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Rowan Atkinson Says He Doesn’t Enjoy Playing Comic Character, Mr. Bean

By Michael Bamidele

05 January 2021   |   5:50 pm

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British actor Rowan Atkinson, who is best known for portraying the comic character Mr. Bean, has said that he finds the character "stressful and exhausting" - and hinted he will never play role again. Atkinson, 65, is in the middle of developing an animated film of the popular character, but said he finds 'the weight…

Rowan Atkinson | Image: shutterstock

British actor Rowan Atkinson, who is best known for portraying the comic character Mr. Bean, has said that he finds the character “stressful and exhausting” – and hinted he will never play role again.

Atkinson, 65, is in the middle of developing an animated film of the popular character, but said he finds ‘the weight of responsibility not pleasant’, meaning he ‘doesn’t much enjoy playing him’.

Atkinson portrayed the titular role in the successful series from 1990 until 1995, before later taking on the films Bean Movie in 1997 and Mr Bean’s Holiday in 2007.

He said: “I don’t much enjoy playing him. The weight of responsibility is not pleasant. I find it stressful and exhausting, and I look forward to the end of it.”

Atkinson, in an interview with this week’s issue of Radio Times, said: “Having made an animated TV series, we’re now in the foothills of developing an animated film for Mr Bean – it’s easier for me to perform the character vocally than visually.

“I don’t much enjoy playing him. The weight of responsibility is not pleasant. I find it stressful and exhausting, and I look forward to the end of it.

“I don’t actually like the process of making anything – with the possible exception of Blackadder, because the responsibility for making that series funny was on many shoulders, not just mine.”

“The Johnny English” actor isn’t surprised about the success of his character, saying: “Mr Bean’s success has never surprised me. Watching an adult behaving in a childish way without being remotely aware of his inappropriateness is fundamentally funny.

“The fact the comedy is visual rather than verbal means it has been successful internationally, too.”

Mr. Bean is a British sitcom created by Rowan Atkinson and Richard Curtis, produced by Tiger Aspect and starring Atkinson as the title character. The series was originally broadcast on ITV, beginning with the pilot on 1 January 1990 and ending with “The Best Bits of Mr. Bean” on 15 December 1995.