Kenneth Branagh
Photoplayd Industry Rating
Roles are weighted by involvement: director 1.0, screenwriter 0.7, lead 0.8, supporting 0.4, crew 0.1.
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
Credits
Wild Wild West (1999)
as Dr. Arliss Loveless
1 watch
🍿 5.0
Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
as Asgardian Distress Call (voice) (uncredited)
Oppenheimer (2023)
as Niels Bohr
Mayday (2026)
as Nikolai Ustinov
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)
as Gilderoy Lockhart
The Devil Wears Prada 2 (2026)
as Stuart
Death on the Nile (2022)
as Hercule Poirot
Tenet (2020)
as Sator
Dunkirk (2017)
as Commander Bolton
A Haunting in Venice (2023)
as Hercule Poirot
Murder on the Orient Express (2017)
as Hercule Poirot
The Road to El Dorado (2000)
as Miguel (voice)
Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014)
as Viktor Cherevin
Valkyrie (2008)
as Henning von Tresckow
The King of Kings (2025)
as Charles Dickens (voice)
Chariots of Fire (1981)
as Cambridge Student at Society Day (uncredited)
The Boat That Rocked (2009)
as Dormandy
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994)
as Victor Frankenstein
My Week with Marilyn (2011)
as Sir Laurence Olivier
Much Ado About Nothing (1993)
as Benedick
The Thomas Crown Affair (2027)
Actor
Fireheart (2022)
as Shawn Nolan (voice)
Dead Again (1991)
as Roman Strauss / Mike Church
Marvel Studios: Assembling a Universe (2014)
as Self
Five Children and It (2004)
as Uncle Albert
Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope (2011)
as Self
Celebrity (1998)
as Lee Simon
Swing Kids (1993)
as Herr Knopp, Gestapo (uncredited)
Henry V (1989)
as Henry V
Hamlet (1996)
as Prince Hamlet
Looking for Richard (1996)
as Self - Interviewee
Love's Labour's Lost (2000)
as Berowne
Conspiracy (2001)
as Reinhard Heydrich
As You Like It (2006)
as Self (voice)
Sleuth (2007)
as Other Man on T.V.
With Great Power: The Stan Lee Story (2010)
as Self
The Proposition (1998)
as Father Michael McKinnon
Rabbit-Proof Fence (2002)
as A. O. Neville
The Gingerbread Man (1998)
as Rick Magruder
All Is True (2018)
as William Shakespeare
A Month in the Country (1987)
as James Moon
Peter's Friends (1992)
as Andrew Benson
Warm Springs (2005)
as Franklin Delano Roosevelt
How to Kill Your Neighbor's Dog (2002)
as Peter McGowan
Othello (1995)
as Iago
Atonement (2026)
as Michael Reid
Denzel Washington: A Model American (2022)
as Self
The Theory of Flight (1999)
as Richard
Maverick: The Epic Adventures of David Lean (2026)
as David Lean (voice)
The Periwig-Maker (1999)
as Periwig-maker (voice)
Branagh Theatre Live: The Entertainer (2016)
as Archie Rice
Lon Chaney: A Thousand Faces (2000)
as Self / Narrator
Thor: From Asgard to Earth (2011)
as Self
London 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony: Isles of Wonder (2012)
as Isambard Kingdom Brunel
National Theatre Live: Macbeth (2013)
as Macbeth
1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year (2009)
as Narrator (voice)
Altman on His Own Terms (2000)
as Self
Branagh Theatre Live: The Winter's Tale (2015)
as Leontes
It's Alive: The True Story of Frankenstein (1994)
as Self
High Season (1987)
as Rick
The Tramp and the Dictator (2002)
as Narrator (voice)
Shadow of a Gunman (1995)
as Donal Davoren
Lorna (1987)
as Billy Martin
Peter O'Toole: Along the Sky Road to Aqaba (2022)
as Self
The Magic Touch of Harry Potter (2004)
as Self
Mindhorn (2016)
as Himself
A Night at the Movies: The Gigantic World of Epics (2009)
as Self
Looking at the World in a New Way: The Making of ‘Tenet’ (2020)
as Self
James Ellis: An Actor's Life (2007)
as Himself
Cecil B. DeMille: American Epic (2004)
as Narrator (voice)
Thames Wallah (1988)
as Narrator
The Book That Wrote Itself (2000)
as Kenneth Branagh
Symphony for the Spire (1992)
Actor
A Night at the Movies: The Suspenseful World of Thrillers (2009)
as Self
It's a Whole New West: The Making of 'Wild, Wild West' (1999)
as Self
Goblin (—)
as (voice)
A Coming to Terms for Billy (1984)
as Billy Martin
Look Back in Anger (1989)
as Jimmy Porter
Too Late to Talk to Billy (1982)
as Billy Martin
Alien Love Triangle (2008)
as Steven Chesterman
Tea with Judi Dench featuring Kenneth Branagh (2025)
as Self
Wild Wild West: Evil Devices (1999)
as Himself
Stars in Shorts (2012)
as Mark Snow
The Lady's Not For Burning (1987)
as Thomas Mendip
Following the Rabbit-Proof Fence (2003)
as Himself / Narrator
To the Lighthouse (1983)
as Charles Tansley
The Dance of Shiva (1998)
as Colonel Evans
Stephen Fry: 50 Not Out (2007)
as Self
Prodigal (2011)
as Mark Snow
Anne Frank Remembered (1995)
as Narration (voice)
Wild Wild West: Loveless's Ladies (1999)
as Himself
Lost Lives (2019)
as Narrator
The Goebbels Experiment (2005)
as Narrator (voice)
Discovering Hamlet (2011)
as Hamlet (archive footage)
Triumph of the Beasts (2001)
as Narrator (voice)
Universal Horror (1998)
as Narrator
A Matter of Choice for Billy (1983)
as Billy Martin
Easter 2016 (1982)
as Student
IMAX: Galapagos 3D (1999)
as Narrator
Coming Through (1985)
as D.H. Lawrence
Discovering Hamlet (1990)
as Himself / Hamlet
Ghosts (1987)
as Oswald Alving
The Making of Walking with Dinosaurs (2000)
as Narrator
Schneider's 2nd Stage (2001)
as Joseph Barnett
The Beasts Within (2001)
as Narrator (voice)
Walking with Monsters (2005)
as Narrator (voice)
Allosaurus A Walking With Dinosaurs Special (—)
as Narrator
Marvel Studios: The First 10 Years - More Than a Hero (2018)
as Self