Hasta la vista, baby: Branagh brings back Boris in This England' Prosthetics and a very good, very bad hairpiece': Kenneth Branagh's Boris Johnson transformation is something to behold in This England'.
by Cornelia Le Roux
23-01-2023 23:48
in Entertainment
Boris Johnson, left, and actor Kenneth Branagh playing the role of the former UK prime minister in This England'. Images: ADRIAN DENNIS / AFP and Showmax/ Supplied
Boris Johnson may have stepped down as British prime minister with the cheeky words Hasta la vista, baby! after he was ousted as Tory leader, but he has returned in a different on-screen guise. Now streaming on Showmax, This England stars the 2022 Oscar winner Sir Kenneth Branagh (Belfast, Dunkirk) as Johnson with the help of heavy facial prosthetics, a barelling hunch and a very good, very bad hairpiece!
--
According to Mail Online, a total of 42 complex prosthetic faces was especially made for Branagh. Makeup artist Vanessa White is quoted as stating:
There are so many pieces The only thing you see of Ken is his eyes and his chin, the rest is fake We had to tape him in, literally tape up the back of his neck, his head.
Kenneth Branagh, winner of the Writing (Original Screenplay) award for Belfast', poses backstage during the 94th Annual Academy Awards at Dolby Theatre on 27 March 2022 in Hollywood, California. Image: Mike Coppola/Getty Images/AFP ALSO READ: Oscars 2022: Complete list of winners from Hollywood's biggest night
--
This England': Boris a life-changing part' for Branagh Co-written and directed by BAFTA winner Michael Winterbottom (The Trip, In This World), This England blends dramatisation with real documentary footage of the tumultuous first wave of COVID-19 in Britain that engulfed Johnson during his first months as prime minister.
As per Radio Times, Branagh confessed that playing Johnson in the Sky series was a life-changing part for him.
Star-studded cast and rave reviews
In their five-star review, The Evening Standard calls This England, splendid television, history distilled on screen, saying, Watch it and weep .
Times (UK) has already praised Kenneth Branagh's barrelling, air-punching, at times uncanny Boris Johnson impression, while bloated with pouchy prosthetics and fat pads as well as the series' heart-breaking authenticity .
As Gabriel Silver, Sky's director of drama, described it: This England is a broad and deep factual drama about those tasked to shepherd a nation through the crisis - exposing humanity at its most scared, neglectful, ingenious, desperate, and hopeful
--
The rest of the cast includes Ophelia Lovibond (Minx) co-stars as Johnson's wife, Carrie Symonds, with award winner Andrew Buchan (Broadchurch, Industry, Andrew Parker Bowles in The Crown) as Matt Hancock. Emmy nominee Charles Dance (The Crown's Lord Mountbatten and Tywin Lannister in Game of Thrones) steps in as newspaper editor Max Hastings in episode 1.
Ophelia Lovibond and Kenneth Branagh in a scene from This England'. Image: Supplied This England': Much bigger than Boris Johnson much bigger than the actor Winterbottom approached Branagh about the project in late 2020. Despite the show's scope, Johnson is central to the story, and the challenge to portray this hugely divisive public figure without taking sides, became one of Branagh's biggest challenges.
As the actor himself put it:
It doesn't matter whether we do or not, because people who love or hate Boris Johnson will probably find that this corresponds to exactly what they feel about him.
For some, it will glorify him; for others it will have libelled him. They'll see what they see. But certainly, in the doing of it, the goal was decidedly not to bring any additional spin or commentary on something that was much, much bigger than Boris Johnson certainly a zillion times bigger than any actor.
ALSO READ: British PM Boris Johnson tests positive for COVID-19
Kenneth Branagh as former UK prime minister Boris Johnson in This England'. Image: Supplied ALSO READ: SA group gives 120 000 meals to NHS and the vulnerable - but now they need our help
The pandemic world Branagh had the following to say about the vulnerable state of the world that inspired the gripping pandemic drama series,
In that early part of the pandemic, which was such a vulnerable moment for the world, we didn't know quite what was coming, how fast it was coming, how deadly it was, what the real existential threat was to our lives or to our economic futures.
Everyone felt that most people were doing the very best they could Although subsequently you might argue about whether that best was good enough, against the rush of events, much of it was reactive.
It was more about the cataclysmic effect of the rapidity, the ferocious rapidity at which things moved. We really weren't ready for the volatility, for the changing information and seeing that impact across the country, Branagh added
ALSO READ: 1.1m people infected with Covid-19 in England, daily cases top 60,000 for first time
From Branagh to Boris: Masterful combination of acting and makeup Just like Brendan Fraser, who transformed into the morbidly obese English teacher Charlie in The Whale with the heavy use of prosthetics, Branagh's physical transformation into Johnson took a combination of acting and extensive makeup.
Although they're of similar height, the actor explained that Johnson is a stockier individual than me, a sort of swift and, some would say, lumbering rugger forward. We all saw him take out that young schoolboy playing street rugby in Japan That's a sort of extreme example of a man who leans forward, who barrels rather. That's the impression you have he leads with the shoulders, head down.
Boris Jo
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
09/10/2026
September 10 2026, 06:00 (PDT) Dolby Expands Dolby OptiView Platform with New Capabilities at IBC 2026
New Sports Intelligence helps providers better unders...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
30/09/2026
Schibsted Media, one of Norways largest and most influential digital media publishers and content producers, has invested in mixers and digital signal processor...
30/09/2026
Big Blue Marble announces the addition of live multiview channels to Cloud Video Kit, its broadcast-grade video processing platform. The feature is powered by A...
30/09/2026
Leading video software provider Synamedia today announced that Telekom Slovenije, Slovenia's largest provider of telecommunications and TV services, is open...
30/09/2026
PODCAST EXPO 2026 Recorded Using Blackmagic Design Workflow
Brie Clayton September 29, 2026
0 Comments
Conference featuring 24 sessions over two days ...
30/09/2026
IBC2026 Show Report
David Kirk September 29, 2026
0 Comments
The International Broadcasting Convention has long been Europe's equivalent of the US...
30/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/09/2026
Mavis has launched Mavis Camera 8.2, the latest release of its professional camera app for the iPhone and iPad. This update brings support for iPhone 18 Pro and...
29/09/2026
Oak View Group (OVG) has announced Cisco as an Official Technology Partner, with plans to standardize infrastructure across its venue network on Cisco solutions...
29/09/2026
SportsNet Pittsburgh (SNP) won three honors at the 2026 Mid-Atlantic Emmy Awards.
Program awards went to Bucs BP in the Sports Program Live category (produced ...
29/09/2026
The Professional Women's Hockey League has announced home openers for all 12 teams for the 2026-27 season, along with a broadcast partnership with CBC under...
29/09/2026
Manifold technologies has been recognized as a contributor to the Media eXchange...
29/09/2026
FuboTV has announced My Local Sports, allowing subscribers in select markets to add their local regional sports network (RSN) as an add-on to a Fubo Sports subs...
29/09/2026
Asian News International (ANI), a wire agency and video news provider based in India, has deployed Grass Valley's AMPP Media Operating System and Framelight...
29/09/2026
South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) has deployed Ikegami UHK-X600 cameras as part of an upgrade to IP-based production infrastructure. The deployment ...
29/09/2026
REMI, REMCO models will drive the bulk of the broadcaster's NHL productions ...
29/09/2026
Three years in, the facility is supporting more centralized race production, com...
29/09/2026
NBC, Peacock, and NBSN are carrying all four Wild Card series with a production ...
29/09/2026
19 Nonfiction Projects Across All Stages of Production to Receive More Than $1 million in Support as Documentary Film Program Approaches 25th Anniversary
LOS ...
29/09/2026
Two new plug-ins launch alongside updated bundles
Zynaptiq have just announced the launch of two new plug-ins, alongside new and improved versions of two of...
29/09/2026
All-in-one bus processor revealed
Wes Audio's ng product range has come a long way since it was first introduced, and now includes a tasty selection of ...
29/09/2026
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Ikegami announces that the South African Broadcasting Corporation, SABC, has chosen Ikegami UHK-X600 camera systems as part of an advance to IP-based operation ...
29/09/2026
Blendkit Offers 20% Discount to Celebrate Crossing 150K Asset Milestone
Brie Clayton September 29, 2026
0 Comments
Blendkit, the largest 3D asset libr...
29/09/2026
Interactive streaming specialist Ease Live supported more than 76.5 million fan sessions across three major European media operators during this summers FIFA Wo...
29/09/2026
Ease Live has added support for VAST (Video Ad Serving Template) to its graphical overlay technology, opening up new ways for broadcasters, streamers and rights...
29/09/2026
Rise AV has announced the launch of the inaugural Rise AV Awards, a new global awards programme celebrating the women, advocates and organisations across the AV...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Clear-Com announced that First Baptist Nashville has upgraded its production communications with a Clear-Com intercom solution as part of a comprehensive sanct...
29/09/2026
Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K Captured Action Shots for Sketch
Brie Clayton September 28, 2026
0 Comments
Camera's portable design and dynamic range...
29/09/2026
Kean Production Services Deploys AJA ColorBox to Deliver Consistent, Accurate Co...
29/09/2026
Berklee Alumni and Faculty Nominated for the 2026 Latin Grammy Awards A total of 28 Berklee alumni and faculty earned nominations across 20 categories this ye...
29/09/2026
Berklee's K-Pop & Beyond Explores Connections Between K-Pop and Hip-Hop Now in its fifth year, the series brings together artists, industry leaders, and s...
29/09/2026
NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION IN OR INTO OR TO ANY PERSON LOCATED OR RESIDENT IN, OR AT ANY ADDRESS IN, THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ITS TERRITO...
29/09/2026
We tend to think we live in a digital world, with hopes and fears around artificial intelligence (AI), quantum computing, data centres and the next big technolo...
Hasta la vista, baby: Branagh brings back Boris in This England' Prosthetics and a very good, very bad hairpiece': Kenneth Branagh's Boris Johnson transformation is something to behold in This England'.
