Rowan Atkinson has revealed why it took years for Mr Bean to arrive in Italy (Picture: Universal/Everett/REX/Shutterstock)
Key Points
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- Rowan Atkinson revealed he delayed Mr Bean airing in Italy for a unique reason
- Appearing on tonight’s Graham Norton Show, he also expressed mixed feelings about his iconic roles, describing Mr Bean as selfish and Man vs. Baby character Trevor Bingley as sweet
- Mr Bean eventually aired in Italy in 1997, and Atkinson appeared as the character in memorable events like the 2012 Olympics
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Rowan Atkinson is beloved around the world for Mr Bean, but there was a time when Italy didn’t get the memo.
The 70-year-old actor starred as the hapless and absurd character, who he has described as ‘a child trapped in a man’s body’, in 14 episodes of the original ITV sitcom, which was shown in 245 countries around the world.
On YouTube, the show boasts over 23 billion views of clips from the OG series and its animated spin-off.
With the programme becoming a global phenomenon – it led to two feature films, Bean (1997) and Mr Bean’s Holiday (2006) – Rowan has now admitted he took an unexpected step to temper the craze.
‘Back in the 90s pre internet when TV programmes were distributed around the world, I saw the opportunity to stop it being seen in Italy,’ he said on this week’s episode of The Graham Norton Show.
He explained: ‘I liked Italy and wanted to go there on holiday without people recognising me. It worked really well and no one had the slightest idea who I was!’
The character has appeared in 14 live action episodes, two films and an animated show (Picture: Universal/Working Title/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock)
Rowan didn’t want to be recognise on holiday (Picture: Matt Crossick/PA Media Assignments)
Mr Bean did eventually arrive in Italy in 1997, as the second episode hit screens there seven years after its launch in the UK, according to the Mr Bean wiki page on Fandom.
Meanwhile, it’s not just Italy who missed out, as Rowan admitted he generally tries to avoid watching his own work ‘by design’.
‘But I sometimes see things accidentally,’ he confessed. ‘I was on a plane once, and they were showing the last series of Blackadder. I had never seen it before, so I watched it and it quite good.’
And the consensus? ‘I was surprised how good it was.’
Rowan was pleasantly surprised when he rewatched Blackadder Goes Forth (Picture: BBC Picture Archives)
He thinks his Man vs. Baby character is more likeable (Picture: Netflix)
The veteran actor has brought back another beloved character, Trevor Bingley, in the new Man vs. Baby series on Netflix, which is a spinoff of the streamer’s 2022 comedy Man vs. Bee.
He acknowledged that the first series was ‘quite a good idea’ which performed ‘well enough to justify doing some more’, while Rowan admitted he sees the character in a very different way to his other iconic roles.
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‘I feel sorry for him. He’s not so psychopathic as he was in Bee and is a genuinely sweet man which is rare in the characters I have played,’ he pondered.
‘I think Mr Bean is a selfish, self-centred anarchic child. He looks after number one and is quite charmless. Blackadder is humorous but sarcastic, sardonic, and negative.
‘And, even Johnny English is vain and doesn’t care about anyone else. So, I think Trevor is a pleasant contrast to this catalogue of people you wouldn’t want to have dinner with.’
He described Mr Bean as a ‘selfish, self-centred anarchic child’ (Picture: Matt Crossick/PA Media Assignments)
Rowan surprised fans when he showed up as Mr Bean during the London 2012 Olympics opening ceremony, as well as doing sketches for Comic Relief, but he’s played down the idea of a proper revival.
Earlier this year, Good Morning Britain’s Richard Arnold asked: ‘What price to have you back doing a live-action version again?’
Rowan admitted: ‘Occasionally, I think about it. Is it worth it? Is there any need? … It probably won’t happen. Almost certainly won’t happen. But I have to say, it’s not an impossibility.’
Mr Bean is available to stream on ITVX. See Rowan Atkinson on The Graham Norton Show tonight at 10.40pm on BBC One.
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