Career advice and life philosophy from movie star Kenneth Branagh

Kenneth Branagh, now 60, won two Oscar nominations at age 28 for his very first directorial work ('Henry V'), in which he also acted. (Photo by Giorgia Meschini via Wikimedia Commons 2.0)

There are times when something is said with beauty and honesty, and it must be spread around. Even if it is about another field.

Decorated actor-director Kenneth Branagh’s recent interview in the New York Times is one such example.

Branagh, now 60, won two Oscar nominations at age 28 for his very first directorial work (Henry V), in which he also acted. He has been associated as actor, director or both with acclaimed films such as Murder On the Orient Express, Dead Again and Dunkirk. He may have been speaking about the world of cinema in his interview. But the wisdom, accrued from decades of ups and downs, can be applied by any professional in their career.

Branagh, currently promoting his semi-autobiographical film Belfast, spoke about advice he once received from Hollywood mogul Sam Goldwyn Jr. A couple of decades ago, Branagh was at the producer’s home, marveling at paintings by Matisse and Picasso on the wall.

“Take care of your career and you can have those things on your walls,” the big cheese told the then young actor, who at the time was also doing theatre. “But what you’ve got to do in your 30s, you have to be on-screen in contrasting roles twice a year if you’re a leading man. You’re not a conventional leading man, by any means, so think twice about going off and doing bl---y plays.”

Branagh admits he did not always follow the advice. He also grew obsessed with cracking the formula for repeated success, till he realized he was better off leaving some puzzles alone.

“You’re going to do a lot of calculating, you’re going to try and play the system—as if you had any control over it,” Branagh told NYT. “There was a time when I used to read the trades (publications) encyclopedically. In the end I had to stop. I was trying to solve the conundrum of a career in movies, and I was not the man to do that.”

He believes in putting in effort, though, and seems to think it is unreasonable to expect a constantly rising personal and career graph.

“That (Samuel) Beckett phrase of fail, fail again, fail better (the full line is ‘Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better’) is maybe one to bear in mind (as a mantra),” Branagh said. “But who pretends that life is one slowly ascending curve of human development? Most of the time you have to smash into something: the death, the broken relationship, the horrible career moment. Then you think, Well, what matters to me? What do I enjoy? Or even just, I’m still here.”