―Homework High Chat―　　　　　　　　2001.2.15


KB: Hello everyone,I'm Ken, Thanks for logging on and I'm happy to
answer any questions that you may have.

Paula:Kenneth,who is your favorite Shakesperean Character?

KB: I think it would be Hamlet because he's so varied and ,having
played the part many times, it changes as you get older and you see
different things each time.It's like your favorite music,if you go back
to it when you are older you hear and see different things.Its the most
complex and complete of characters that I've played...Plus you get to
wear black,which is very slimming.<Grins>

DTyson:Hello I am a 12th grade English teacher.Are you working on a
new version of Macbeth?
LadyM: Mr Branagh can you give us an update on the MacBeth project?

KB: I have been working on a screenplay for MacBeth.

Fluffball: Wow that's my favorite play!

KB: What I hope to do this summer is to have a workshop on the play with
some actors to work on the screenplay adaptation.And I hope towards the
end of next year we get to film it.

justicerulesok: How do you feel Shakespeare relates to the modern world?

KB: This refers to Ernest Shackleton who I am about to play in a film for
Channel 4.He was one of those charaters who never gives up.We tell the
story of his endurance expedition where largely due to his leadership 28
men survived in the Antarctic for 2 years.I admire his compassion and
detailed understanding of human beings and the fact that survival in the
end was more important than winning the race.But these days,corporate
leadership programmes use Shackleton as an exemplar.I would have
liked to have been led by him.

Isashax: Please ask him when he is going to the poles to film Shackleton
and if he is ready for that,thanks.

KB: We go to the Arctic to pretend we are in the Antarctic,reasons being
the infrastructure to support a film crew is just more developed in the Arctic.
If anyone gets sick,we can get them out quicker.If I slip on the ice,we have
a doctor with us.I have been in training for it.But it is very hard to imagine
quite how cold it will be.Currently my research is stopping short of actually
eating seals and penguins.<Chuckles>

LadyM: Kenneth,you are so much like Shackleton...Don't give up.
Jude:So your retirement from Shakespeare is exaggerated?

KB: Once again the media seems to have made up my mind for me,reports
of my premature retirement are grossly exaggerated!

Julia: What thought processes do you go through when choosing a
Shakespearean play to adapt into a film?

KB: It seems to take a long time,a period of years really,where themes in the
play start to develop as visual images.Sometimes for particular scenes,
sometimes for settings and I start to do a sort of primitive story board.With
Hamlet for example,I have storyboard drawings of my own from 10 years
before the film was made.Thats where the idea for a hall of mirrors first occured.
It took me ten years with the help of Tim Harvey(the designer) to fill in the rest of
the castle.It changes with each film.

Dtyson: I can't wait 10 years for MacBeth!

KB: With MacBeth,I'm trying to develop the screenplay by workshopping the play
with live actors.

Lots of people: Maeve: When did you start acting?

KB: My first performance was at about 10 years old playing Dougal in Magic Round-
about...it probably really started when I was about 15 in school plays.I'm not from a
very theatrical background but I really enjoyed it and was astonished to find that I
might be able to make a career out of it.

Shakespearesson: I know that you are impressed with Shakespeare and so am I...But I
wondered whether you will adapt plays by other authors sometime?

KB: I'm very interestd in the works of Chekov and other classic authors.So it may be
that,if I have the opportunity,I will adapt other authors.

MrT: Do you find theatre more fun to do than the usual camera work?

KB: For the last 10 years almost I've been almost exclusively making films and I still enjoy
it enormously but more and more I enjoy going to the theatre.But I find myself wondering
"How on earth do they learn all those lines!?"

Jane: Will you ever return to the stage whether in Shakespeare or something else?

KB: I will I'm sure...There's been no conscious decision not to be acting in the theatre.But
I have really enjoyed the opportunity to do the kind of work that I have been doing over the
past ten years and being able to make it available to a much larger audience than a theatre
can allow...but I do miss the live exerience,I'm sure that when I do go back I'll be extremely
nervous.

Rach-M: Your performance in Henry V is amazing and in some scenes I was positively
scared of him...was this your intention?

KB: There are several scenes in Henry V where the character does seem to unleash
enourmous passion including anger and sometimes fury.There is a scene at the seige of
Harfleur where ,threatening the governor of the town,he suggests that he will impail people
on spikes-you feel that he has the capacity for terrible violence and Shakespeare's language
does not avoid this...It makes him a really complex personality and very rewarding to play.
But I agree,sometimes terrifying.

Rach-M: We're studying Henry V for our A levels in English Lit,any tips or ideas to include
with my course work?

KB: Our film chose to emphasise Henry's youth,his sometimes doubt about his campaign,
his guilt about the way his father acquired the throne and in broad terms looking at the
differences between the treatment of Henry in our film and in Lawrence Olivier's film is
quite a useful way of examining a charater that can be interpreted so differently...likewise
the treatment of the play itself.

(side note this is where things got going too fast to really keep up with so some answers are paraphrased +other Q+As are left out that I could not keep up with.)

Dtyson: What do you think about Shakespeare being deleted from school curriculum?

KB : I think it is sad actually...whether in Shakespeare,University,or elsewhere in life I think
it sad to lose an opportunity to learn.....Not that it should be cannonised at the expense of
of other writers but enjoyed alongside them as a living(learning?) experience.

Sarah: I've noticed that Hamlet is very similar to Henry V in terms of your performance.

KB: As a complete renaissance man"The soldiers scholars tongue eye sword" In both cases I wanted to express as many of the actual experiences as possible.

? Do you think that you ever compromise and lose some of the subtletis of Shakespeare's text
in your efforts to make it easier for the audience to understand?

KB: I hope not....But I am sure that compromises occur thogh not intentionally or
consciously....Our intention is to never devalue Shakespeare's text.

? Is there another Shakespeare part you would enjoy playing?

KB: At some point in the future if as my mother would say"God spares me" it would be
marvellous to think of doing King Lear.

A question about any disappointment resulting from the reception of Love's labour's Lost

KB: All of us involved were disappointed,but in a way not surprised...there is no argument
with people simply disliking something.....I will use cross era ideas in future productions if
I believe it can truly illuminate the play.

? Are there any plans to do another musical production?

KB: At present there isn't,but music in our Shakespeare films was and will remain very
important...as it seems to me music was crucially important to Shakespeare...

He then spoke very nicely about Patrick Doyle...both his scores and as a person

? I noticed that The Periwig Maker was nominated for an Academy award,congratulations
by the way,could you tell us anything more about it?

KB:A German brother and sister team worked for three years,unpaid,to complete this
fascinating and highly original stop frame animated film of a haunting episode in the life
of a periwig maker during the great plague of London...It is tender and imaginative and I
was so impressed with their dedication.

? Could you describe the challenges involved in personifying the Woody Allen character
in Celebrity while being directed by Woody Allen himself?

KB: challenging,very challenging...But in many ways a dream come true.I have always
admired his writing and I found him to be a tremendous comic actor and an underrated
dramatic actor.I took my inspiration from him.

? Can we look forward to another In The Bleak Midwinter?

KB: I loved making that film...I had complete creative freedom having paid for it myself
thanks to Mary Shelly's Frankenstein.I sometimes imagine making another movie featuring
the same fictional group of actors...various scenarios suggest themselves and any
suggestions would be received gratefully.

A question about making the Diary of Samuel Pepys into a movie

KB: I have thought about it but the Diary spans a ten year period which does not easily
adapt into a screenplay....I feel it would be too difficult to make,but I would love to play
Sam (Pepys)...he is one of the funniest men I have encountered on the written page.

Jude: Do you plan on making any more CDRoms like The Little Prince

KB: I enjoyed working on that...the imagination involved...yes I would consider making
another if the opportunity presented itself.

? What is your most memorable moment?

KB:Tough question! My most recent was bringing my new dog home from the Battersea
Shelter for Animals and seeing the look of happiness on her face...and mine when I
realised that she had not poo-ed on the rug!

?What practical advice do you have for an aspiring stage actor?

KB: If you want to act then at some point I do reccommend Drama school if it is
possible practically/financially...Also as much practice as you can get...much is
learned by actually doing...any chance you can get to act,act!

Ladyhawk: If you could talk to William Shakespeare today,what questions would
you have for him?

KB:So many! The first would be "Is your name really William Shakespeare or are
you any of the other people that may have written your plays?' Then I would say,
"How on Earth did you do it?" Then-"What on earth do you you and your work
since you left us?" And finally would he explain to Ben Elton why there are no
jokes in As You like It!

Chat Editor:And lastly about your dog
ladyhawk: What have you named your dog?

KB: Her name is Susie (Suzi?),she is 7 years old and she is a Jack Russell terrier...
and she is very nice....she already runs my life.

Chat Editor: Thats it ,thanks for joining us....Kenneth that was fabulous.

blomestyle:We love you Kenneth

Lady M: Thank you very much for all that you do and keep up the good work!

Arlynn: Thank You!

KB: Thanks for all of your questions...more importantly a big thank you for all the
support,cliche though it is,it is true to say that without you we couldn't do what we
do.we do appreciate it very much...Be like Shackleton...NEVER GIVE UP! Cheerio