Kenneth Branagh Brings the Bard, As You Like It
Aside from the poet himself, nobody does Shakespeare quite like Kenneth Branagh. For his latest Bard-based project, the Emmy-winning native of Ireland directs Shakespeare's As You Like It (premiering on HBO Tuesday, Aug. 21, at 9pm/ET) and sets it in 19th-century Japan. The former Royal Shakespeare Company member spoke to us from the set of his new movie Valkyrie, in Berlin, about his modern take on the 16th-century text.
TV Guide: You've done a lot of Shakespeare before, so why adapt this particular play? Branagh: It's funny and romantic and rather magical. I had been in it in the theater myself, and I'd seen it many times. Although some critics dismiss it as being a little frivolous, a little frothy, I found it to be very beautiful and very life-affirming. I [also] wanted to return to a Shakespearean comedy.
TV Guide: And you chose to set it in Japan based on your own experiences. Branagh: Yes, the play is so much about the impa