During an interview with Radio Times, Rowan Atkinson has revealed that while he’s currently developing an animated movie featuring Mr. Bean, he has no interest in physically performing as the character again – although he would be open to returning as his other iconic comedy creation, Edmund Blackadder.
“It’s easier for me to perform [Mr. Bean] vocally than visually,” said Atkinson. “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. I don’t actually like the process of making anything – with the possible exception of Blackadder, because the responsibility for making that series funny was on many shoulders, not just mine.”
Asked about the possibility of Blackadder making a return, Atkinson said that it “certainly” wasn’t “impossible”, but cautioned: “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.”
Created by Atkinson and Richard Curtis, Blackadder launched back in 1983 with The Black Adder, which was followed by three further series and several specials, the most recent of which, Blackadder: Back & Forth, aired in 2000.
