Parenting & Family Quote by Kenneth Branagh

Branagh’s line lands because it flatters and skewers in the same breath, the way only an insider can. Calling actors “the best and the worst” isn’t moral panic; it’s a backstage realism about a profession that runs on exposure. Acting demands porousness: you’re paid to turn private feeling into public product, to be exquisitely sensitive one minute and ruthlessly strategic the next. That volatility can read as generosity or as narcissism, depending on who’s standing closest when the mood turns.

The “like kids” comparison is the sting. It’s affectionate, but it also demotes. Children are imaginative, fearless, immediate; they’re also needy, impulsive, allergic to boredom, and capable of weaponizing attention. Branagh is sketching a workplace ecosystem where the reward structure encourages regression: constant evaluation, constant auditioning, constant feedback. In that environment, “good” often looks like play - spontaneity, trust, risk-taking - while “bad” looks like tantrum economics: entitlement, sulking, theatrics about the theater.

The old-fashioned cadence (“very very good... very very naughty”) borrows the sing-song moralism of nursery talk, which makes the critique sharper. He’s not describing rare monsters; he’s describing a spectrum the culture quietly enables. We celebrate the childlike magic of performance, then act shocked when the same childlike temperament shows up offstage. Branagh’s intent feels less like gossip than a boundary-setting memo: admire the craft, keep your eyes open about the cost.