Kenneth Branagh

Biography

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).

Known For

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

Late Night with Seth Meyers

Real Time with Bill Maher

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson

The Kelly Clarkson Show

Play for Today

The Graham Norton Show

The Graham Norton Show

All Movies (108)

• The Thomas Crown Affair2027
• Mayday2026 · as Nikolai Ustinov
• Maverick: The Epic Adventures of David Lean2026 · as David Lean (voice)
• Atonement2026 · as Michael Reid
• The Devil Wears Prada 22026 · as Stuart
• Tea with Judi Dench2025 · as Self
• The King of Kings2025 · as Charles Dickens (voice)
• A Haunting in Venice2023 · as Hercule Poirot
• Oppenheimer2023 · as Niels Bohr
• Peter O'Toole: Along the Sky Road to Aqaba2022 · as Self
• Denzel Washington: A Model American2022 · as Self
• Death on the Nile2022 · as Hercule Poirot
• Fireheart2022 · as Shawn Nolan (voice)
• Looking at the World in a New Way: The Making of ‘Tenet’2020 · as Self
• Tenet2020 · as Sator
• Lost Lives2019 · as Narrator
• All Is True2018 · as William Shakespeare
• Avengers: Infinity War2018 · as Asgardian Distress Call (voice) (uncredited)
• Murder on the Orient Express2017 · as Hercule Poirot
• Dunkirk2017 · as Commander Bolton
• Branagh Theatre Live: The Entertainer2016 · as Archie Rice
• Mindhorn2016 · as Himself
• Branagh Theatre Live: The Winter's Tale2015 · as Leontes
• Marvel Studios: Assembling a Universe2014 · as Self
• Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit2014 · as Viktor Cherevin
• National Theatre Live: Macbeth2013 · as Macbeth
• Stars in Shorts2012 · as Mark Snow
• Marvel Studios: Building a Cinematic Universe2012 · as Self
• London 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony: Isles of Wonder2012 · as Isambard Kingdom Brunel
• My Week with Marilyn2011 · as Sir Laurence Olivier
• Discovering Hamlet2011 · as Hamlet (archive footage)
• Thor: From Asgard to Earth2011 · as Self
• Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope2011 · as Self
• Prodigal2011 · as Mark Snow
• With Great Power: The Stan Lee Story2010 · as Self
• A Night at the Movies: The Gigantic World of Epics2009 · as Self
• A Night at the Movies: The Suspenseful World of Thrillers2009 · as Self
• 1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year2009 · as Narrator (voice)
• The Boat That Rocked2009 · as Dormandy
• Valkyrie2008 · as Henning von Tresckow
• Alien Love Triangle2008 · as Steven Chesterman
• Sleuth2007 · as Other Man on T.V.
• Stephen Fry: 50 Not Out2007 · as Self
• James Ellis: An Actor's Life2007 · as Himself
• As You Like It2006 · as Self (voice)
• Walking with Monsters2005 · as Narrator (voice)
• Warm Springs2005 · as Franklin Delano Roosevelt
• The Goebbels Experiment2005 · as Narrator (voice)
• Five Children and It2004 · as Uncle Albert
• The Magic Touch of Harry Potter2004 · as Self
• Cecil B. DeMille: American Epic2004 · as Narrator (voice)
• Following the Rabbit-Proof Fence2003 · as Himself / Narrator
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets2002 · as Gilderoy Lockhart
• How to Kill Your Neighbor's Dog2002 · as Peter McGowan
• The Tramp and the Dictator2002 · as Narrator (voice)
• Rabbit-Proof Fence2002 · as A. O. Neville
• The Beasts Within2001 · as Narrator (voice)
• Triumph of the Beasts2001 · as Narrator (voice)
• Conspiracy2001 · as Reinhard Heydrich
• Schneider's 2nd Stage2001 · as Joseph Barnett
• Lon Chaney: A Thousand Faces2000 · as Self / Narrator
• The Book That Wrote Itself2000 · as Kenneth Branagh
• The Road to El Dorado2000 · as Miguel (voice)
• Love's Labour's Lost2000 · as Berowne
• The Making of Walking with Dinosaurs2000 · as Narrator
• Altman on His Own Terms2000 · as Self
• Wild Wild West: Loveless's Ladies1999 · as Himself
• Wild Wild West: Evil Devices1999 · as Himself
• The Periwig-Maker1999 · as Periwig-maker (voice)
• IMAX: Galapagos 3D1999 · as Narrator
• Wild Wild West1999 · as Dr. Arliss Loveless
• It's a Whole New West: The Making of 'Wild, Wild West'1999 · as Self
• The Theory of Flight1999 · as Richard
• The Dance of Shiva1998 · as Colonel Evans
• Universal Horror1998 · as Narrator
• Celebrity1998 · as Lee Simon
• The Proposition1998 · as Father Michael McKinnon
• The Gingerbread Man1998 · as Rick Magruder
• Hamlet1996 · as Prince Hamlet
• Looking for Richard1996 · as Self - Interviewee
• Othello1995 · as Iago
• Shadow of a Gunman1995 · as Donal Davoren
• Anne Frank Remembered1995 · as Narration (voice)
• Mary Shelley's Frankenstein1994 · as Victor Frankenstein
• It's Alive: The True Story of Frankenstein1994 · as Self
• Much Ado About Nothing1993 · as Benedick
• Swing Kids1993 · as Herr Knopp, Gestapo (uncredited)
• Peter's Friends1992 · as Andrew Benson
• Symphony for the Spire1992
• Dead Again1991 · as Roman Strauss / Mike Church
• Discovering Hamlet1990 · as Himself / Hamlet
• Look Back in Anger1989 · as Jimmy Porter
• Henry V1989 · as Henry V
• Thames Wallah1988 · as Narrator
• A Month in the Country1987 · as James Moon
• High Season1987 · as Rick
• Ghosts1987 · as Oswald Alving
• Lorna1987 · as Billy Martin
• The Lady's Not For Burning1987 · as Thomas Mendip
• Coming Through1985 · as D.H. Lawrence
• A Coming to Terms for Billy1984 · as Billy Martin
• A Matter of Choice for Billy1983 · as Billy Martin
• To the Lighthouse1983 · as Charles Tansley
• Easter 20161982 · as Student
• Too Late to Talk to Billy1982 · as Billy Martin
• Chariots of Fire1981 · as Cambridge Student at Society Day (uncredited)
• The Goblin— · as (voice)
• The Making of Dunkirk— · as Self

All TV Shows (41)

• The American Revolution2025 · as (voice)
• BLUE EYE SAMURAI2023 · as Abijah Fowler (voice)
• This England2022 · as Boris Johnson
• Remembers…2022 · as Self
• The Kelly Clarkson Show2019 · as Self
• The Late Show with Stephen Colbert2015 · as Self
• Late Night with Seth Meyers2014 · as Self
• Wallander2008 · as Kurt Wallander
• 10 Days to War2008 · as Colonel Tim Collins
• The Graham Norton Show2007 · as Self
• The Graham Norton Show2007 · as Self - Guest
• El hormiguero2006 · as Self
• Walking with Monsters2005 · as Narrator (voice)
• The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson2005 · as Self
• The Ellen DeGeneres Show2003 · as Self
• World War I in Colour2003 · as Narrator
• Real Time with Bill Maher2003 · as Self
• Shackleton2002 · as Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton
• Walking with Beasts2001 · as Narrator
• Big Al2000 · as Narrator
• Walking with Dinosaurs1999 · as Self - Narrator (voice)
• Cold War1998
• Parkinson1998 · as Self
• The View1997 · as Self
• Leute heute1997 · as Self
• Cinema Europe: The Other Hollywood1995
• Late Night with Conan O'Brien1993 · as Self - Guest
• Performance1991 · as Donal Davoren
• Thompson1988 · as Self
• American Experience1988 · as Narrator (voice)
• Strange Interlude1988 · as Gordon Evans
• Fortunes of War1987 · as Guy Pringle
• Theatre Night1985 · as Oswald Alving
• The Boy in the Bush1984 · as Jack Grant
• Wogan1982 · as Self
• Play for Today1970
• Omnibus1967
• The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson1962 · as Self
• Tony Awards1956 · as Self
• The Oscars1953 · as Self
• Golden Globe Awards1944 · as Self - Nominee