Mr. Bean to retire following stellar 2012 Olympic performance?
With his most recent memorable performance coming at the 2012 London Olympics before an audience of roughly 75 million viewers between the U.S. and the UK, it looks as though Mr. Bean will soon get in to his classic Mini and drive away, hopefully not in a recliner strapped on the roof. Rowan Atkinson, the actor who brought Mr. Bean to life, recently admitted that he plans to abandon the comic character in favor of more cerebral roles on the stage. Atkinson has been preparing to debut as the lead in a West End revival of Quartermaine’s Terms by Simon Gray. He first returned to the theatre in 2009 playing Fagin in Oliver! in the West End.
“Apart from the fact that your physical ability starts to decline, I also think someone in their fifties being childlike becomes a little sad. You’ve got to be careful“, Atkinson commented recently.
Back in 2010 for the PBS special, Behind the Britcom: From Script to Screen, we interviewed Mr. Bean creator/writer, Richard Curtis, in his Notting Hill office, where he briefly talked about how incredibly rewarding it was to both write for and collaborate with his long-time friend, Rowan Atkinson, for Mr. Bean.
There are so many great Mr. Bean moments from the turkey on the head to meeting the queen to the diving platform to the taking of a test being totally unprepared and feeling the need to cheat. While millions will be sad to see Mr. Bean retire, millions more for years to come will be left with some comic genius from the brilliant minds of Rowan Atkinson and Richard Curtis.
