"Mr. Bean" was shown in almost 200 countries around the world. The actor says that in the 90s he watched a movie with his participation in a poor Bedouin village in South Africa, where he went on a safari. The films with Rowan Atkinson were seen by millions of viewers, and this brought him worldwide fame. Unusual and original appearance, along with incredible facial expressions and plastic, made the actor one of the most recognizable comedians.
The first steps
While studying for doctoral studies at Oxford, Rowan performed a lot on the amateur stage. His humorous sketches were always popular. After winning several comedy festivals, in 1978 he came to the radio with the Atkinson People program, in which he appeared as an author, host, and main performer. The satirical interviews conducted by the presenter from the invented characters were very popular with the audience. In the same year he was offered to run his own program on television - “Not nine-hour news” immediately became unusually popular in the country.
The first television film with Atkinson was the sitcom Black Viper, which takes place in various historical eras. The series, which ran from 1983 to 1989, is considered one of the best in the history of British television. After working on this project, Rowan becomes one of the country's most popular comedians.
Forever mister
The whole world knows films with Atkinson about Mr. Bean. The actor himself is often identified with his character, and most viewers call him that way, wherever he appears. The actor considers the date of his birth January 1, 1990 - the day when Mr. Bean first appeared on the television screen. A strange, infantile muddler, constantly falling into ridiculous situations, immediately fell in love with millions of viewers. True, the naive simpleton always manages to get out of the most ridiculous situations with dignity. The famous comedian came up with this character back in his student years, appearing several times in the guise of Mr. Bean at amateur festivals. In his work on the image, Atkinson pays great attention to plastic and facial expressions, because Bean practically does not speak in the frame.
The television series about Bina was shown until 1995, on average about 20 million people watched each series. Later, the actor appeared in separate episodes in 2007 and 2015 and two feature films “Mr. Bean” (1997) and “Mr. Bean on Vacation” (2007). Atkinson’s films usually pay for themselves many times over. So, the first of them, with a budget of 18 million US dollars, collected 251 million US dollars at the box office, the continuation was almost as financially successful.
In the image of his most famous hero, the actor many times participated in various shows and television programs. In 2012, he acted as his most recognizable character at the opening of the Olympic Games in London.
Career heyday
But over time, the actor began to get tired of the image of Mr. Bean, and the role required considerable physical effort, since the character had lively facial expressions, and with age it became harder for the actor to quickly transform.
In 2001, one of the first Hollywood films with Atkinson was released, where he starred with famous American actors: Whoopi Goldberg, Seth Green and Johann Lovitz. After the comedy Rat Race, he became one of the candidates for a prize of $ 2 million.
In 2003, the comedy Agent Johnny English came out on the big screens, in which he played a special agent for British intelligence. The film was conceived as a spy tape parody with James Bond. In 2011, the second part was released, and in 2018 - the third. Atkinson considers the British spy movie series to be the best of his career. In total, in the filmography of the actor, several dozen paintings.
Comedian in the detective
In 2016 and 2017, a mini-series based on the novels by Georges Simenon about the great detective Megreet was released. The film with Atkinson was a stunning surprise for fans of the comedic talent of the actor. Russian critics and viewers greeted the picture rather restrainedly, many noted that the film was losing to earlier screen versions. Weaker directorial work is noted, especially a lot of criticism was addressed to the lead actor.
For many, Atkinson did not fit into the role of the cunning, experienced police commissioner. Viewers who watched the film were still waiting for the actor to act in the style of Mr. Bean. For many, it became a disappointment to play the actor in the role of Maigret, whom they compared with the traditional British from a tea advertisement.