Kenneth Branagh on the brilliance of Jodie Comer: “I consider myself fortunate to have worked with her”

Posted On June 27, 2025June 27, 2025

Across his long and wildly successful career, Sir Kenneth Branagh has worked with the very best. As an actor, he’s shared the screen with an embarrassingly long list of greats; Derek Jacobi and Emma Thompson early in his career; Cillian Murphy and Michelle Yeoh in recent years. The names he has directed are just as impressive, as he can call Chris Hemsworth, Kate Winslet, Denzel Washington, and more, his former employees. 

Following 2023’s A Haunting in Venice, the Irishman will continue his directing career with The Last Disturbance of Madeline Hyde. Little is known about the movie, other than it will be some sort of psychological thriller, but it does have a cast list, and quite an extensive one at that. The movie, which is being produced by Ryan Reynolds’ Maximum Effort company, will feature Patricia Arquette, Vicky McClure, Martin Sheen, and somebody who’s been having quite the moment right now: Jodie Comer.

The Scouse actor has gone from a beloved star in her native England to a bona fide global sensation. 2021 saw her appear in two major movies, Free Guy and The Last Duel, while the following year heralded her arrival as a theatre icon with her captivating performance in Suzie Miller’s one-woman show, Prima Facie. Since then, roles in The Bikeriders, The End We Start From, and 28 Years Later have only buoyed her profile.

In an interview with The Times, Branagh had some very kind words for his newest leading lady. “I consider myself fortunate to have worked with her at this stage in her career,” he said. “As somebody once said of the young [Meryl] Streep, ‘I wish I had shares in her future’.” Elsewhere in the same interview, Comer was both taken aback by and extremely humble about this hefty praise. “He is very kind, bless him,” she said of her director, “I’m nothing like Meryl! I’m just a girl from Liverpool!”

Amazingly, Branagh and Streep have never worked together. IMDB lists them both as cast members in the upcoming PBS documentary The American Revolution, but other than that, nothing. Still, you don’t need to have worked with a three-time Oscar winner to know how good she is. Streep is widely regarded as one of the all-time greats for a reason and has been thought of that way for a very long time. Her talent was obvious even from a young age, so being likened to her must mean a lot to the 32-year-old Comer.

Apart from being headline-grabbing, this comparison is also highly apt. Both Streep and Comer have the uncanny ability to disappear into their characters, through either physical performance or their incredible accent work. Both are as comfortable in comedies as they are with dramas, sometimes within the space of a few minutes. Remember how quickly Comer could go from hilarious to terrifying in Killing Eve? Or how genuinely unsettling Streep’s turn in Death Becomes Her was? In short, they’re both amazing at what they do and have earned every single one of their plaudits.

With Comer and Streep still working at a high level, there’s every chance they could get together for a project in the near future. Maybe Branagh could direct! If he could contain his fanboying long enough, that is.

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