as Narrator
Wild Wild West 1999
as Dr. Arliss Loveless
It's a Whole New West: The Making of 'Wild, Wild West' 1999
as Self
The Theory of Flight 1999
as Richard
The Dance of Shiva 1998
as Colonel Evans
Universal Horror 1998
as Narrator
Celebrity 1998
as Lee Simon
The Proposition 1998
as Father Michael McKinnon
The Gingerbread Man 1998
as Rick Magruder
Hamlet 1996
as Prince Hamlet, Director, Adaptation
Looking for Richard 1996
as Self - Interviewee
Othello 1995
as Iago
Shadow of a Gunman 1995
as Donal Davoren
In the Bleak Midwinter 1995
Director, Writer
Anne Frank Remembered 1995
as Narration (voice)
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein 1994
as Victor Frankenstein, Director, Co-Producer
It's Alive: The True Story of Frankenstein 1994
as Self
Much Ado About Nothing 1993
as Benedick, Producer, Director, Writer
Swing Kids 1993
as Herr Knopp, Gestapo (uncredited)
Peter's Friends 1992
as Andrew Benson, Director, Producer
- Swan Song
Swan Song 1992
Director
Symphony for the Spire 1992
Actor
Dead Again 1991
as Roman Strauss / Mike Church, Director
Discovering Hamlet 1990
as Himself / Hamlet
Look Back in Anger 1989
as Jimmy Porter
Henry V 1989
as Henry V, Director, Writer
Twelfth Night, or What You Will 1988
Stage Director, Director
Thames Wallah 1988
as Narrator
A Month in the Country 1987
as James Moon
High Season 1987
as Rick
Ghosts 1987
as Oswald Alving
Lorna 1987
as Billy Martin
The Lady's Not For Burning 1987
as Thomas Mendip
Coming Through 1985
as D.H. Lawrence
A Coming to Terms for Billy 1984
as Billy Martin
A Matter of Choice for Billy 1983
as Billy Martin
To the Lighthouse 1983
as Charles Tansley
Easter 2016 1982
as Student
Too Late to Talk to Billy 1982
as Billy Martin
Chariots of Fire 1981
as Cambridge Student at Society Day (uncredited)
Credits from TMDB.