Craziest Detail About Mr. Bean in Rowan Atkinson’s $251 Million Film Is So Hilarious It’ll Make Your Eyes Water With Silly Laughter

Regarded as one of the most beloved fictional characters in television sitcom history, Mr. Bean was created by Rowan Atkinson and Richard Curtis. Atkinson portrayed him in the British comedy television sitcom Mr. Bean, followed by its animated spin-off and two live-action movies. The actor cited that French comedian and director Jacques Tati’s Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday influenced the character Mr. Bean, whose name and occupation were never mentioned.

Rowan Atkinson portrayed the character in 1997’s movie titled Bean, directed by Mel Smith. Mr. Bean works as a security guard in the movie. Despite receiving mixed reviews from critics upon release, the movie was a commercial success and grossed over $251 million worldwide. Fans recently pointed out that Mr. Bean did have a first name.

Rowan Atkinson does not really like Mr. Bean but loves playing on-screen the most

In an interview with British GQ, actor Rowan Atkinson sat down to talk about his most beloved and very iconic character, Mr. Bean, who is to date one of the most loved fictional characters. He mentioned during the interview that Mr. Bean is one of the characters that he’s enjoyed the most playing on-screen because he is a character that is furthest away from himself. The actor added,

As a person, I don’t like him at all. I think he’s very odd and pretty and not very nice. But what’s fun about it is an escape. When you play the character, you don’t care what you do. It’s a weird kind of release.

Atkinson recalled that the first time he played the character, was on stage in 1979, and that is when they had developed two sketches. He shared that one was at the beach where he was trying to change into a swimming trunk on the beach, and the other one was in the church where he was sitting and he misbehaved while someone was spouting a sermon. The actor noted that the character didn’t have a name with adding;

He didn’t have to have a name because there were no words spoken in the sketches in which he featured. They were silent sketches. But then, when we thought these sketches were quite funny, it’s quite an interesting idea to develop a comedy character who doesn’t use words.

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Rowan Atkinson shared with the publication that to give the television show a name, they came up with the name Mr. Bean. He mentioned that they were thinking about Mr. White, but it sounded a bit dull, and they thought of vegetables, and that’s how Mr. Bean was named.

Allen Tsai shared that Mr. Bean did have a first name, as shown in the movie Bean. When Mr. Bean is shown as an employee of London’s National Gallery and his passport appears on-screen, his first name is written as ‘Mr. ‘, which is quite hilarious if we think about it. His date of birth is given as 6th January 1955, which is Atkinson’s actual birth date.

Rowan Atkinson shares why Mr. Bean is successful

No matter how weird the character is, Mr. Bean is a very successful fictional character, and the actor reflects on what, according to him, is the reason for its long-standing success. The actor shared (via Yahoo) that he always thought that the character and the show became successful because of the visual gags and Mr. Bean being a child in a man’s body. He added,

Across all races and cultures, the behavior of children tends to be the same and so is easily identified and laughed at. I’m sorry to say that I find all filming stressful, but Mr. Bean filming especially so because of the burden of responsibility I feel to make it funny.

He noted that he does have his supporting actors to help him, but whether the jokes work or not, it all goes down to him, which he finds stressful. He also mentioned that if the audience finds it funny, then it may be worth it. In an interview with Student Pocket Guide, the actor mentioned once again that two elements that add to the success of Mr. Bean are that he’s a child and people identify with his naivety. Another element is the fact that people enjoy seeing Mr. Bean dare to go where normal people would not.

Through him, you can indulge in attitudes and fantasies that our world frowns upon and which force us all to behave according to a certain social norm.

Atkinson concluded that most of the time he’s good-natured, but on occasions, he gets quite unpleasant, and when he is that, people find it funny, which is why maybe the character has seen the success to date.

Bean is available to stream on Apple TV on VOD.