Actor Rowan Atkinson Slams Mr. Bean: “A Selfish, Self-Serving Anarchist”
Rowan Atkinson recently slammed the character, Mr. Bean, who propelled him to stardom. Surprisingly, Atkinson confessed his personal dislike of the quirky character who charmed both British and international fans through the 1990s and 2000s. Yet why is Atkinson so against his alter ego, and how are long-time fans responding to the ironic confession?
Long Story Short
“I dislike Mr Bean as a person, I certainly would never like to have dinner with him,” Atkinson said at the London screening of his Netflix show “Man Vs Baby.”
“But at the same time, I like him as a character, because he is possibly a bit like I was at age 10 – that sort of childish sort of selfishness and working things out in a slightly eccentric way. But at the same time, I wouldn’t want him in my house,” Rowan added in his “Deadline” interview on December 11.
Mr. Bean first appeared on stage as a character sketch in the 1980s. At the time, Atkinson was studying for his master’s degree in electrical engineering at Oxford University. The eccentric manners and appearance certainly caused a stir among the “upper crust,” but soon gave Rowan a following.
Bean seems blissfully unaware of how the wider world functions as his series of adventures takes him to weddings, funerals, the workplace, and more. In a way, Mr. Bean reflects a childlike awe and confusion of the modern world and of Great Britain’s societal changes.
Rowan Atkinson Slams Mr. Bean
Renown for mockery and “quintessential” English humor, Rowan Atkinson’s career on stage and in film spans decades. He excels in both physical and situational comedy, as in “Black Adder,” but also in more serious drama, like “Maigret.” From the trenches of WWI to the streets of 1950s Paris, the man known to many as “Mr. Bean” strikes quite a pose.
Mr. Bean personifies anarchy as he flaunts social conventions without even realizing his mistakes. From crashing a wedding to bizarre behavior at a funeral, Rowan Atkinson dresses like a respectable middle-class man while contradicting every norm.
As Atkinson continues to star in new Netflix dramas, he claims to ignore reviews while choosing to hone his craft. “I haven’t read a review or critique of anything I’ve done since the 20th century so I don’t know what reviewers, pundits and critics think of what I do, because the only thing that interests me is how many people watch this, and would they like to watch more? That’s the litmus test, and the sign of success, to me,” Atkinson explained in Deadline.
Image vs. Imagination
According to commentator Dominic Maxwell, Rowan Atkinson is “urbane, articulate, self-contained but quietly affable. Wearing a dark blue suit, V-neck jumper, shirt and tie, his silver hair neatly cropped, he could be a reassuringly expensive private doctor.”
Mr. Bean certainly presents another side of the now 70-year-old performer, but nearly every actor’s persona varies from their person in some way. “It is a paradox, he knows: his engineer’s brain is drawn to plausibility, logic, sound structure. Yet he then plays outsized characters who forever bring everything round them crashing down,” Maxwell explained in The Times.
Here is a man whose logic and insight set him apart from most while also incorporating an understanding of human nature. Fans and various commentators responded to his decrying of Mr. Bean across the spectrum: from disdain to stoic acceptance.
Final Reflections
Underneath the trappings of fame, Rowan Atkinson told The Times, “I think it’s the job of art, really, to challenge the status quo, to challenge what people think you shouldn’t do. There seems to be less prescription now than there was even three years ago.”
In life and in art, the shadows of Mr. Bean and all he imparted will follow. But Atkinson pressed into the future with a realistic view of himself and the characters he played.
