Movie Smarts

Braveheart Quiz: Stand Up for Your Score

Fifteen chances to prove that all those movie nights paid off.

Published 2026-10-24 Updated 2026-10-24 15 questions

Braveheart: The Neighbors Have Taken This Too Far

William Wallace wants a quiet life, but the people ruling his homeland keep making that impossible. Personal loss pushes him into a rebellion that grows far beyond his village. He gathers allies, faces huge armies, and learns that some of the most dangerous people are standing on his own side. It is a loud, muddy struggle over freedom, loyalty, and who gets to decide how everyone else lives.

Raise your spirits. The quiz only needs fifteen answers.

1. Who plays William Wallace and also directed the film?
- Kevin Costner
- Mel Gibson
- Kenneth Branagh
- Clint Eastwood
Gibson had directed only The Man Without a Face before this, and at first wanted to direct without starring, since he was nearly forty playing a man in his twenties. He won Best Director and the film took Best Picture, though he was not nominated as an actor.
2. Which country is Wallace fighting for in the film?
- Ireland
- Scotland
- France
- Wales
The story is set in the 1290s and 1300s, during the wars that followed the death of the Scottish king without an heir, which gave Edward I his opening. The kilts are several centuries early; the face paint belongs to the Picts, a thousand years before.
3. Who wrote the screenplay?
- Randall Wallace
- John Milius
- William Goldman
- David Franzoni
Randall Wallace is an American who got the idea on a visit to Edinburgh Castle, where he asked a guard about the statue of William Wallace at the gate. He later wrote Pearl Harbor and directed We Were Soldiers; he is no relation to the hero.
4. What is the name of Wallace's childhood friend and secret wife?
- Murron
- Marion
- Eleanor
- Isabelle
Murron is the girl who gives young William a thistle at his father's funeral, and the two marry in secret to keep her out of the English lord's reach under the new law of prima nocte. The legend's Marion Braidfute was renamed to avoid echoes of Maid Marian.
5. Which battle is Wallace's great victory, won with long spears against charging cavalry?
- Falkirk
- Bannockburn
- Culloden
- Stirling
The real battle, in 1297, was fought at a bridge over the Forth, which the film leaves out in favor of open ground, long spears and a volley of insults. Falkirk, a year later, is the defeat where the nobles ride away; Bannockburn is where the film ends.
6. What nickname is given to King Edward I?
- Lionheart
- Ironhand
- Longshanks
- Black Prince
Edward I was called Longshanks for his height, remarkable for the age, and he spent his last decades fighting the Scots; he died on his way north to do it again. The Lionheart was Richard I, a century earlier, and the Black Prince was Edward's great-grandson.
7. Who plays Longshanks?
- Peter O'Toole
- Ian Holm
- Patrick McGoohan
- Richard Harris
McGoohan was best known as the star of The Prisoner and Danger Man, and plays the king as a bored sadist who throws his son's lover out of a window mid-conversation. Peter O'Toole had played a different Plantagenet, Henry II, twice.
8. Which French princess is sent to negotiate with Wallace?
- Catherine
- Isabelle
- Eleanor
- Marguerite
Isabelle is married to Edward's son, the future Edward II, who prefers the company of his friend Phillip, and she is sent because the king assumes Wallace will not harm a woman. The real Isabella was a small child in Wallace's lifetime and never met him.
9. Who plays Princess Isabelle?
- Juliette Binoche
- Emmanuelle Béart
- Sophie Marceau
- Isabelle Adjani
Marceau had been a star in France since her teens, in La Boum, and this was her first big English-language role; she went on to play a Bond villain in The World Is Not Enough. Binoche, Béart and Adjani are her French contemporaries.
10. What color paint does Wallace wear on his face in the famous battle scene?
- White
- Red
- Black
- Blue
The woad face paint is borrowed from the Picts of a thousand years earlier, and historians have been complaining about it since 1995. It did not stop the look from becoming the film's poster image, or from being copied by Scottish sports fans ever since.
11. Who is Wallace's big childhood friend?
- Campbell
- Stephen
- Hamish
- Argyle
Hamish is Wallace's sledgehammer-wielding right hand, played by Brendan Gleeson, and the stone-throwing contest when Wallace comes home is the two of them picking up where they left off. Campbell is Hamish's father; Argyle is the uncle who raises William.
12. Which character claims Ireland as his island?
- Hamish
- Argyle
- Robert
- Stephen
Stephen is the Irish volunteer who talks to the Almighty, insists Ireland is his island, and saves Wallace from an assassin in his first scene. David O'Hara plays him with a glint that suggests he may well be mad, which is rather the point.
13. Which Scottish noble is torn between his father and Wallace's cause?
- James Douglas
- Robert the Bruce
- Andrew Moray
- John Balliol
Robert has the strongest claim to the throne, and his leprous father keeps urging him to play both sides, which leads to the betrayal at Falkirk. The title is really his: 'braveheart' was the name later given to Bruce, whose heart was carried on crusade.
14. In which country were the big battle scenes filmed?
- Ireland
- Scotland
- Wales
- England
The Stirling and Falkirk battles were staged on the Curragh plains in County Kildare, with Irish Army reservists as extras, many of them switching sides between takes. Only the village and glen scenes were shot in Scotland, around Glen Nevis.
15. How many Academy Awards did Braveheart win?
- Five
- Seven
- Ten
- Two
Its five wins were Best Picture, Best Director, Cinematography, Makeup and Sound Effects Editing, from ten nominations, the most of any film that year. James Horner's score was nominated but lost to Il Postino.

All the answers

1. Who plays William Wallace and also directed the film?

Mel Gibson

Gibson had directed only The Man Without a Face before this, and at first wanted to direct without starring, since he was nearly forty playing a man in his twenties. He won Best Director and the film took Best Picture, though he was not nominated as an actor.
2. Which country is Wallace fighting for in the film?

Scotland

The story is set in the 1290s and 1300s, during the wars that followed the death of the Scottish king without an heir, which gave Edward I his opening. The kilts are several centuries early; the face paint belongs to the Picts, a thousand years before.
3. Who wrote the screenplay?

Randall Wallace

Randall Wallace is an American who got the idea on a visit to Edinburgh Castle, where he asked a guard about the statue of William Wallace at the gate. He later wrote Pearl Harbor and directed We Were Soldiers; he is no relation to the hero.
4. What is the name of Wallace's childhood friend and secret wife?

Murron

Murron is the girl who gives young William a thistle at his father's funeral, and the two marry in secret to keep her out of the English lord's reach under the new law of prima nocte. The legend's Marion Braidfute was renamed to avoid echoes of Maid Marian.
5. Which battle is Wallace's great victory, won with long spears against charging cavalry?

Stirling

The real battle, in 1297, was fought at a bridge over the Forth, which the film leaves out in favor of open ground, long spears and a volley of insults. Falkirk, a year later, is the defeat where the nobles ride away; Bannockburn is where the film ends.
6. What nickname is given to King Edward I?

Longshanks

Edward I was called Longshanks for his height, remarkable for the age, and he spent his last decades fighting the Scots; he died on his way north to do it again. The Lionheart was Richard I, a century earlier, and the Black Prince was Edward's great-grandson.
7. Who plays Longshanks?

Patrick McGoohan

McGoohan was best known as the star of The Prisoner and Danger Man, and plays the king as a bored sadist who throws his son's lover out of a window mid-conversation. Peter O'Toole had played a different Plantagenet, Henry II, twice.
8. Which French princess is sent to negotiate with Wallace?

Isabelle

Isabelle is married to Edward's son, the future Edward II, who prefers the company of his friend Phillip, and she is sent because the king assumes Wallace will not harm a woman. The real Isabella was a small child in Wallace's lifetime and never met him.
9. Who plays Princess Isabelle?

Sophie Marceau

Marceau had been a star in France since her teens, in La Boum, and this was her first big English-language role; she went on to play a Bond villain in The World Is Not Enough. Binoche, Béart and Adjani are her French contemporaries.
10. What color paint does Wallace wear on his face in the famous battle scene?

Blue

The woad face paint is borrowed from the Picts of a thousand years earlier, and historians have been complaining about it since 1995. It did not stop the look from becoming the film's poster image, or from being copied by Scottish sports fans ever since.
11. Who is Wallace's big childhood friend?

Hamish

Hamish is Wallace's sledgehammer-wielding right hand, played by Brendan Gleeson, and the stone-throwing contest when Wallace comes home is the two of them picking up where they left off. Campbell is Hamish's father; Argyle is the uncle who raises William.
12. Which character claims Ireland as his island?

Stephen

Stephen is the Irish volunteer who talks to the Almighty, insists Ireland is his island, and saves Wallace from an assassin in his first scene. David O'Hara plays him with a glint that suggests he may well be mad, which is rather the point.
13. Which Scottish noble is torn between his father and Wallace's cause?

Robert the Bruce

Robert has the strongest claim to the throne, and his leprous father keeps urging him to play both sides, which leads to the betrayal at Falkirk. The title is really his: 'braveheart' was the name later given to Bruce, whose heart was carried on crusade.
14. In which country were the big battle scenes filmed?

Ireland

The Stirling and Falkirk battles were staged on the Curragh plains in County Kildare, with Irish Army reservists as extras, many of them switching sides between takes. Only the village and glen scenes were shot in Scotland, around Glen Nevis.
15. How many Academy Awards did Braveheart win?

Five

Its five wins were Best Picture, Best Director, Cinematography, Makeup and Sound Effects Editing, from ten nominations, the most of any film that year. James Horner's score was nominated but lost to Il Postino.