Pallade Veneta - Branagh takes on action role in Apple's Cold War comedy 'Mayday'

But in his new film "Mayday," whether he's wrestling soldiers for a gun on a crowded train, smacking down bad guys in a bar fight or hijacking a missile delivery vehicle on the streets of Moscow, he seems surprisingly at home.

Branagh stars as a disillusioned former KGB agent helping a downed US fighter pilot (Ryan Reynolds) to escape Cold War Russia in Apple TV's tongue-in-cheek road-movie romp.

For writer-directors Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley, Branagh's comedic talents were never in doubt.

"We don't ask dramatic actors to come in and be comedians. You know, it's more we just want them to do what they do so well, which is embody the part. And he did that, and that's what made it so funny," Goldstein told AFP.

"What did surprise us a little bit was how much Ken was just in it for the action sequences and the fights. He just got in there and he did it and wanted to do as much as he could."

The action of "Mayday" unfolds around idealistic and slightly arrogant US Navy pilot Lieutenant Troy "Assassin" Kelly (Reynolds), whose top-secret mission into Russian territory at the height of the Cold War goes wrong.

Stranded behind enemy lines, he is taken in by Nikolai Ustinov (Branagh), a former spy obsessed with American culture, who is thrilled to find himself with a real-life "Top Gun" pilot.

The two set off for Moscow to try to get Kelly to the US embassy, hoping that Ustinov will be allowed to tag along -- and finally one day sample McDonald's.

- 'They bonded over football' -

The resulting road trip takes them hundreds of kilometers through Russia, where Kelly learns his Cold War enemies are not the heartless monsters of US propaganda, and Ustinov slowly comes to terms with the fact that Americans are not always as upright and kind as they are in Hollywood movies.

The two leads share an easy interplay, giving generous performances that allow the other to shine in a comedy that wears its message about tolerance and nuance lightly.

Reynolds, best known to cinema audiences as the raunchy comedic lead in the "Deadpool" franchise, was already attached to the project when Branagh came aboard as the co-directors' first choice for his Soviet foil, despite their very different acting resumes.

Daley said casting can be tricky for directors because it is difficult to know what the on-screen chemistry will be like.

"It's always a little bit nerve-wracking because very often it happens that you cast two great people, and then when you put them in a room together, sparks do not fly," he said.

"But in this case, it was palpable from the very get-go."

Reynolds's involvement with Wrexham AFC, the second tier Welsh soccer side he co-owns with Rob McElhenney, jibed well with Branagh's avid interest in his preferred English Premier League side, said Goldstein.

"The minute they met, first they bonded over football," he laughed.

"And then it was really a matter of the two of them working off each other, each of them pushing the other actor to up the performance."

"Mayday" streams on Apple TV globally starting Friday.

Z.Ottaviano--PV