Kenneth Branagh battles doubt as actor

THE BULLETIN
By Luaine Lee / Tribune News Service
Published May 4, 2016 at 12:02AM

TV SPOTLIGHT “WALLANDER” 9 P.M. SUNDAYS, PBS

PASADENA, Calif. — Though Kenneth Branagh is perched at the top of his game — both in directing and acting — 10 years ago he had serious doubts.

The star of such films as “My Week with Marilyn” and “Hamlet,” and the director of movies like “Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit,” “Cinderella” and “Thor,” Branagh could paper his house with accolades, throw in a knighthood, a theater company and a panoply of memorable performances.

But he says, “I found in my 40s a time when I found acting extremely difficult and very pressurized. And I didn’t want to quit, but I had to get over the hump of it. It began when I was playing in ‘Conspiracy’ for HBO.”

“Conspiracy” was about the meeting of Nazi officials held to determine the “final solution for the Jewish question.” Branagh played SS Gen. Reinhard Heydrich, the leader of the conference.

“It lasted for quite a few years where it was much harder to lose yourself in a character,” he says. “It started there because I didn’t want to be part of that man’s psyche, and it felt like one became rather self-conscious about what one was doing. And really, where I rediscovered joy with acting was when ‘Wallander’ began.”

“Wallander” is the PBS series on “Masterpiece Mystery!” about a melancholic Swedish detective, filled with quiet desperation as he observes the worst among us. The final three episodes begin airing Sunday.

“In a way it was because you stripped artifice away, and you became very comfortable with being uncomfortable,” he says. “You realized that to play something like this it just wouldn’t or couldn’t be easy. Just trying to present the truth under the unflinching gaze of the film camera, you had no choice but to commit. And somehow it put me out of the other side of a period where I’d been just not enjoying it for a long time, still committed to it, but finding it very, very difficult.”

He says he began to ponder the meaning of his work. “Sometimes you have to shake yourself down to understand how a piece of entertainment can be quite meaningful to people, or at the very least, enjoyable and diverting. And this is not a bad thing to be able to do. I think during that time, I lost a little that sense of purpose, in a way that sounds like it’s ego-led about legacy, but it’s more about finding a purpose.”

Branagh was born in Belfast. His mother worked in a tobacco factory, his dad was a plumber and carpenter. “It was a working class district of Belfast,” he says. “We lived in a very small house. We were working class rather than poor. We always had clothes and food. There were tangible moments in my childhood when I knew there wasn’t — that they were having a tough time.”


READ MORE HERE: http://www.bendbulletin.com/entertainment/4275679-151/kenneth-branagh-battles-doubt-as-actor#

Eddie Redmayne Cosies Up To Girlfriend Hannah Bagshawe At GQ

LOOK MAGAZINE
4 September, 2013

Eddie Redmayne made us 'awww' at the GQ Men Of The Year Awards 2013 last night as he cuddled up to girlfriend Hannah Bagshawe aka. the luckiest girl in the world.

The cute couple celebrated Eddie's Remy Martin Breakthrough Award by partying the night away with celeb pals Alexa Chung and Daisy Lowe, and it's certainly not the first time the pair have been making us a little bit sick with jealousy by cuddling up on the red carpet.

PR exec Hannah went for an understated yet stunning look in a cream crop top and flared black and beige skirt. She finished off her look with a pair of black stilettos and a chic colourblock clutch - we want!

Eddie, not one to be outdone by his beautiful girlfriend, rocked up in a suave plaid Gucci suit with a classic white shirt and houndstooth tie. If only we could get our fellas into such a stylish get up

Read more at http://www.look.co.uk/news/eddie-redmayne-cosies-up-to-girlfriend-hannah-bagshawe-at-gq#sbMqqSemcVzUyyZR.99 

Eddie Redmayne Poses For GQ US: See The Pictures We're Obsessed With By Rebecca Martin (MARIE CLAIRE)

Eddie Redmayne managed to capture our hearts way back when he was wooing Michelle Williams in My Week With Marilyn – but for those who haven't succumbed to his British charms just yet – well, you're about to.

Read more at http://www.marieclaire.co.uk/news/celebrity/543500/eddie-redmayne-poses-for-gq-us-see-the-pictures-we-re-obsessed-with.html#ftB84rLuC1lPkEOC.99  

Eddie Redmayne And Girlfriend Hannah Bagshawe Cosy Up At Wimbledon By Eleanor Young - Tuesday 2 July 2013 (MARIE CLAIRE)

Eddie Redmayne and girlfriend Hannah Bagshawe looked closer than ever as they cosied up at Wimbledon earlier today. The super-cute twosome put on a rare PDA as they took front row seats in the royal box at the All England club to watch the famous tennis championship.

Eddie's Wimbledon appearance comes just weeks after he took to the court himself, to play a charity tennis match.

The actor showed off his ball skills during a tournament at Queen's Tennis Club, partnering sporting ace Tim Henman for one of a series of Rally Against Cancer games.


http://www.marieclaire.co.uk/news/celebrity/543418/eddie-redmayne-and-girlfriend-hannah-bagshawe-cosy-up-at-wimbledon.html#KvtA0Sau2xjGXhUi.99

Eddie Redmayne To Play Stephen Hawking In Working Title’s ‘Theory Of Everything’ By MIKE FLEMING JR | Wednesday June 12, 2013 @ 6:20pm (DEADLINE HOLLYWOOD)

EXCLUSIVE: After crushing it on Les Miserables, Eddie Redmayne is being fought over for his next lead role. I heard that he’s going to land on Theory Of Everything, and that he’ll play physicist Stephen Hawking in the film that Working Title is fast assembling with director James Marsh, who shared the Best Documentary Oscar for Man On Wire. The film focus is on the relationship between Hawking and his wife and it marks a re-team of the actor and Working Title partners Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner from Les Miserables. They are actively discussing the female lead, with an early fall start being eyed. Redmayne has also been courted to star with Carey Mulligan and Matthias Schoenaerts in the Thomas Vinterberg-directed Far From The Madding Crowd, but I believe that his priority is the Hawking project written by Anthony McCarten.

READ MORE: http://www.deadline.com/2013/06/eddie-redmayne-to-play-stephen-hawking-in-working-titles-theory-of-everything/

Eddie Redmayne takes flight from Birdsong (TELEGRAPH)

Eddie Redmayne, who made a big success of the television version of Birdsong, says he has no desire to star in the planned cinema version.

By Tim Walker7:15AM BST 02 Jun 2013

Rupert Wyatt may have announced to great fanfare that he was about to make a big-screen version of Sebastian Faulks’s bestselling novel Birdsong, but the author told me last month that he had not yet signed anything. “I only want to see it be made into a film if it is a very good one,” he said. “Nothing is definite.”

In what amounts to a further cold bird bath for Wyatt, Eddie Redmayne, who made such a success out of playing the central character Stephen Wraysford in the BBC television adaptation of the book, has now made it patently clear that, despite some early speculation, he never had any interest in reprising the role for the cinema.

“I wouldn’t have wanted to be in the film because I think when you’ve done it, you can’t come back,” the amiable 31-year-old actor told me at the first night of The Great Gatsby ballet at Sadler’s Wells. “Honestly, doing it once is enough.”

Redmayne, who has been on a roll with his film career after My Week with Marilyn and Les Misérables, added that he was happy to hear that Wyatt planned to cast fellow British actor Nicholas Hoult in the role of Wraysford. “I couldn’t think of a better actor for the role,” he said, generously. “I won’t be giving Nick any advice because he won’t need it.”

Redmayne didn’t think that the public had had its fill of Birdsong. “They have done it on television and on the stage now, and so it makes sense, too, to do it for the cinema. It is a really beautiful piece of writing and it deserves every adaptation it can get.”

READ MORE: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mandrake/10093187/Eddie-Redmayne-takes-flight-from-Birdsong.html

KENNETH BRANAGH: Manchester Interational Festival to Feature Kenneth Branagh, Rob Ashford, Robert Wilson, Willem Dafoe, Mikhail Baryshnikov By Mark Shenton 28 Feb 2013 (PLAYBILL)

Kenneth Branagh

Photo by Ryan Miller/Capture Imaging

This year's Manchester International Festival will feature newly commissioned productions from actors and directors that include Kenneth Branagh and Rob Ashford (co-directing Macbeth starring Branagh), Robert Wilson (directing Willem Dafoe and Mikhail Baryshnikov in The Old Woman) and Maxine Peake and Sarah Frankcom, who will collaborate on Shelley's epic poem The Masque of Anarchy.

Macbeth will run July 5-21 in a deconsecrated Manchester church, for which details of the meeting place will be revealed to ticket holders beforehand. Kenneth Branagh, who last appeared in Shakespeare in the title role of Richard III at Sheffield Crucible in 2002, will play the title role, and co-direct with Rob Ashford. During the run, there will also be a one-off live relay on a big outdoor screen at the NCP Bridgewater Hall Car Park July 20.

READ MORE: http://www.playbill.com/news/article/175428-Manchester-Interational-Festival-to-Feature-Kenneth-Branagh-Rob-Ashford-Robert-Wilson-Willem-Dafoe-Mikhail-Baryshnikov

Kenneth Branagh Honoured By The Queen: Thats SIR Kenneth Now 11 November 2012 (CONTACT MUSIC)

Kenneth Branagh was honoured by the Queen at Buckingham Palace earlier this week, receiving his knighthood from the royal following his awarding of the title during her birthday honours list in June this year.

The actor, director and writer, who also had a starring role in Danny Boyle's opening ceremony for this years Olympics, taking on the role of famed Victorian industrialist Isambard Kingdom Brunel, received his honour from the Queen, saying after to the BBC that he felt "humble, elated and incredibly lucky" to be bestowed with such an honour.

Known best for his Shakespearean roles, most notably Henry V, as well as his role on television as the Swedish detective Wallander on the BBC of the same name, Branagh was recognised for his ongoing services to drama, which have spanned more than three decades already.


READ MORE: http://www.contactmusic.com/news/kenneth-branagh-honoured-by-the-queen-thats-sir-kenneth-now_3367423

Michelle Williams' little lady Matilda looks just like her late father Heath Ledger By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

At six years old, Michelle Williams' daughter Matilda is now quite the little lady.

And as she ages, she looks even more like her late father, Heath Ledger.

But it seems she has inherited the My Week With Marilyn star's flair for fashion.


Matilda is displaying a healthy affection for clothes, just like the exquisitely turned out Oscar nominee.

Both showed off their varying tastes over the weekend while strolling around their neighbourhood of Brooklyn, New York.

While the My Week With Marilyn star plays with colour in subtle ways, her daughter, like most little girls, seems to have the mentality that more colour, the merrier.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2131201/Michelle-Williams-little-lady-Matilda-looks-just-like-late-father-Heath-Ledger.html

Kenneth Branagh Remembers Dad With Badly-Made Garden Bench (FEMALE FIRST)

My Week With Marilyn star Kenneth Branagh has a permanent reminder of his late father in his back garden - a badly made bench.

The Thor director's dad was a master craftsman, who found his son's woodwork efforts hilarious.

Branagh explains, "My father built everything we ever lived in. In another life, I would have gone into business with my dad and would have been proud to; he was a master. I'm a liability when it comes to DIY (do-it-yourself handiwork). "I rather proudly made a bench, a garden bench that sits in my garden to this day."

READ MORE: http://www.femalefirst.co.uk/entertainment/Kenneth+Branagh-250483.html

Sir Ken's Swede success: Despite being the star of hit TV detective series Wallander, just-knighted Kenneth Branagh insists he's still plain Ken By RICHARD BARBER PUBLISHED: 18:00 EST, 28 June 2012 | UPDATED: 16:31 EST, 29 June 2012 (MAIL ON LINE)

You have to wonder what the dour Swedish TV detective Kurt Wallander would make of it all. A knighthood for Kenneth Branagh?

The very thought of the honour, which was announced earlier this month, is enough to bring on one of Wallander’s deep, brooding pauses.

He’d settle back in his iconic leather chair and stare into the Baltic sunset while the machinery of his mind – as trusty and as plodding as his Volvo – cranked into action and analysed every possible permutation of response.


Branagh, 51, who has played Wallander for four years, thinks he knows precisely what his alter ego’s reaction would be. His face lights up in a distinctly un-Wallanderish smile. ‘Of course, the Swedes have a royal family of their own,’ he says, ‘but Kurt’s pretty much a dyed-in-the-wool republican, so I don’t think he’d have any truck with titles.’


The reaction of the author of the best-selling Wallander stories, the avowedly left-wing Henning Mankell, is much the same as his creation’s would be, says Branagh. ‘But he’s got a terrific sense of humour so he’s been very funny about it, which is exactly what I’d have expected. He’s been ribbing me about it ever since the news came out. Fair game, as far as I’m concerned.’

Mankell, 64, chooses his words as carefully as Wallander would. ‘The Swedish people are very happy for him,’ he says diplomatically. ‘Their view seems to be, “You may beat us at soccer but we’re partly responsible for Branagh’s knighthood.” He’s very well liked and they approve of the way he plays Wallander.’





Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2166409/Sir-Kens-Swede-success-Despite-star-hit-TV-detective-series-Wallander-just-knighted-Kenneth-Branagh-insists-hes-plain-Ken.html#ixzz1zEjcH2ny

Sir Kenneth Branagh reveals why he is ready to graciously accept his knighthood By LIZ THOMAS (MAIL ON LINE)

Humbled: Kenneth and his wife, pictured last week at the Cartier Polo

Sir Kenneth Branagh has revealed age and experience are behind his decisions to embrace his Knighthood after declining his CBE.

The actor declined the Commander of the British Empire honour in 1994 when he was in his mid-thirties.

This week the 51-year-old was knighted in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List, and he admitted he now felt it would be churlish to turn down one of the highest accolades in British society.

He said: ‘I was genuinely shocked when I got it. I didn’t know what it was all about. I had to consider it. I rejected the CBE.

'But at this stage in my life, my practise is, if people are kind enough to acknowledge what you do it seems polite not to say, “Thank you very much”.

‘The business I am in, we are very lucky. At the end of every stage performance the audience all applaud me for doing my job, but I have friends who work in offices who don’t get that.

Sir Kenneth added that he had been sworn to secrecy and had only told his wife, Lindsay, and admitted he even worried his response had got lost in the post.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2163452/Sir-Kenneth-Branagh-reveals-ready-graciously-accept-knighthood.html#ixzz1ycTcfE5F

Kate Winslet, Kenneth Branagh get royal honors June 15, 2012 -- 2:24 PM (EXAMINER)

LONDON (AP) — Kate Winslet has been honored by Queen Elizabeth II for her titanic contribution to the arts.

The actress, who won a best actress Academy Award in 2009 for "The Reader" and made her breakthrough as the feisty Rose in 1997 blockbuster "Titanic," has been named a Commander of the Order of the British Empire, or CBE, in the queen's Birthday Honors List, published Saturday.

Winslet said the honor made her "very proud to be a Brit."

"I am both surprised and honored to stand alongside so many men and woman who have achieved great things for our country," the 36-year-old star said.

Actor and director Kenneth Branagh was made a knight and will be known as Sir Kenneth. A respected Shakespearean actor whose films as a director range from "Henry V" and "Hamlet" to the comic-book fantasy "Thor," Branagh said he felt "humble, elated, and incredibly lucky" to get the honor. It puts him in a pantheon of theatrical knights alongside the late Sir Laurence Olivier, whom Branagh played in "My Life With Marilyn."

"When I was a kid, I dreamed of pulling on a shirt for the Northern Ireland football team," said the Belfast-born, 51-year-old actor. "I could only imagine how proud you might feel. Today it feels like they just gave me the shirt, and my heart's fit to burst."


READ MORE:  http://washingtonexaminer.com/entertainment/movies/2012/06/kate-winslet-kenneth-branagh-get-royal-honors/734971

Confirmed: Maggie Smith Staying with "Downton Abbey" Roger Friedman, Contributor (FORBES)

About ten days ago there were rampant reports that “Downton Abbey” was about to be torn apart. The popular series, shown here on PBS, would be losing star Maggie Smith as Lady Violet. Even the New York Times couldn’t get a definitive answer. So let me relieve you “Abbey” fans of all fears.

Co-star Elizabeth McGovern told me the other night that Dame Maggie is defintely staying. “I don’t know where that came from, but it’s not true.” McGovern — married to “My Week with Marilyn” director Simon Curtis, is American but has been living in the UK for years. She first came to prominence in Robert Redford’s “Ordinary People” in 1980.


READ MORE:  http://www.forbes.com/sites/rogerfriedman/2012/04/25/confirmed-maggie-smith-staying-with-downton-abbey/

‘Birdsong,’ Eddie Redmayne could appeal to ‘Downton Abbey’ fans Masterpiece, PBS, WUCF — posted by hal boedeker on April, 21 2012 9:33 AM (ORLANDO SENTINEL)

How to hold fans until “Downton Abbey” returns in January?

“Masterpiece” is working furiously on that challenge. The PBS series has a strong candidate in ”Birdsong,” a lavish, two-part romance that airs at 9 p.m. this Sunday and April 29. Like the second season of “Downton,” “Birdsong” unfolds during World War I. Based on Sebastian Faulks’ novel, “Birdsong” follows British Lt. Stephen Wraysford (Eddie Redmayne).

As he struggles to survive harrowing battles in 1916, he thinks back to his love for a married woman, Isabelle Azaire (Clemence Poesy) in 1910. “Masterpiece” has long been a showcase for actors such as Helen Mirren in ”Prime Suspect,” Derek Jacobi in “I, Claudius” and Maggie Smith in “Downton.”

”Masterpiece” also has bolstered young performers, notably Keira Knightley, who played Lara in a 2002 version of “Doctor Zhivago.” “Birdsong” should win new fans for Redmayne, who played the young admirer in “My Week With Marilyn,” works as a Burberry model and won a Tony for the play “Red.”

“Birdsong” reveals Redmayne’s range: He conveys an appealing boyishness in the 1910 sections, and in the 1916 portions, he looks aged and battered by war and memories.

READ MORE:  http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment_tv_tvblog/2012/04/birdsong-eddie-redmayne-could-appeal-to-downton-abbey-fans.html

Eddie Redmayne: "Birdsong" on Masterpiece Classic April 22 and 29

Watch Birdsong Preview on PBS. See more from Masterpiece.

In the ruinous trenches of northern France, Lieutenant Stephen Wraysford (Eddie Redmayne, My Week with Marilyn, Richard II) barely seems to register the death and destruction all around him. His eyes are fixed instead on his drawings and his deck of cards, and his mind is focused on the memory of his one love, Isabelle Azaire (Clémence Poesy, 127 Hours, Harry Potter). For Stephen, events unfolding on the Allied front in 1916 are eclipsed by his memories of the summer of 1910, when he met Isabelle in Amiens. When Isabelle leaves her oppressive husband René (Laurent Lafitte), the two lovers share a blissful existence that seems to make up for a lifetime of loneliness and isolation for Stephen. But their idyll is cut short when Isabelle leaves without explanation. Stephen battles the Germans on the front six years later, as he also battles his own internal grief and confusion over his loss. Adapted by Abi Morgan (Iron Lady, The Hour) from the Sebastian Faulks novel, Birdsong tells the story of Stephen's awakening to love and his determination to reclaim it.


READ MORE:  http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/birdsong/index.html?elq=f54272ab5c6c4a4fabffe30bf6ef3f2f&elqCampaignId=171

Kenneth Branagh: SF International Film Fest honor (CHRONICLE)

Chronicle Staff Report Tuesday, March 20, 2012

The San Francisco International Film Festival will give its Founder's Directing Award this year to Kenneth Branagh, and honor him with a tribute at the Castro Theatre.

The award will be made at the Film Society Awards Night, April 26. The tribute, which includes an onstage interview with Branagh, a clip reel and a screening of his "Dead Again" feature, takes place April 27. This year's festival, the 55th, runs April 19 to May 3.

Melanie Blum, the festival's interim executive director, said in a statement that Branagh is in "the midst of a much-lauded career that has included a number of the most innovative stagings of Shakespeare's work ever to be put on the screen."


READ MORE:  http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/03/20/DD931NN10O.DTL

Interview: Actor Kenneth Branagh (My Week with Marilyn) (EXAMINER)

(My husband Richie and I saw this movie and we loved it!)

Joseph Airdo
Phoenix Movie Examiner

Upon reading Adrian Hodges' screenplay for “My Week with Marilyn,” actor Kenneth Branagh became interested in the project primarily because it did not take the route of a conventional biography about Marilyn Monroe or Sir Laurence Olivier.

“I thought that it was very clever in the way that it took a single snapshot of a moment in their lives where there are lots of incidents that were revealing about their characters,” Branagh said during a recent interview with Examiner.com. “It offered a chance to look behind the public, iconic faces of these two characters and get a sense of who they could be and what their problems and challenges were like, which I feel to be very human, vulnerable and recognizable.”

In “My Week with Marilyn,” which will be available beginning Tuesday, March 13, Eddie Redmayne plays Colin Clark, a production assistant who introduces Monroe (Michelle Williams) to the pleasures of the British countryside during the filming of “The Prince and the Showgirl.” Branaugh plays Olivier, that film's director and Monroe's co-star.

“I very much enjoyed the detective work,” said Branagh, noting that he watched as many films and interviews featuring Olivier during that time in his life in order to get into character. “We went to great pains to get the right hair color and to get the eyebrows arched the way that his were. Then we came up with this prosthetic piece that would allow for this little cleft in his chin as this very striking, familiar feature of his face.”

In fact, Branagh said that his experience planning for the part was so immersive that he felt as though he was attending “Olivier University,” so to speak. Meanwhile, the actor added that simply walking on the set was a very intoxicating experience that essentially felt as though he had traveled through time. After all, “My Week with Marilyn” was shot on the same sound stage as “The Prince and the Showgirl.”


READ THE REST OF THIS INTERVIEW:  http://www.examiner.com/movie-in-phoenix/interview-actor-kenneth-branagh-my-week-with-marilyn

Kenneth Branagh channels Olivier (BUSINESS WORLD WEEKENDER)

BY ANGELA DAWSON,
Front Row FeaturesHOLLYWOOD --

Early in his career, Kenneth Branagh sent a letter to his idol Sir Laurence Olivier asking him for advice on a role he was about to play.

“That, in itself, was exciting: the ritual of writing to a god,” recalls the renowned actor and filmmaker some 30 years later. “That’s what it felt like ” writing to a god with an address in central London.”

More nerve-wracking than actually sending his query to the famous performer was actually receiving a response from him. “I remember my hand shaking when I got the envelope,” Branagh says, recounting the tale like an old storyteller. “On the back it said, ‘Laurence Olivier’ in embossed, raised lettering.”

The young thespian struggled for several minutes on how best to open the envelope without doing too much damage to it. He looked around for a letter opener but couldn’t find one. So he finally just tore open the flap and pulled out the typewritten letter on fancy blue letterhead.

 It read: I’m afraid I cannot give you any advice in particular ways in which you should approach this role. It’s up to an actor himself to come up with these individual things. But my advice to you anyway is to have a bash and hope for the best, which I certainly wish for you.

Branagh never met the renowned movie and stage actor, who died in 1989, but he kept the letter, which remains one of his prized possessions. Holding Olivier in such high regard, Branagh paused when he was offered the opportunity to portray him in My Week With Marilyn, a possibly true account of a young stagehand’s relationship with Marilyn Monroe during the production of The Prince and the Showgirl, which was directed and co-starred Olivier.

Read further:  http://www.bworldonline.com/weekender/content.php?id=47624

Kenneth Branagh upset about loss - not the Oscar, Arsenal in the London derby (SHOW BIZ SPY)

“To be honest I’m more upset about Spurs losing than me,” said Kenneth. “I never expected to win anyway but Arsenal in the London derby was a different matter. I’m devastated.”

The British star has revealed a prosthetic chin helped him achieve some sense of Sir Laurence for the movie about Marilyn Monroe‘s time in the UK filming The Prince and the Showgirl. “The chin piece definitely helped a lot,” says Kenneth. “Olivier had an imperious quality to him. He was used to playing a leader, he was used to playing kings, he was used to being the boss.

Read more:  http://www.showbizspy.com/article/244704/kenneth-branagh-upset-about-football-result.html