Kenneth Branagh will play U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson in an upcoming limited series titled This Sceptred Isle. Branagh is one of Britain's most celebrated actors and directors, starting his film career with several highly acclaimed Shakespeare adaptations such as Hamlet and Much Ado About Nothing. In recent decades, he's tackled many 20th century historical figures like German officer Henning von Tresckow in Valkyrie and British screen legend Laurence Olivier in My Week with Marilyn. Now, Branagh has set his sights on another British legend whose story is still being written.
Directed and co-written by Michael Winterbottom, This Sceptred Isle will see Branagh portray current UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson during the early tumultuous days of the COVID-19 pandemic. THR reports that the five-part miniseries has been picked up by Sky UK and will draw on interviews and testimony across several branches of the British government, exploring not just the U.K.'s political response but also the responses from frontline workers and beyond. Winterbottom, who made The Trip series starring Steve Coogan, will also produce the series through his company Revolution Films.
It looks like This Sceptred Isle will be a strong departure from Branagh's recent blockbuster fare. The actor has developed a close kinship with Christopher Nolan, having starred his 2017 World War II film Dunkirk and his new "spy-fi" juggernaut Tenet. Between his psychotic Tenet performance and delightfully hammy turn as Hercule Poirot in Murder on the Orient Express, overwhelmed audiences might be eager to see Branagh change lanes with a more grounded performance in a real-life figure like Boris Johnson.
Source: THR