Rowan Atkinson: I don’t enjoy playing Mr Bean

Rowan Atkinson, an English actor, says he does not enjoying playing Mr Bean, a popular British sitcom character.

The 65-year-old movie star is renowned for the iconic titular in the series which ran from 1990 until 1995.

But speaking with Radio Times, a British weekly magazine, the actor described the character as “stressful and exhausting, while hinting a possible end to the role.”

“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,” he said.

Atkinson added that he was not surprised by the success recorded by Mr Bean, explaining that its impressive run was due to its visual appeal.

“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,” he said.

“It’s very pleasing that people want to connect with Mr Bean, but I have no desire to have any presence on social media. What happens there is a sideshow in my world.”

On the possibility of producing more episodes of the series, that actor said: “Having made an animated television series, we are now in the foothills of developing an animated movie for Mr Bean – it’s easier for me to perform the character vocally than visually.”

The ‘Johnny English’ star also hinted at the possibility of bringing back Blackadder, a series he featured in between 1983 to 1989 as Edmund.

“It’s certainly not impossible. That’s about as optimistic as I can be, and I’d rather not speculate on when it could be set. But Blackadder represented the creative energy we all had in the 80s. To try to replicate that 30 years on wouldn’t be easy,” he said.