Reminiscent of scenes from the 1951 film "The Man in the White Suit, " in which Sir Alec Guinness plays a scientist who invents a fabric that never needs cleaning, the scientists have developed a textile that cleans itself.

CNN: Washing no longer dirty work

Now Sir Kenneth Branagh, he joins the ranks of fellow thespians such as Alec Guinness, Patrick Stewart and Laurence Olivier, who he played in last year's My Week With Marilyn.

BBC: Kenneth Branagh