Rowan Atkinson admits he doesn't like playing Mr Bean

Rowan Atkinson has said he will not appear as Mr Bean again because he doesn’t like playing the comic character.

The 65-year-old actor will continue to voice the hit role as a cartoon – with a new animated movie in the pipeline – but confessed he found playing Mr Bean in person very stressful.

Atkinson told the Radio Times: “It’s easier for me to perform the character vocally than visually. 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.”

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Mr Bean is a clown-like character based on physical comedy with very little dialogue, who first appeared in 1990 starring in his own ITV sitcom co-written by Atkinson and Richard Curtis.

He has gone on to become a beloved character around the world starring in two feature length movies and appearing live at the London 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony.

The animated children’s series was launched in 2002.

Atkinson confessed the only character he had ever enjoyed playing was Blackadder.

But he cast doubt on speculation that a reunion special of BBC sitcom may be in the pipeline.

Atkinson said: “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.

“Blackadder represented the creative energy we all had in the 80s. To try to replicate that 30 years on wouldn’t be easy.”

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Historical sitcom The Black Adder first aired in 1983, and ran for four series until 1989, set in various eras throughout history.

Blackadder appeared in several one-off specials, the last of which aired in 2002 as part of a sketch marking the Queen’s Golden Jubilee.

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