Ken Branagh wows students at LAET with Q&A on Hamlet

Students at the London Academy of Excellence Tottenham (LAET) were handed the opportunity of a lifetime to talk about Shakespeare and Hamlet with legendary actor and Spurs fan Ken Branagh last week.

Ken famously starred in and directed a film version of Hamlet in 1996, playing Prince Hamlet with a cast that included Kate Winslet, Robin Williams, Gerard Depardieu, Jack Lemmon, Billy Crystal and Judi Dench. It was nominated for four Oscars in 1997.

Ken, an Oscar winner for his film Belfast in 2022, gave up his time to speak with the English students currently studying Hamlet at LAET - a state-funded Sixth Form, sponsored by the Club and Highgate School - based on the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium campus.

It prioritises local students most likely to benefit from an academically-rigorous curriculum and those from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds, giving Tottenham’s brightest students the best possible chance of accessing top universities.

A-Level results have continued to improve year-on-year, with 2023 seeing an incredible 37% of grades either A* or A with 72% A*-B - both significantly above national averages. Nearly three quarters of students have gone onto Russell Group Universities compared to 1% of Tottenham school leavers the year before LAET opened, with 45 students winning places at the Universities of Oxford or Cambridge since the school opened in 2017 and others electing to undertake prestigious apprenticeships.

After spending an hour with the students, Ken told us: "I remember when I was a student, any time there was somebody or something that came in to the classroom to make the experience of doing this work different, it made a big difference, really gave a lift.

"I think in any part of the educational establishment, it’s tremendous if people who needn’t do it, come in, and are interested to talk to people who’ve got interesting ideas... all of the students' questions were very sharp, and I’m not just saying that, they were the kind of questions that made me really think, so you always learn something.

"There is nobody sharper than young people at spotting... well, ‘cobblers’ - people like me coming in and trying to patronise them or who are condescending... this was a smart group of students who were concentrated and interested and for that you hope it’s very valuable, also that there is half a phrase that maybe will jump into an essay and get them another mark."

Ken's sheer enthusiasm when speaking about Shakespeare to the students was tangible. "I was speaking recently about the King Lear I did (on stage in London), and the rest of the cast apart from myself were all in their 20s, just come out of drama school.

"That was about a play where youth basically gets rid of age, uncompromisingly and says, ‘our turn, off you go’ and it was great to do that play with the energy of 13 people who are in their early 20s and in the first stages of their professional careers. It gave it an electric energy that really feeds you. That’s how you stay young yourself. It’s a cliché, but every day is a school day, whatever age you are."