Laurence Olivier and Kenneth Branagh are two of the most celebrated actors and directors in the history of British theatre and film. Both men have made significant contributions to the world of entertainment and have left an indelible mark on the world of acting and directing.
Laurence Olivier was born in 1907 and began his career as a stage actor in the 1920s. He quickly gained recognition for his performances and became one of the most respected actors of his time. He was known for his versatility, performing in a wide range of roles in both classical and modern plays. He also made several successful films, including "Rebecca" and "Wuthering Heights," and won numerous awards for his performances.
In addition to his acting career, Olivier was also a successful director and helped to establish the National Theatre in London. He was knighted in 1947 for his contributions to the arts and was later made a life peer.
Kenneth Branagh, on the other hand, was born in 1960 and began his career as a stage actor in the 1980s. He gained widespread recognition for his performance as Henry V in the Royal Shakespeare Company's production of the play, and later directed and starred in a film adaptation of the play. He has also had success as a film actor, starring in and directing numerous films, including "Hamlet," "Much Ado About Nothing," and the "Harry Potter" series.
Like Olivier, Branagh has also received numerous awards for his work, including a knighthood in 2012 for his contributions to drama and the community.
Both Laurence Olivier and Kenneth Branagh have made significant contributions to the world of theatre and film and will always be remembered as two of the greatest actors and directors of their time. Their legacies will continue to inspire future generations of actors and filmmakers.
Kenneth Branagh on Thor, Wallander, and Playing Laurence Olivier
Retrieved 24 August 2012. FROM HENRY V TO MONROE. In the end it felt like a good challenge. Who, after all, could be better qualified to play Olivier at the age of 50, in a bit of a career rut, but still one of the all-time greats, than Branagh, who currently fits precisely the same description. Retrieved 9 February 2022. The highest compliment I can pay him is that, at times, he evoked golden memories of Olivier in the role. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
Q&A: Actor Kenneth Branagh on Playing Sir Laurence Olivier in My Week With Marilyn
His own take on "Frankenstein" 1994 , Barry Sonnenfeld's "Wild Wild West" 1999 , Chris Columbus' "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" 2002 , his remake of "Sleuth" 2007 , and Bryan Singer's "Valkyrie" 2008 , to name a few projects, aren't all bad films. He is shrewd enough to know the public craves stars: not only will he be in four of the five plays but fellow actors include Judi Dench and Rob Brydon. A year earlier came Othello. Retrieved 7 March 2010. Branagh acquitted himself very well in those efforts — so well, in fact, that many people have struggled to see him in any context but a Shakespearean one.
When did this happen? He has starred in the television series Wallander and a Conspiracy, and was nominated for the My Week with Marilyn. He is currently shooting the comic-book tale Thor for Marvel Studios, which is due in May next year. Retrieved 7 March 2010. I knew something amazing was happening. Last year, it came together. Branagh tells me, "This film, which was a glorious and joyous experience for me, leaves me wanting to have the same kind of bravery going into the next part of my career -- to jump in and be as brave, and courageous, and as artistically-adventurous as Olivier was.
By the age of 16, he was acting in serious school productions, and it was then that a teacher nonchalantly suggested to him that he possessed the talent to pursue acting for a living. Branagh received two other Academy Award nominations for the 1992 film Swan Song and for his work on the screenplay of Hamlet in 1996. The main obstacle to Branagh's casting could be the Belfast-born actor's ongoing directing career. It makes a big difference to people. It means that as human beings, they experience things in these very extreme, sometimes revealing, ways.
Kenneth Branagh on Playing Laurence Olivier in ‘My Week with Marilyn’ (Audio)
Retrieved 21 August 2012. Retrieved 24 April 2022. You see, Ken has got the teeth and the guts to do it. Retrieved 15 January 2007. Despite or perhaps because of all the publicity and high hopes surrounding the odd pairing of diamond-loving Lorelei Lee and soliloquy-obsessed Hamlet, The Prince and the Showgirl was considered both an artistic and a box office misfire.
Kenneth Branagh in talks to star in Laurence Olivier
The latter two had served as prestigious Olivier vehicles: Best Picture Oscar winner Hamlet 1948 earned Olivier a Best Actor Oscar and a Best Director nomination; the originally made-for-television Othello 1965 received several special big-screen showings and ended up earning Olivier his seventh Best Actor Oscar nod. Just three years later, he was a student at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts and also made his big screen debut in a brief uncredited part in Chariots of Fire 1981 , which went on to win the best picture Oscar, and by the age of 28 he had already accomplished enough to write an autobiography. Five years later, he filmed it, winning Oscar nominations for Best Actor and Best Director. Retrieved 21 September 2015. In 2002 the missing entries were finally made public, and now form the basis of the screenplay. Before "My Week with Marilyn" got underway, he visited many of the places that Olivier passed through during the making of "The Princess and the Showgirl," and revisited that film and many of Olivier's others.
Kenneth Branagh 'to follow his hero Laurence Olivier as head of National Theatre'
She forgot her lines. O ne thing I know about Kenneth Branagh: he has a strong sense of the past. Consequently, his filmography since those movies has been less impressive than many expected it would be. So yes, I did watch lots of movies, but I also listened to him especially carefully. Olivier had been up for Best Actor and Best Picture for his morale-boosting Henry V of 1946.
