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