Rowan Atkinson is not particularly flattering about one of his most famous comic creations.
The British actor has described Mr Bean as a “selfish, self-serving, anarchic child,” despite the character resonating with audiences around the world.
“I dislike Mr Bean as a person, I certainly would never like to have dinner with him,” he said at a London screening of his Netflix show Man Vs Baby.
“But at the same time, I like him as a character, because he is possibly a bit like I was at age 10 – that sort of childish sort of selfishness and working things out in a slightly eccentric way. But at the same time, I wouldn’t want him in my house.”
Mr Bean is one of the UK’s biggest comedy exports after launching in 1990. The brand has been sold to more than 190 countries, while its YouTube channel has 35M subscribers and more than 12B views.
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Atkinson has said Mr Bean’s childish antics and visual comedy are part of his charm, but this does not make him a “nice guy” like Trevor Bingley in Man Vs Baby, which is a follow-up to Man Vs Bee.
“Trevor Bingley, in his basic form, is arguably one of the nicest people I’ve ever played. Because I think most people I’ve played are sort of deeply unpleasant, really, you know, Mr Bean is a selfish, self serving, anarchic child. Blackadder, is a sort of sarcastic and sardonic and basically negative force, I think.
“Even Johnny English is a sort of vain, sort of charmless. I think actually, Trevor has turned out to be one of my more pleasant, amenable creations. I quite like playing the nice guy which I haven’t done very often.”
Atkinson has no current plans for Season 3 of Man Vs…, but said a decision will be made on viewing figures rather than critical reception.
He explained: “I haven’t read a review or critique of anything I’ve done since the 20th century so I don’t know what reviewers, pundits and critics think of what I do, because the only thing that interests me is how many people watch this, and would they like to watch more? That’s the litmus test, and the sign of success, to me.”