Oh I always thought that Kenneth Branagh was a ham, a chewer of scenes both large and small..

[WCGreen]

And yet my eyes did tear,
Long side the man once known as Hal,
Did bless the stretching of an old comrade's neck,
For crimes against the church.
And when the Scoundrel who shared his youth,
Did plead with silent, moist eyes,
Hal was no more.
A King of the Isle did stand,
Stoic, but with heart broken,
As the hand did fall, so did life.
Yet he mourned his youth within his gaze,
But steady he was,
A King, an actor was born that day.


He's still a ham, but his performance in Henry V was, in my humble opinion, his best Shakespeare.

[NightWatcher]

1. I had a Coors with him

they were filming The Gingerbread Man and I was an extra on an all night shoot. He was sick as a dog, but swilled Coors all night while we watched crack whores conduct business near the set which was a shady hotel outside of town.

[WCGreen]

2. Cool memory....

[crim son]

3. Here we agree.

It's where I saw him first and I've always thought well of him since.

[WCGreen]

5. Chritian Bale was in the movie as the boy in the Falstaff scene

On Edit..

CB is running theough the battlefield..

[Critters2]

4. I loved Henry V. His acting was only a part of it.

The cinematography, the score, the whole thing was great. I especially love the setting of "Non Nobis"...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1GDRx-F1C0

[Mike 03]

6. He was in consideration to act in a screenplay I had written, but like so many other "deals" it

flopped and ultimately failed.

[mitchum]

7. He wouldn't be quite so pudgy if he didn't chew up so much scenery

[Tuesday Afternoon]

8. I liked his Hamlet, too

very different from Gibson's.

what do I know, I liked them both.

[Mike 03]

9. His "Hamlet" was extraordinary, but his less ostentatious work has been equally

worthy, although few have taken notice of it.

[WCGreen]

11. I thought there were far too many "stars" in that Hamlet....

It kind of distracted from the action, in my humble opinion.

In that case, I think he was acting like he was on the stage while everyone else realized they were in a film.

To me a good actor disappears in the role, you can't tell he is acting.

Watch Inherit the Wind with Spencer Tracy. He was acting but you thought he was Darrow and not Spencer Tracy.

Or Jack Lemmon in the Days of Wine and Roses.

Or Gregory Peck in To Kill a Mockingbird.

In Henry V, KB stayed within the roll, he was Henry and not KB.

[mitchum]

13. Exactly, even freakin' Charlton Heston seemed subtle compared to Branagh...

who spent the entire movie yelling as if he were in a stage production.

[Mike 03]

14. I'll defer to your opinion. I was about nineteen, I think, when he did Hamlet, so

my opinion is old and locked into memory, I suppose.

I'll defer to your opinion and the opinion of others on this matter.

[WCGreen]

15. If all you have to compare him too is Mel Gibson, KB would

definatly look like the greatest actor in the world...

Hamlet is hard to play, especially as a young actor. It's hard to stay within such a nuanced roll.

If you have the Starz package, check out Much Ado About Nothing and you will see KB acting well within the roll. It's on now.

[Captain Hilts]

19. Great list. nt

[XemaSab]

10. Casting Branagh to play Gilderoy Lockhart in Harry Potter=

Perfect. :)

[WCGreen]

12. Oh yea, that is a great roll for him...

[MorningGlow]

16. My first thought when I clicked on this thread

Re-reading HP2 to MG Jr. right now and picturing Branagh when reading every scene with Gilderoy Lockhart.

[XemaSab]

22. The dude playing Slughorn

is NOTHING like what I imagined.

[triguy46]

17. His Crispin Crispian soliloquy has me ready to fight all Frenchies!

"... they will hold their manhoods cheap." Get's me every time.

[Redneck Socialist]

21. I love that scene

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAvmLDkAgAM

Where's my sword! Let's go!

[triguy46]

18. Has he done Richard? If ever a vehicle for good ham n/t

[Captain Hilts]

20. Anyone seen him as FDR? I haven't. nt

[WCGreen]

24. He was pretty convincing as FDR....

I believe Cythia Nixon played El...

[Captain Hilts]

25. Yes, she did. I guess since he didn't have to stand much, his not being 6'2"

wasn't an issue.

[merh]

23. My favorite one of his movies is Dead Again

with Emma Thompson

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

26. I did not know they made a

sequel to Henry IV

when did that come out?

duh?

[WCGreen]

27. Weren't there two Henry Iv's... I think Keanna Reeves was in one....

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

28. No, he was in III... I think that Depp guy

was in IV, or Paul Newman

[raccoon]

29. I used to think he was attractive, in MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING.

I didn't think he was attractive in HENRY V but I can't fault his acting.

[applegrove]

30. I loved him in the garden scene of Much Ado About Nothing. I've heard

him described as the human question mark in that scene. He was great in Henry V too.

[LanternWaste]

31. Love's Labor's Lost.

Love's Labor's Lost. A personal favorite of mine. He combined pre-war Paris, Cole Porter and George Gershswin tunes, and set the comedy into a great musical.

I've been a fan of his since Henry V. :P

[TheMightyFavog]

32. Hey, I thought Wallander was awesome.

Too bad he got called away to Direct The Mighty Thor movie, I'd have liked to see more than three episodes.

[WCGreen]

33. The Mighty Thor was always my favorite super hero when I was a kid...

An old joke...

After a rousing orgy in the Hall of the God's, Thor walked out of the backroom full of himself and all that was around him. He announced at the entrace that he is Thor, the God of Thunder...

A young lady who had a lisp said your Thor, I'm tho thor I can barely.....