Age: 65
male
Sir Kenneth Charles Branagh (born 10 December 1960) is a Northern Irish 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).
Thor, the arrogant prince of Asgard, is banished to Earth by his father, Odin, after recklessly reigniting an ancient war with the Frost Giants. Stripped of his powers and his enchanted hammer, Mjolnir, Thor must learn humility. On Earth, he meets astrophysicist Jane Foster, her mentor Erik Selvig, and her assistant Darcy Lewis, who help him navigate his exile. Meanwhile, Loki, Thor’s cunning brother, discovers his true heritage as a Frost Giant and schemes to seize the throne of Asgard. As Thor struggles to prove himself worthy, Loki sends the Destroyer, a powerful automaton, to Earth to eliminate Thor. Risking his life to save his newfound friends, Thor’s selflessness restores his worthiness, and he regains Mjolnir and his powers. Thor defeats the Destroyer and returns to Asgard to confront Loki, who has set a plan in motion to destroy the Frost Giants and prove himself to Odin. The brothers clash in a dramatic battle on the Bifröst Bridge, ending with Loki’s apparent death as he falls into the void. Thor, now humbled and wiser, renounces his claim to the throne, vowing to protect both Asgard and Earth.
