Sir Kenneth Branagh: From Shakespeare to superheroes

He was once revered for treading the boards of the world's most respected theatres, but today's generation know him best as "the bloke who directs superhero movies".

Five-time Academy Award nominee Sir Kenneth Branagh has revealed that the public's perception of him has changed since he made the Marvel blockbuster Thor.

The Belfast-born star has in the past been compared to screen and stage legend Sir Laurence Olivier, whom he went on to portray in the acclaimed 2011 film My Week with Marilyn.

"This is how people used to think of me," Branagh said.

"They used to think they couldn't send me certain stuff, and that may still be true, but I think they now consider me to have adventurous tastes. The turning point was Thor."

The 54-year-old also directed 2014's Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, which was considered another Hollywood blockbuster, and is now promoting his latest endeavour - a big-budget film version of Cinderella.

"We, as actors, had careers that grew up in reference to Olivier and to that generation," he told The Sunday Times Culture magazine.

"When I came to play him in the film My Week with Marilyn, it was clear that cultural memory was so short, he was already being consigned to the mists of time.

"Now when I bump into people when I'm promoting these films, I find that for a younger generation I am already the bloke who directs superhero movies".

Branagh was bestowed a knighthood three years ago for his services to drama and the community in Northern Ireland.

He said at the time that he was "very surprised and very touched" to be given the accolade.

The actor, who has played iconic characters from Shakespeare's King Henry V to Mary Shelley's Victor Frankenstein, said his parents "up in the great green room in the sky" would have been chuffed with his achievement.

(China Daily 03/21/2015 page24)