(Cover) - EN Showbiz - Kenneth Branagh says he was squealing like a six-year-old when he watched scenes from the upcoming movie Thor.

The 49-year-old actor directs the superhero film, due for release next year, which tells the tale of a powerful warrior who is sent to live on Earth from another planet.

Kenneth is typically associated with period dramas and Shakespearean plays, after making a name for himself in films such as Much Ado About Nothing and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. However, the talented thespian/director says hes finding the action genre equally thrilling.

This morning they ran a reel for me a big, big action sequence from the middle of the picture and I was squealing like a f**king six-year-old!

So much so that I scared the mixing guys in front of me, he confessed in an interview with Empire magazine.

In fact, Kenneth enjoys watching back sequences from the film so much that he sometimes forgets hes working and thinks hes in the cinema. The star says the only thing missing from the production room was some sugary snacks and a carbonated beverage.

There I was with my pad making notes and going , Aaah! Oh my God! and frankly I thought, Christ, I wish I had some popcorn and a fizzy drink, laughed Kenneth.

The director is particularly impressed with his special-effects team on the movie, and insists audiences will be overwhelmed when Thor hits screens next year. Kenneth admits watching the film takes him back to his childhood in Ireland, where he used to gaze at the television screen in wonder as he watched action-packed shows.

The lights go down and all the music and sound effects are up for the first time and youre just struck by the wonder of it, he added. You are reduced to, in my case, some kid in Belfast, watching the telly on a Saturday afternoon and looking round the back, wondering how you open it so you can find all the little people who are in there. (C) Cover Media