
Kenneth Branagh
Acting • Born 1960-12-10
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).
Filmography
145 credits
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Movie • 2002
Gilderoy Lockhart

The Road to El Dorado
Movie • 2000
Miguel (voice)

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
Movie • 1994
Victor Frankenstein

Valkyrie
Movie • 2008
Henning von Tresckow

Hamlet
Movie • 1996
Prince Hamlet

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

Henry V
Movie • 1989
Henry V

Sleuth
Movie • 2007
Other Man on T.V.

Peter's Friends
Movie • 1992
Andrew Benson

Dead Again
Movie • 1991
Roman Strauss / Mike Church

Much Ado About Nothing
Movie • 1993
Benedick

Wild Wild West
Movie • 1999
Dr. Arliss Loveless

Celebrity
Movie • 1998
Lee Simon

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

Rabbit-Proof Fence
Movie • 2002
A. O. Neville

Conspiracy
Movie • 2001
Reinhard Heydrich

The Gingerbread Man
Movie • 1998
Rick Magruder

Walking with Monsters
Movie • 2005
Narrator (voice)

How to Kill Your Neighbor's Dog
Movie • 2002
Peter McGowan

A Month in the Country
Movie • 1987
James Moon

Othello
Movie • 1995
Iago

Five Children and It
Movie • 2004
Uncle Albert

Warm Springs
Movie • 2005
Franklin Delano Roosevelt

IMAX: Galapagos 3D
Movie • 1999
Narrator

The Periwig-Maker
Movie • 1999
Periwig-maker (voice)

The Boat That Rocked
Movie • 2009
Dormandy

Love's Labour's Lost
Movie • 2000
Berowne

My Week with Marilyn
Movie • 2011
Sir Laurence Olivier

The Theory of Flight
Movie • 1999
Richard

Mayday
Movie • 2026
Nikolai Ustinov

With Great Power: The Stan Lee Story
Movie • 2010
Self

A Haunting in Venice
Movie • 2023
Hercule Poirot

High Season
Movie • 1987
Rick

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

Ghosts
Movie • 1987
Oswald Alving

Universal Horror
Movie • 1998
Narrator

Stars in Shorts
Movie • 2012
Mark Snow

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit
Movie • 2014
Viktor Cherevin

Following the Rabbit-Proof Fence
Movie • 2003
Himself / Narrator

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

The Magic Touch of Harry Potter
Movie • 2004
Self

Discovering Hamlet
Movie • 2011
Hamlet (archive footage)

National Theatre Live: Macbeth
Movie • 2013
Macbeth

Shadow of a Gunman
Movie • 1995
Donal Davoren

The Making of Walking with Dinosaurs
Movie • 2000
Narrator

Look Back in Anger
Movie • 1989
Jimmy Porter

Discovering Hamlet
Movie • 1990
Himself / Hamlet

Looking for Richard
Movie • 1996
Self - Interviewee

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

Easter 2016
Movie • 1982
Student

Lon Chaney: A thousand faces
Movie • 2000
Self / Narrator

Alien Love Triangle
Movie • 2008
Steven Chesterman

Oppenheimer
Movie • 2023
Niels Bohr

The Proposition
Movie • 1998
Father Michael McKinnon

Schneider's 2nd Stage
Movie • 2001
Joseph Barnett

Stephen Fry: 50 Not Out
Movie • 2007
Self

Marvel Studios: Assembling a Universe
Movie • 2014
Self

Denzel Washington: A Model American
Movie • 2022
Self

As You Like It
Movie • 2006
Self (voice)

The Dance of Shiva
Movie • 1998
Colonel Evans

Branagh Theatre Live: The Winter's Tale
Movie • 2015
Leontes

The King of Kings
Movie • 2025
Charles Dickens (voice)

Dunkirk
Movie • 2017
Commander Bolton

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

Murder on the Orient Express
Movie • 2017
Hercule Poirot

Coming Through
Movie • 1985
D.H. Lawrence

Anne Frank Remembered
Movie • 1995
Narration (voice)

The Tramp and the Dictator
Movie • 2002
Narrator (voice)

A Coming to Terms for Billy
Movie • 1984
Billy Martin

A Matter of Choice for Billy
Movie • 1983
Billy Martin

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

The Book That Wrote Itself
Movie • 2000
Kenneth Branagh

Prodigal
Movie • 2011
Mark Snow

Branagh Theatre Live: The Entertainer
Movie • 2016
Archie Rice

To the Lighthouse
Movie • 1983
Charles Tansley

The Lady's Not For Burning
Movie • 1987
Thomas Mendip

Swing Kids
Movie • 1993
Herr Knopp, Gestapo (uncredited)

Mindhorn
Movie • 2016
Himself

Death on the Nile
Movie • 2022
Hercule Poirot

Triumph of the Beasts
Movie • 2001
Narrator (voice)

The Beasts Within
Movie • 2001
Narrator (voice)

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

All Is True
Movie • 2018
William Shakespeare

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

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

Too Late to Talk to Billy
Movie • 1982
Billy Martin

Lorna
Movie • 1987
Billy Martin

James Ellis: An Actor's Life
Movie • 2007
Himself

Tenet
Movie • 2020
Sator

Lost Lives
Movie • 2019

Thor: From Asgard to Earth
Movie • 2011
Self

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

Wild Wild West: Loveless's Ladies
Movie • 1999
Himself

Wild Wild West: Evil Devices
Movie • 1999
Himself

Fireheart
Movie • 2022
Shawn Nolan (voice)

Thames Wallah
Movie • 1988
Narrator

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

Altman on His Own Terms
Movie • 2000
Self

Atonement
Movie
Michael Reid

The Devil Wears Prada 2
Movie • 2026

The Thomas Crown Affair
Movie • 2027

Marvel Studios: Building a Cinematic Universe
Movie • 2012
Self

Symphony for the Spire
Movie • 1992

The Goblin
Movie
(voice)

The Goebbels Experiment
Movie • 2005
Narrator (voice)

Tea with Judi Dench
Movie • 2025
Self

Walking with Beasts
TV • 2001
Narrator

The Ellen DeGeneres Show
TV • 2003
Self

The View
TV • 1997
Self

Late Night with Conan O'Brien
TV • 1993
Self - Guest

Big Al
TV • 2000
Narrator

Play for Today
TV • 1970

Cold War
TV • 1998

Shackleton
TV • 2002
Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton

Fortunes of War
TV • 1987
Guy Pringle

The Oscars
TV • 1953
Self

Thompson
TV • 1988
Self

Cinema Europe: The Other Hollywood
TV • 1995

BLUE EYE SAMURAI
TV • 2023
Abijah Fowler (voice)

Performance
TV • 1991
Donal Davoren

The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
TV • 2005
Self

El hormiguero
TV • 2006
Self

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
TV • 2015
Self

The Boy in the Bush
TV • 1984
Jack Grant

This England
TV • 2022
Boris Johnson

Real Time with Bill Maher
TV • 2003
Self

Late Night with Seth Meyers
TV • 2014
Self

American Experience
TV • 1988
Narrator (voice)

Walking with Dinosaurs
TV • 1999
Self - Narrator (voice)

World War 1 in Colour
TV • 2003
Narrator

Wogan
TV • 1982
Self

The Graham Norton Show
TV • 2007
Self

The Kelly Clarkson Show
TV • 2019
Self

Leute heute
TV • 1997
Self

10 Days to War
TV • 2008
Colonel Tim Collins

The Graham Norton Show
TV • 2007
Self - Guest

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
TV • 1962
Self

Walking with Monsters
TV • 2005
Narrator (voice)

Parkinson
TV • 1998
Self

Theatre Night
TV • 1985
Oswald Alving

Golden Globe Awards
TV • 1944
Self - Nominee

Wallander
TV • 2008
Kurt Wallander

The American Revolution
TV • 2025
(voice)

Remembers…
TV • 2022
Self

Strange Interlude
TV • 1988
Gordon Evans