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Rowan Atkinson filmography

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Rowan Atkinson filmography
Photograph of Rowan Atkinson at the Johnny English Reborn premiere in 2011
Atkinson at the Johnny English Reborn premiere in 2011
Film20
Television series34
Advertising9

English actor and comedian Rowan Atkinson has appeared in twenty films and over thirty film series and over eight television advertisements.

Overview

After university, Atkinson toured with Angus Deayton as his straight man in an act that was eventually filmed for a television show.[citation needed] After the success of the show, he did a one-off pilot for London Weekend Television in 1979 called Canned Laughter. Atkinson then went on to do Not the Nine O'Clock News for the BBC, produced by his friend John Lloyd. He featured in the show with Pamela Stephenson, Griff Rhys Jones and Mel Smith, and was one of the main sketch writers.

The success of Not the Nine O'Clock News led to him taking the lead role in the medieval sitcom The Black Adder (1983), which he also co-wrote with Richard Curtis. After a three-year gap, in part due to budgetary concerns, a second series was broadcast, this time written by Curtis and Ben Elton. Blackadder II (1986) followed the fortunes of one of the descendants of Atkinson's original character, this time in the Elizabethan era. The same pattern was repeated in the two more sequels Blackadder the Third (1987) (set in the Regency era), and Blackadder Goes Forth (1989) (set in World War I). The Blackadder series became one of the most successful of all BBC situation comedies, spawning television specials including Blackadder's Christmas Carol (1988), Blackadder: The Cavalier Years (1988), and later Blackadder: Back & Forth (1999), which was set at the turn of the Millennium. The final scene of "Blackadder Goes Forth" (when Blackadder and his men go "over the top" and charge into No-Man's-Land) has been described as "bold and highly poignant".[1] During the 2014 centennial of the start of World War I, Michael Gove and war historian Max Hastings complained about the so-called "Blackadder version of history".[2][3][4]

Atkinson in 1997, promoting Bean. In 2014, young adults from abroad named Mr. Bean among a group of people they most associated with UK culture.[5]

Atkinson's other creation, the hapless Mr. Bean, first appeared on New Year's Day in 1990 in a half-hour special for Thames Television. The character of Mr. Bean has been likened to a modern-day Buster Keaton,[6] but Atkinson himself has stated that Jacques Tati's character Monsieur Hulot was the main inspiration.[7]

Several sequels to Mr. Bean appeared on television until 1995, and the character later appeared in a feature film. Bean (1997) was directed by Mel Smith, Atkinson's colleague in Not the Nine O'Clock News. A second film, Mr. Bean's Holiday, was released in 2007. In 1995 and 1996, Atkinson portrayed Inspector Raymond Fowler in The Thin Blue Line television sitcom written by Ben Elton, which takes place in a police station located in fictitious Gasforth.

Atkinson has fronted campaigns for Kronenbourg,[8] Fujifilm, and Give Blood. Atkinson appeared as a hapless and error-prone espionage agent named Richard Lathum in a long-running series of adverts for Barclaycard, on which character his title role in Johnny English and Johnny English Reborn was based. In 1999, he played the Doctor in The Curse of Fatal Death, a special Doctor Who serial produced for Comic Relief. Atkinson appeared as the Star in a Reasonably Priced Car on Top Gear in July 2011, driving the Kia Cee'd around the track in 1:42.2, placing him at the top of the leaderboard until Matt LeBlanc later recorded a 1:42.1 lap time.

Atkinson appeared at the 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony in London as Mr. Bean in a comedy sketch during a performance of "Chariots of Fire", playing a repeated single note on synthesizer.[9] He then lapsed into a dream sequence in which he joined the runners from the film of the same name (about the 1924 Summer Olympics), beating them in their iconic run along West Sands at St. Andrews, by riding in a minicab and tripping the front runner.[10] Atkinson starred as Jules Maigret in Maigret, a series of TV films from ITV.[11]

Atkinson's film career began with a supporting part in the James Bond movie Never Say Never Again (1983) and a leading role in Dead on Time (also 1983) with Nigel Hawthorne. He was in the 1988 Oscar-winning short film The Appointments of Dennis Jennings. He appeared in Mel Smith's directorial debut The Tall Guy (1989) and appeared alongside Anjelica Huston and Mai Zetterling in Roald Dahl's The Witches (1990). He played the part of Dexter Hayman in Hot Shots! Part Deux (1993), a parody of Rambo III, starring Charlie Sheen.

Atkinson gained further recognition with his turn as a verbally bumbling vicar in Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994) and featured in Disney's The Lion King (also 1994) as the voice of Zazu the red-billed hornbill. He also sang the song I Just Can't Wait to Be King in The Lion King. Atkinson continued to appear in supporting roles in comedies, including Rat Race (2001), Scooby-Doo (2002), Love Actually (2003) and the crime comedy Keeping Mum (2005), which also starred Kristin Scott Thomas, Maggie Smith and Patrick Swayze.

In addition to his supporting roles, Atkinson has also had success as a leading man. His television character Mr. Bean debuted on the big screen with Bean (1997) to international success. A sequel, Mr. Bean's Holiday (2007), also became an international success. He has also starred in the James Bond parody Johnny English (2003), its sequel, Johnny English Reborn (2011) and its second sequel; Johnny English Strikes Again (2018).

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1981 Fundamental Frolics Himself
1983 Dead on Time Bernard Fripp Short film
Never Say Never Again Nigel Small-Fawcett
1988 The Appointments of Dennis Jennings Dr. Schooner Short film
1989 The Tall Guy Ron Anderson
1990 The Witches Mr. Stringer
1993 Hot Shots! Part Deux Dexter Hayman
1994 Four Weddings and a Funeral Father Gerald
The Lion King Zazu Voice
1997 Bean Mr. Bean Also executive producer
2000 Maybe Baby Mr. James
2001 Rat Race Enrico Pollini
2002 Scooby-Doo Emile Mondavarious
2003 Johnny English Johnny English Nominated – European Film Award for Best Actor
Love Actually Rufus
2005 Keeping Mum Reverend Walter Goodfellow
2007 Mr. Bean's Holiday Mr. Bean
2011 Johnny English Reborn Johnny English
2017 Huan Le Xi Ju Ren Mr. Bean Cameo
2018 Johnny English Strikes Again Johnny English Also producer
2023 Wonka Father Julius Post-production

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1979 Rowan Atkinson presents… Canned Laughter Robert Box/Mr. Marshall/Dave Perry One-off Pilot episode; also writer
The Secret Policeman's Ball Himself Television special
1979–1982 Not the Nine O'Clock News Various roles 28 episodes; also writer
1980 Peter Cook & Co Television special
The Innes Book of Records 1 episode
1981 The Secret Policeman's Other Ball Various roles Television special
1983–1989 Blackadder Edmund Blackadder 24 episodes; also co-creator and writer
1986 Saturday Live Himself (host) 1 episode
1987 The Grand Knockout Tournament Lord Knock of Alton Television special
1990–1995 Mr. Bean Mr. Bean 15 episodes; also co-creator and writer
1991 Bernard and the Genie Bernard's Boss Television film
The Driven Man Himself Television documentary; also writer
1992 Rowan Atkinson Live Television special; also writer
Funny Business Kevin / Narrator 6 episodes; also writer
A Bit of Fry & Laurie Guest 1 episode
Laughing Matters Himself (host) Television documentary
1995–1996 The Thin Blue Line Inspector Raymond Fowler 14 episodes
1996 Late Night with Conan O'Brien Himself 1 episode
1999 Blackadder: Back & Forth Lord Blackadder / King Edmund III / Centurion Blaccadius Television film
Doctor Who and the Curse of Fatal Death The Doctor Television special
2001 Popsters Nasty Neville Television short
2002–2004
2015–2019 		Mr. Bean: The Animated Series Mr. Bean Voice
130 episodes; also executive producer
2003 Lying to Michael Jackson Martin Bashir Television short
2005 Spider-Plant Man Peter Piper / Spider-Plant Man
2010 Bondi Rescue Mr. Bean 1 episode
2012 The Olympics Opening Ceremony Himself/Mr. Bean Television special
2013 Live from Lambeth Palace sketches The Archbishop of Canterbury
2015 Mr. Bean: Funeral Mr. Bean Television short
2015 Horrible Histories Henry VIII of England 1 episode
2016–2017 Maigret Jules Maigret 4 episodes
2017 Red Nose Day Actually Rufus Television short
2017 British Airways Safety Video: Director's Cut Mr. Bean Television short
2018–2020 Handy Bean Mr. Bean 20 episodes
2019 One Red Nose Day and a Wedding Father Gerald Television short
2022 Man vs. Bee Trevor Bingley 9 episodes; also co-creator

Commercials

Year Title Role
1980 Kronenbourg 1664 Customs officer
1983 Appletiser Fisherman
1989 Give Blood Doctor
1991–1997 Barclaycard Richard Latham
1994 REMA 1000 Mr. Bean
1997 M&M's
1999 Nissan Tino
1999 Fujifilm
2014 Snickers[12]
2018 Etisalat[13] Agent One
2019 Etisalat[14] Mr. Bean

Music videos

Year Artist Title Role
1991 Hale and Pace "The Stonk" Mr. Bean
1992 Mr. Bean and Smear Campaign "(I Want To Be) Elected"
(featuring Bruce Dickinson) 		Mr. Bean
1997 Boyzone "Picture of You" Mr. Bean
2007 Matt Willis "Crash" Mr. Bean
2018 Olly Murs "Moves"[A]
(featuring Snoop Dogg)[15] 		Bartender
  1. ^ "Moves" also features on the Johnny English Strikes Again OST.

Atkinson also appeared in a song in the 1970s, "I like trucking". The song was made of "Not the nine O clock news".[16]

References

  1. ^ "BBC – Comedy – Blackadder Goes Forth".
  2. ^ "Is Blackadder bad for First World War history?".
  3. ^ "BBC News Blackadder star Sir Tony Robinson in Michael Gove WW1 row". BBC News. 5 January 2014.
  4. ^ "RUSI – Dealing With the Blackadder View of the First World War: The Need for an Inclusive, Bi-Partisan Centenary". RUSI. Archived from the original on 13 April 2014.
  5. ^ "Culture, attraction and soft power" (PDF). British Council. 3 December 2016.
  6. ^ "Museum.tv". Museum.tv. Retrieved 21 June 2011.
  7. ^ Los Angeles Times, March 27, 2015: Before and after 'Bean': A talk with Rowan Atkinson, continued Linked 2016-12-22
  8. ^ mhm grax. "Kronenbourg Commercial". Mhmgrax.com. Retrieved 21 June 2011.
  9. ^ "Mr. Bean's Hilarious 'Chariots of Fire' Skit at Olympics". hollywoodlife.com. 27 July 2012. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
  10. ^ "Mr Bean's Olympic orchestral appearance". BBC News. 27 July 2012. Retrieved 28 July 2012.
  11. ^ Rowan Atkinson starts filming ITV drama Maigret, ITV, 8 September 2015
  12. ^ "Video: Mr Bean Does Kung Fu in Snickers Ad". Time. 8 October 2014. Retrieved 26 July 2015.
  13. ^ "Watch: Rowan Atkinson roams the UAE in new commercial". 15 February 2018.
  14. ^ "Many Mr. Beans Cause TV Trouble in New Spot from Hungry Man's David Kerr". LBBOnline. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
  15. ^ "Olly Murs drops his 'Moves' music video and it includes a VERY famous face". 17 October 2018.
  16. ^ "Not the Nine O'Clock News - I Like Trucking". YouTube.
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