{"id":6356,"date":"2026-08-21T12:05:17","date_gmt":"2026-08-21T12:05:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=6356"},"modified":"2026-08-21T12:05:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-21T12:05:17","slug":"kenneth-branagh-on-doing-his-own-stunts-as-a-kgb-operative-in-mayday-bonding-with-ryan-reynolds-over-soccer-we-can-be-pretty-nerdish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=6356","title":{"rendered":"Kenneth Branagh on Doing His Own Stunts as a KGB Operative in \u2018Mayday,\u2019 Bonding With Ryan Reynolds Over Soccer: \u2018We Can Be Pretty Nerdish\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<!-- do not apply CSS styles to this element! --><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>\n\tWhile he may not be known as an action star, Kenneth Branagh absolutely wanted to give it a go for \u201cMayday,\u201d his upcoming Apple TV Cold War action-comedy in which he co-stars with Ryan Reynolds. He just needed to find out how best to get involved.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=6354\">Sriram Raghavan Developing New Thriller in the \u2018Johnny Gaddaar\u2019 Zone for India\u2019s Matchbox Shots as \u2018Operation Safed Sagar\u2019 Soars on Netflix Charts (EXCLUSIVE)<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n\t\u201cI asked the directors, \u2018What\u2019s the way to do it if you\u2019re a man of a certain age and it\u2019s not your natural genre?&#8217;\u201d Branagh said, speaking at the<em> Variety <\/em>Lounge at Edinburgh International Film Festival. Their answer: \u201cGet here early.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\n\tSo he did, to, as he explained, \u201cstart making the body a bit more flexible,\u201d adding that he wanted to at least give the impression that his character was a \u201cformer lethal KGB operative\u201d and \u201cpossible assassin, when necessary.\u201d Branagh said it ended up being \u201cvery, very interesting and fun to be involved in the advanced choreography,\u201d and that getting there early did indeed make a difference. \u201cThe stunt guy said: \u2018We\u2019ve never had an actor for this long.\u2019 I said, \u2018I\u2019m <em>that<\/em> scared.&#8217;\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\u201cMayday,\u201d being released by Apple TV on Sept. 4, is set in the Soviet Union in 1987 and follows Reynolds\u2019 crashed U.S. Air Force Pilot as he teams with Branagh\u2019s former ex-KGB man \u2014\u00a0someone he describes as a \u201c\u2018Top Gun\u2019-loving exile in the forest of Siberia\u201d \u2014\u00a0to escape.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tWhile not throwing themselves around the snow in Canada, where the film mostly shot, Branagh and Reynolds bonded over a love of soccer, with Branagh being an avid lifetime supporter of Tottenham Hotspur and Reynolds as co-owner of Wrexham alongside Rob McElhenney.<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\u201cThat was a source of, for me, fascination, at how they were living the dream,\u201d said Branagh, who recalls the very first press conference when the new Wrexham co-owners said that they hoped to take the club from non-division football to the Premier League. \u201cThe snorts of derision were involuntary and fun, but now here they are in the Championship [the second tier below the Premier League]. Come on, this is quite something. So yes, we can be pretty nerdish about the beautiful game.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=6352\">\u2018Supporting Role\u2019 Director Ana Urushadze Preps \u2018Fear of Butterflies,\u2019 a Detective Story With \u2018Mysticism and a Touch of Body Horror\u2019 (EXCLUSIVE)<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n\tBranagh was in Edinburgh as the recipient of the festival\u2019s inaugural outstanding contribution to cinema award, but also for the 30th anniversary screening of his 1996 adaptation of \u201cHamlet,\u201d being shown in its full, unbridged four-hour version (with an interval).<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\u201cHamlet\u201d famously starred a 20-year-old, pre-fame Kate Winslet, who Branagh said he\u2019d auditioned for his 1994 film, \u201cMary Shelley\u2019s Frankenstein,\u201d but at just 17 she was too young. \u201cShe, perhaps uniquely, is the person who walked into the room and brought with them a sense of self possession, not arrogance, but just sort of being fully present,\u201d he said. \u201cShe seemed to have a maturity beyond her years.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\n\tIt was while working on \u201cHamlet,\u201d on a day that Winslet was shooting a \u201cmad scene,\u201d that the career-changing call came through from James Cameron to say she would star alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in \u201cTitanic.\u201d It\u2019s a moment Branagh said he remembers vividly.<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\u201cThere was a lot of talk about this enormous film that was going to happen, and we were all big fans of Cameron\u2019s. And you felt, we\u2019re at a little pivotal moment,\u201d he said. \u201cThere was a smell about \u2018Titanic\u2019 that \u2014 aside from its name, its director and the subject \u2014 it would be very special. The casting search had already been something that had become a sort of legend in its own terms.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\n\tBranagh recalled taking Winslet aside following the \u201cTitanic\u201d call and saying: \u201cEnjoy every moment up until the premiere of that movie, because your life will change after it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=6350\">Meghan Markle Eyes Acting Return After Move Back to the U.K.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n\tAs he added to <em>Variety<\/em>: \u201cI hope it wasn\u2019t a depressing thing to hear!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\n<\/p>\n<p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Kenneth Branagh visited the Variety Lounge at Edinburgh Film Festival to talk doing his own stunts and getting nerdish with Ryan Reynolds about soccer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6355,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4925,3858,4926,4758],"class_list":["post-6356","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-film","tag-kate-winslet","tag-kenneth-branagh","tag-mayday","tag-variety-lounge-edinburgh"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Kenneth Branagh on Doing His Own Stunts as a KGB Operative in \u2018Mayday,\u2019 Bonding With Ryan Reynolds Over Soccer: \u2018We Can Be Pretty Nerdish\u2019 - Relocation Observer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=6356\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Kenneth Branagh on Doing His Own Stunts as a KGB Operative in \u2018Mayday,\u2019 Bonding With Ryan Reynolds Over Soccer: \u2018We Can Be Pretty Nerdish\u2019 - Relocation Observer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Kenneth Branagh visited the Variety Lounge at Edinburgh Film Festival to talk doing his own stunts and getting nerdish with Ryan Reynolds about soccer.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=6356\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Relocation Observer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-21T12:05:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/?p=6356#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/?p=6356\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2243ff062b31c5195cd0d9f83884e83e\"},\"headline\":\"Kenneth Branagh on Doing His Own Stunts as a KGB Operative in \u2018Mayday,\u2019 Bonding With Ryan Reynolds Over Soccer: \u2018We Can Be Pretty Nerdish\u2019\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-21T12:05:17+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/?p=6356\"},\"wordCount\":708,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/?p=6356#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/e4c0464aae2f30ae622709a59b72d2e3.webp\",\"keywords\":[\"Kate Winslet,\",\"Kenneth Branagh,\",\"Mayday,\",\"Variety Lounge Edinburgh\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Film\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/?p=6356#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/?p=6356\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/?p=6356\",\"name\":\"Kenneth Branagh on Doing His Own Stunts as a KGB Operative in \u2018Mayday,\u2019 Bonding With Ryan Reynolds Over Soccer: \u2018We Can Be Pretty Nerdish\u2019 - Relocation Observer\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/?p=6356#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/?p=6356#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/e4c0464aae2f30ae622709a59b72d2e3.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-21T12:05:17+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2243ff062b31c5195cd0d9f83884e83e\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/?p=6356#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/?p=6356\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/?p=6356#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/e4c0464aae2f30ae622709a59b72d2e3.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/e4c0464aae2f30ae622709a59b72d2e3.webp\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":563},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/?p=6356#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Kenneth Branagh on Doing His Own Stunts as a KGB Operative in \u2018Mayday,\u2019 Bonding With Ryan Reynolds Over Soccer: \u2018We Can Be Pretty Nerdish\u2019\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Relocation Observer\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2243ff062b31c5195cd0d9f83884e83e\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Kenneth Branagh on Doing His Own Stunts as a KGB Operative in \u2018Mayday,\u2019 Bonding With Ryan Reynolds Over Soccer: \u2018We Can Be Pretty Nerdish\u2019 - Relocation Observer","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=6356","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Kenneth Branagh on Doing His Own Stunts as a KGB Operative in \u2018Mayday,\u2019 Bonding With Ryan Reynolds Over Soccer: \u2018We Can Be Pretty Nerdish\u2019 - Relocation Observer","og_description":"Kenneth Branagh visited the Variety Lounge at Edinburgh Film Festival to talk doing his own stunts and getting nerdish with Ryan Reynolds about soccer.","og_url":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=6356","og_site_name":"Relocation Observer","article_published_time":"2026-08-21T12:05:17+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=6356#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=6356"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2243ff062b31c5195cd0d9f83884e83e"},"headline":"Kenneth Branagh on Doing His Own Stunts as a KGB Operative in \u2018Mayday,\u2019 Bonding With Ryan Reynolds Over Soccer: \u2018We Can Be Pretty Nerdish\u2019","datePublished":"2026-08-21T12:05:17+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=6356"},"wordCount":708,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=6356#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/e4c0464aae2f30ae622709a59b72d2e3.webp","keywords":["Kate Winslet,","Kenneth Branagh,","Mayday,","Variety Lounge Edinburgh"],"articleSection":["Film"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=6356#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=6356","url":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=6356","name":"Kenneth Branagh on Doing His Own Stunts as a KGB Operative in \u2018Mayday,\u2019 Bonding With Ryan Reynolds Over Soccer: \u2018We Can Be Pretty Nerdish\u2019 - Relocation Observer","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=6356#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=6356#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/e4c0464aae2f30ae622709a59b72d2e3.webp","datePublished":"2026-08-21T12:05:17+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2243ff062b31c5195cd0d9f83884e83e"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=6356#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=6356"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=6356#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/e4c0464aae2f30ae622709a59b72d2e3.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/e4c0464aae2f30ae622709a59b72d2e3.webp","width":1000,"height":563},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=6356#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Kenneth Branagh on Doing His Own Stunts as a KGB Operative in \u2018Mayday,\u2019 Bonding With Ryan Reynolds Over Soccer: \u2018We Can Be Pretty Nerdish\u2019"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/","name":"Relocation Observer","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2243ff062b31c5195cd0d9f83884e83e","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/relocationobserver.com"],"url":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6356","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6356"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6356\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6355"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6356"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6356"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6356"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}