How old is Kenneth Branagh, who does he play in All Is True and did he have an affair with Helena Bonham Carter?
The character actor has become one of the UK's most-loved big-screen stars
KENNETH Branagh is making a return to the big screen with yet another impressive movie, All Is True.
Let's take a look at the talented star's background, award-winning movies, and infamous affair with Helena Bonham Carter.
How old is Kenneth Branagh and what is his background?
Kenneth Branagh is an Olivier, Emmy and BAFTA Award winning actor and director of stage and screen.
Born in Belfast in December 1960, his family moved to Reading, Berkshire to escape the Troubles when Kenneth was nine.
The star acquired Received Pronunciation at school to avoid bullying.
Kenneth, who is the middle of his parents' three children, trained in his craft at London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA).
His contemporaries included Alan Rickman, Juliet Stevenson, and Fiona Shaw, and throughout the 1980s Kenneth performed in numerous stage productions.
Known for his Shakespeare roles, Kenneth went on to make a wide range of films and TV, including Disney reboots, Scandi crime drama remakes, Marvel blockbusters, and WW2 epics.
He was knighted in 2012 for his services to drama and the community in Northern Ireland, shortly after appearing in the Olympics Opening Ceremony.
What are Kenneth Branagh's biggest movies and TV shows?
Kenneth has appeared in dozens of blockbusters throughout his career and has directed 17 feature films.
After a couple of minor movie roles, Sir Ken first burst on to the big screen in his self-directed Shakespeare adaptation Henry V in 1989, also starring then-wife Emma Thompson.
He received two Oscar nominations for Best Actor and Best Director for his work on Henry V.
That success inspired Sir Ken to make a further four big-screen Shakespeare adaptations - Much Ado About Nothing, Othello, Hamlet and Love's Labour's Lost.
He also directed and starred with Robert De Niro and Helena Bonham Carter in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, and made a cameo in 2016 comedy Mindhorn.
Younger film fans would no doubt recognise him as Gilderoy Lockhart, the pompous Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
He has also appeared in My Week With Marilyn, Wild Wild West, Rabbit Proof Fence, Five Children & It and The Boat That Rocked.
In addition, Sir Ken remade the movie Sleuth, directed his own movie version of Mozart's The Magic Flute, and also was at the helm of Disney movies Thor and Cinderella.
On the small screen, Kenneth starred in Scandi crime drama adaptation Wallander as the lead character, troubled and weary detective Kurt Wallander.
In more recent years, the talented actor impressed the viewers with his parts in Dunkirk (2019), Murder on the Orient Express (2017), and All is True (2019).
Who does he play in All Is True?
Kenneth played William Shakespeare in the highly anticipated biography.
In addition, to taking on the leading role, he directed the movie.
Ben Alton, who is known for writing the Shakespeare television series Upstart Crow, wrote the script.
The film, entitled All Is True, looks at the iconic playwright Shakespeare's finals days following the Glove Theatre burning down in 1613.
His co-stars include Judi Dench, Ian McKellen, Lolita Chakrabarti, and Jack Colgrave.
All Is True was released in a limited capacity back in 2018, in order to make it eligible for that year's Academy Awards.
However, its wider release will happen on February 8, 2019, after which fans can watch it in theatres across the nation.
What is Kenneth's relationship history and did he have an affair with Helena Bonham Carter while married?
Kenneth is currently married to Lindsay Brunnock, a film art director he met while on set. They tied the knot in 2003.
The actor was previously married to Emma Thompson, with whom he had an eight-year relationship and six-year marriage between 1987 and 1995.
They co-starred in numerous films together during their romance.
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However, it all came to an end when Kenneth was revealed to be having an affair with Helena Bonham Carter, his co-star in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.
Emma Thompson has since told the press that the inspiration for her emotional scene in Love Actually was based on true events.
According to the Evening Standard, Thompson said: “I had my heart very badly broken by Ken [Branagh]. So, I knew what it was like to find the necklace that wasn’t meant for me.”
Following their divorce, Kenneth and Helena dated for several years before breaking it off in 1999.