Kenneth Branagh: “Ireland's Green Is Unlike Any Other”

The talented actor and director has one of the most diverse portfolios in the game. He talks to us about his secretive new film, meeting the president and why cinema is bringing us back together

- James Mottram

“IT’S ALWAYS FUN when you walk past a set and there is a big troll catapult outside!” laughs Kenneth Branagh, gesturing towards the window. “It never gets old.” It’s a statement that might cause befuddlement were it not for the fact that I’m standing in an exquisitely designed mansion for Branagh’s latest film, Artemis Fowl. A brightly-hued fantasy adventure backed by Disney, it’s adapted from Eoin Colfer’s beloved novel series, which has sold 25 million copies in 44 languages.

Currently, we’re in the upstairs library of Fowl Manor, all built at Surrey’s Longcross Studios. There are leather-bound books as far as the eye can see, including, on the table next to us, a copy of Doris Lessing’s Under My Skin. But it’s Colfer’s work that’s occupying Branagh right now. “It felt very original,” he says. “I loved its Irish-ness, coming from the north part of that country. And the collision sometimes, and the proximity of worlds. Very different worlds. I like that creatively. It always feels like it’s a good place to be.”

His 17th (!) film as director, it’s allowed Branagh to reunite with old friends—including Dame Judi Dench, who plays Commander Root, a sort of fairy police overlord (originally male in the books).