Quotes from Kenneth Branagh

I fondly remember good times working on 'Thor.'

I think in the wake of the domination of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, everyone is now looking for a grand plan.

I did 'Celebrity' by Woody Allen. I did 'The Gingerbread Man' with Robert Altman. These were big talents.

I like to cast actors I admire, one's that are talented. Each one will bring something new to the part. This play has been done thousands of times and now certain characters are too familiar.

'Jack Ryan' is a very fast-paced, very contemporary, very action-driven thriller.

I love thrillers, and I always have.

What happens is that with difficult processes on a film, they get very intensely compressed because a clock is ticking.

I'll tell you what I'm grateful for, and that's the clarity of understanding that the most important things in life are health, family and friends, and the time to spend on them.

In 'Henry V,' the story of the assumption of true and responsible leadership by Henry I think is hard-won. He has to lose friends; he has to risk his life.

You go to the airport and look at the bookstand, and you feel the titles are similar, the covers are similar, and you wonder how they can be different.

I think what you're always looking for as artists is to be honest and to continue to be honestly driven by that which you are passionately engaged with. It should need not be forced.

I think the best actors are the most generous, the kindest, the greatest people and at their worst they are vain, greedy and insecure.

The long version of the play is actually an easier version to follow. In all of the cut versions the intense speeches are cut too close together for the audience and the actors.

It's very strange that the people you love are often the people you're most cruel to.

Probably 90 percent of the stuff I make has inevitably been done before... Whether it's playing Hamlet, which has been on the go for 400 years, or pieces from the cinematic world that also have been essayed before, I feel released by that.

'The Painkiller' is a remarkable play.

There's always something to think about in terms of problems that are dark and important and immediate and scary.

A lot of the films I've done have links to other movies that I've directed in the past.

The best actors, I think, have a childlike quality. They have a sort of an ability to lose themselves. There's still some silliness.

'Frankenstein' feels like an ancient tale, the kind of traditional story that appears in many other forms.

Even in the case of a god, audiences - paradoxically - enjoy recognizing the human traits.

I think A Midsummer Night's Dream would be terrific because of the transformations that occur. Or The Tempest, things like that. Extraordinary larger than life or supernatural element.

Sir Derek Jacobi has been an inspiration to so many actors and audiences throughout his brilliant career. To see him in Shakespeare is an event in itself.

In the case of 'Jack Ryan,' it was a huge collaboration, and I enjoyed it very much, and most of all, I want the audience to enjoy it, too. I want them to feel immersed in this world.