Credit: Far Out / YouTube Still
Sat 17 October 2026 7:00, UK
At this point, there really isn’t anything Kenneth Branagh hasn’t done in his career.
He’s acted, written, and directed, both on film and stage; he’s been nominated for eight Oscars, winning one for writing the semi-autobiographical coming-of-age tale Belfast; he’s played Hercule Poirot, made more Shakespeare adaptations than just about anyone else, directed a Marvel movie, and been in a bunch of Christopher Nolan films. Oh, and he recently played a Russian action hero at 65 years old. Now that’s range.
In some ways, Branagh may be inclined to believe there are no more worlds left to conquer. That seems unlikely, though, and the wildly talented actor will probably surprise everyone in the near future with his next move. Still, his laundry list of accomplishments must have put him in a reflective mood when he spoke to Esquire about Mayday, the aforementioned action movie in which he plays a USA-loving former KGB agent who kicks ass and waxes lyrical about Top Gun while buddying around with Ryan Reynolds.
Somehow, Branagh makes it work, no doubt because he can draw on 40-plus years of acting experience that goes all the way back to his years spent vying for theatre parts in the early 1980s. Back then, he was one of an unofficial group of future stars who kept bumping into each other at auditions but never seemed to get jealous of each other’s wins. Nevertheless, to say there was no competition between Branagh and his contemporaries – a who’s who of esteemed British thespians who are still at the top of Hollywood today – would be a barefaced lie.
“I got my first theatre job with Rupert Everett in a play called Another Country in 1982,” Branagh recalled wistfully. “I remember it being in the heart of London’s West End, and in the next theatre, playing with Glenda Jackson and Georgina Hale was a young unknown guy called Gary Oldman.” Just up the street, another theatre played host to Kafka’s Metamorphosis, starring a similarly unknown young hopeful named Tim Roth.
Then, when Branagh and Everett’s run of Another Country came to a close after six months, Branagh found out two new actors had been cast to play their parts going forward. Everett couldn’t bear to watch anyone else play his role, but Branagh was curious, so he stuck around to catch their dress rehearsal. Later that evening, Everett asked if the new guys were any good, to which Branagh mused, “One was called Daniel Day-Lewis, and the other one was called Colin Firth.” Needless to say, both were pretty fucking good.
It’s fun to think about Branagh, Oldman, Roth, Day-Lewis, Firth, and Everett all treading the boards at the same time, London theatre audiences not quite realising the embarrassment of riches they had in front of them. Branagh remembers feeling buoyed by the fact that there was a group of hungry young performers all plying their trade in the same place at the same time, even if it meant he would occasionally be pitted against these people, instead of always enjoying them as scene partners.
Further reading: Cutting Room Floor
When several members of the group, as well as a not-so-young Bill Nighy, went out for one particular role, though, Branagh knew he didn’t have a prayer. “I remember being in the queue for Withnail and I, and seeing at the end of the corridor Richard E Grant going in, and thinking, ‘I’ve got no chance. That’s done now.’”
In truth, Grant must have been pretty darn charismatic in that waiting room, because at the time he barely had a few small TV credits and some South African fringe theatre to his name, so Branagh was unlikely to have seen him act much. Far be it from me to question the man’s memory, though!
Withnail and I, of course, became one of the most beloved British movies ever made, and a true cult classic that is still put on a pedestal today. But if Branagh had landed the part of the permanently inebriated, verbally caustic aspiring actor, Withnail, could that have upset the balance and ruined a classic?
Not according to writer-director Bruce Robinson, although he’s an expert at backhanded compliments. “He’s an excellent actor, Branagh, and he could have played Withnail, but it would have been a podgy Withnail,” Robinson once told Camden Guide, concluding, “I don’t mean physically, but Ken’s very mannered, and I don’t think he’d have had that splenetic depth that Richard’s got.”
