Just as actors become typecast after their first big hit, so do directors. Mention Martin Scorsese or David Lynch or Steven Spielberg, and you know what kind of movie to expect. But also like actors, directors want to experiment, to stretch their abilities beyond what is expected of them. And that's where this list comes in. For example, the 2011 movie Thor was directed by Kenneth Branagh, which was quite a departure for him.
Sir Kenneth Branagh is best known as a Shakespearean actor and director. He has accolades for film adaptations of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing and Hamlet. He was one half of the golden couple of British cinema in the 1990s as the husband of Emma Thompson and represented something quintessentially British. It came as a surprise to most people to learn that Branagh was to direct Thor, a Marvel comic franchise movie. However Branagh’s crack effort at Thor has received wide critical acclaim and launched the career of the young Tom Hiddelston. Chris Hemsworth, who stars as the God of Thunder himself has said that he learned so much from the British director.
Branagh's next movie is Murder on the Orient Express, out November 9. Read about the other movies with what might be considered unlikely directors at TVOM. With video evidence.