ArkaEvren
Kenneth Branagh

ACTOR · BORN 1960

Kenneth Branagh

Born
10 December 1960
Known for
Thor (2011), Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004), Wild Wild West (1999), Manhattan (1979)

9 archived facts 3 topics 1 source Last reviewed Nov 2026

Kenneth Branagh (born 10 December 1960) is an actor best known for Thor, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and Wild Wild West.

9 Interesting Facts About Kenneth Branagh

Interesting Facts (6)

  1. #001

    He claims that Derek Jacobi is the reason he went into acting, and that this is why he has frequently collaborated with Jacobi on most of his films.

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport
  2. #002

    In one of his Shakespeare films, he frequently moves the camera around his actors while they deliver a monologue or converse.

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport
  3. #003

    Kenneth Branagh has directed two people who played Batman: Christian Bale in Henry V (1989) and Michael Keaton in Much Ado About Nothing (1993).

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport
  4. #004

    Kenneth Branagh's four-hour version of Hamlet was the only film to shoot the entire play, and it featured many actors who would not normally appear in a Shakespeare play or film, such as Jack Lemmon and Charlton Heston.

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport
  5. #005

    Kenneth Branagh served as director for a time during the early stages of production on Dragonheart.

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport
  6. #006

    Kenneth Branagh wrote many of the characters in A Midwinter's Tale (1995) for specific actors.

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport

Career & Awards (1)

  1. #007

    Kenneth Branagh shares two film roles with Laurence Olivier: Henry V and Hamlet. He and Olivier each directed their own performances in both films. Branagh also directed Sleuth (2007), a remake of the 1972 film starring Olivier; this time Michael Caine played Olivier's role while Jude Law took the second of the two roles Caine had played, having previously appeared in Alfie (2004). Branagh also played the lead in the Naxos audiobook CD of William Shakespeare's "Richard III", another role Olivier had played. Branagh portrayed Laurence Olivier in My Week with Marilyn (2011) and was nominated for the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for the performance.

    CAREER & AWARDS · SOURCED

    ShareReport

Life & Family (2)

  1. #008

    Kenneth Branagh has been a fan of Thor since childhood. When Marvel Studios chose him to direct the film adaptation, they sent him the entire run of the Marvel Thor comic book series as reference material for the character.

    LIFE & FAMILY · SOURCED

    ShareReport
  2. #009

    Although Kenneth Branagh played Cherie Lunghi's son in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994), in real life he is only eight years younger than her.

    LIFE & FAMILY · SOURCED

    ShareReport

Related pages

  • Withnail & I — Kenneth Branagh comes up in the facts on that page
  • The Crucible — Kenneth Branagh comes up in the facts on that page
  • José Ferrer — Kenneth Branagh comes up in the facts on that page

Sources & editorial notes

Reference databases

  • Wikipedia English Wikipedia article
  • IMDb IMDb name page (biography and trivia)

Information from external sources is independently selected, consolidated and edited by Arka Evren. Sources are listed for verification and further reading. Encyclopedia text is used under its licence (CC BY-SA). How we work