Kenneth Branagh: A Life In Pictures

Kenneth Branagh, multi-BAFTA-winning My Week With Marilyn and Wallander actor has opened up about his career and how it feels to be an actor today.

Talking about his career during a special Life in Pictures interview with Francine Stock on 18 November 2011, he said:

“I came into a business where it felt as though the film industry in this country seemed to be going through one of its periodic troughs, it was often famine or feast – it seemed ludicrous to imagine that one could have a film career.”

Kenneth Branagh on stage. Credit: BAFTA/ J Simonds

Kenneth Branagh being interviewed by Francine Stock. Credit: BAFTA/ J Simonds

Kenneth Branagh said "it seemed ludicrous to imagine that one could have a film career". Credit: BAFTA/ J Simonds

"I played Dougal in The Magic Roundabout in a touring production. We toured to other schools, I was ten years old, I was covered in a brown blanket. It was not a successful impersonation of Dougal." Credit: BAFTA / J. Simonds

An audience member asks Branagh a question.

Branagh recalls Woody Allen's letter, offering him a role in Celebrity: "Lee Simon is essentially a loser, but he is attractive to women, therefore no facial hair." Credit: BAFTA / J. Simonds

A BAFTA veteran

Having won three out of the seven BAFTA’s he has been nominated for, Kenneth Branagh is rightly considered to be a bit of a BAFTA veteran.

During childhood he was involved in school plays, including a performance as Dougal in The Magic Roundabout then after emerging from RADA, the actor and filmmaker established himself by performing in Shakespearean adaptations. This included Henry V (for which he gained a BAFTA nomination for his portrayal of the eponymous king), Hamlet and Much Ado About Nothing. Aside from this, Branagh also had a role in the film Celebrity working with Woody Allen.

More recently he directed blockbuster superhero movie Thor and starred in My Week With Marilyn and TV drama Wallander for which he won a BAFTA in 2009.

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