Kenneth Branagh

format_quote There is some mysterious thing that goes on whereby, in the process of playing Shakespeare continuously, actors are surprised by the way the language actually acts on them.

stars  He is a strong supporter of Belfast football team Linfield, as well as Tottenham Hotspur and Glasgow Rangers.

stars  Ex-brother-in-law of Sophie Thompson and Richard Lumsden.

stars  In 1990, he received an honorary doctorate in Literature from Queen's University (located in Belfast, Northern Ireland).

stars  The last film he made with Emma Thompson was Much Ado About Nothing (1993). Their roles had previously been played in an earlier film by Robert Stephens and Maggie Smith, who were also a couple at the time. Branagh and Thompson appeared together in "Fortunes of War" (1987) (mini) and Henry V (1989), which also featured Stephens, and in the Harry Potter films with Smith.

stars  Shares two roles with Laurence Olivier: Henry V and Hamlet. He and Olivier also both directed their own performances in both films. He also directed Sleuth (2007), a remake of the 1972 film, in which Olivier starred. This time, Michael Caine played Olivier's part, while Jude Law played the second of two roles he shared with Caine--having previously appeared in Alfie (2004).