Has anyone here met Rowan Atkinson in person?

I am pretty sure he is nothing like what people think he is like. Have you seen his Maigret?

Doesn't he suffer from depression? I like how he comes across in talk shows - witty but very reserved; I also like his politics - anti-PC spech policing without being obnoxious about it like other British comedians.

(spech = speech)

Good actors have at least twenty different personalities.

But the immutable facts are that this person is a rich, old man ($130 million after 64 years) and associates with tearful English luvvies.

He’s fine. He sends his regards.

You must not have seen him in Blackadder. Edmund Blackadder is exactly the sort to leave his wife for a much younger woman.

Edmund Blackadder is more likely to plot and scheme in an attempt to leave his wife for a much younger woman but fail miserably in the attempt when he realises that Lord Flashheart beat him to it.

I'm recalling an incident where he crashed his car into someone else and was rude about it, but because he's had multiple accidents I can't find the article.

Ah, right: in 1999, Atkinson rear-ended a Rover Metro and asked police to hide the fact that he had been driving. That's what I was remembering.

I've read somewhere that his wife was his major support while he was suffering from depression and was considering suicide. A nice way to repay your lifetime companion, I must say.

He became a star very very early. First he was a huge hit amongst his peers in Oxford almost immediately after he stepped on stage. Soon after he got bagged by Richard Armitage - not the current actor, but the biggest talent spotter of his day. Immediately, Atkinson got a TV show with the BBC (Not the 9 O'clock News), serious theater engagements, prizes. Then it was Blackadder, then, without pause, Mr Bean.

His huge depression actually cane around Johnny English when, for the first time in his life, he felt he wasn't a huge and effortless success.

So maybe all of that Cornucopia life gets to you a little bit sooner or later.

R6 I think I heard Ben Elton says the first series of Blackadder was written by a different person who did the others.

The character in the first series was different from the others. He said something about the character being rude and surly who needed a mental defective to use as the butt of the jokes.

Hetero men do that a lot, though. They have a first wife to help them through tough spots and then when older and established trade them in for whatever level of arm candy they can afford.

R12 Insecure people tend to do that, and yes they tend to be men. It's not very mature, but neither are men in general.

My sister met him at the airport. He didn't say a word and would only communicate through his wife.

Why would he communicate with people he doesn't know and aren't there to serve his needs? Unless he's the one initiating the conversation, of course.

Yeah the rich and famous should only communicate to either other rich people, or people who are there to serve them. Talking to random hoi polloi is for ethnics and poor people.

I was a production assistant on a film he did and he was really rude. To everyone. Didn't socialise with other cast members, and was outwardly impolite to the lower-rung employees on set. It was a smaller budget film and he was just grumpy and impatient, acted like he was above it all.

I kind of let him off for it though, assuming he was under pressure or just having trouble with his personal life or something. But then I read about his other obnoxious comments over the years. From the incident with the car crash, to the defence of Boris Johnson, to the racist stuff about minorities ("we all love tikka masala, but do we really need them when we have the recipe now?")..... So now I just see him as the typical smug wealthy private-school-educated cunt who got successful a little too easily/quickly/early on and always thinks they're the smartest person in the room.

Still love Mr. Bean though.

R11 Rowan Atkinson was also a writer on the first serie of Blackadder, he then "focused" on the acting and left the writing to Ben Elton and Richard Curtis. In the first serie Blackadder is a complete moron and Baldrick is the clever one, it's like they switch brain after the 2nd serie. It gets funnier with the time, my favorite being the "goes forth".

Have you guys watch Upstart crow by Ben Elton ? It's about Shakespeare life, it's recorded in front of a live audience, like Blackadder.

[quote]"we all love tikka masala, but do we really need them when we have the recipe now?"

That was a parody of a Tory speech though and not his real opinion the best I can tell.

Defending Boris over a racist joke was all him though, definitely.

R16 Isn't this what really happens though? When it doesn't the high-status person is labelled "nice" or "exceptionally nice"

Interesting R17. One of the first movies I reviewed was an indie he was in nearly 15 years ago, and there were rumors that he was an enormous pest on the set. A co-star said something about it in an interview, if I recall.

He seems insufferable in real life, one of those people so neurotic he can barely function but also completely full of himself.

[quote]I think I heard Ben Elton says the first series of Blackadder was written by a different person who did the others.

Oh, dear!

[quote]You must not have seen him in Blackadder. Edmund Blackadder is exactly the sort to leave his wife for a much younger woman.

You do realize that Blackadder is a character and Atkinson a real person, right?

To be honest I get a bit of a Bill Cosby vibe from him. The grumpy smugness where pretty much everybody is beneath him which then comes with a big scandal in his private (dating) life.

R21 Interesting, this film was 15 years ago too. I'm guessing it's the same one. I wasn't aware other cast members said anything but he was so rude to everyone i'm not surprised. The crew certainly let off some steam about his behaviour when his scenes were done.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the even more successful and decorated actors (than Atkinson) in the film were very cordial to everyone and easy to work with. Which probably is a function of their own sense of security he doesn't have.

THE TRUNK MURDERER

My memory is that it was K who said something, R25. Not sure if it's the same movie you worked on or not.

He was hysterical on Not The Nine O'clock News

I always figured he was that guy who plays a weirdo and is actually a weirdo (though not exactly the same kind of weirdo).

"we all love tikka masala, but do we really need them when we have the recipe now?"

To be fair, that was a character's line, who was a tory, emploring voters to vote tory. It was meant to be humorously idiotic and repugnant.

I met ronan farrow and his transformation from male to female is breathtaking.

His brother Rodney is a UKIP aficionado. Whatever their parents' views are, the apple or apples never fall far from the tree.

OP, it's a deep-seated evolutionary device in all men -- once the woman he's with has become incapable of delivering his offspring, his genes drive him to find a younger mate who has more years of reproductive capability left. It's really more extraordinary, from an evolutionary standpoint, when a man stays with the same woman decades past her reproductive ability.

He believes STRONGLY in free speech, and not being pc in comedy, which I understand because it does tend to kill comedy to an extent, but I can't believe he's racist. His first wife is east Indian, as are their 2 kids.

Here he is in the "Gerald the Gorilla" sketch.

I guarantee you'll laugh, so don't be eating or drinking 'cause you may choke.

R27 That makes sense. It was a long time ago but from memory, on-set K was frequently frustrated he was being so difficult and particular because his role wasn't even particularly large, and he kept delaying things and trying to tell others how to do their jobs (incl. the director). Despite her own reputation, she was actually quite lovely to everyone and always professional. Trying to keep the set in good spirits. I guess when you have a veteran, legendary actress in her old age, and a former heartthrob movie star flown in from America, you don't expect them to be the easygoing, joyful presences on set and the slapsticky British comedian to be the overly serious arsehole.

She's attractive, the rest is not funny.

"British comedian to be the overly serious arsehole."

Brits do tend to be overly serious arseholes though.

[quote]Edmund Blackadder is exactly the sort to leave his wife for a much younger woman.

AND to steal his employer's socks on his way out.

Yes, R36, that was exactly it: in some interview, K made an offhanded comment about Rowan wanting more lines, but then joked about it by saying "as we all do." I am picturing it at a press junket but just cannot for the life of me remember where I saw it or find it on YT.

It totally sounds like something KST would say.

Who is K? Or KST?

People who play pretend racists for laughs usually are perfectly racist in their own right. The outrageous, exaggerated version they play is meant to make their own casual racism and that of their audiences more palatable.

R42 Oh come on, that is about the only Rowan Atkinson I would have watched (and still didn't). If you follow indie/small movies, you will know it. It was a small English movie with big names at the time. Names who are still big today btw.

r42, I'm assuming KST is Kristin Scott Thomas, who has appeared in two films with Rowan Atkinson: Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994) and Keeping Mum (2005).

Guess which one we're talking about R45!!

R35 that was hilarious! Thanks!

My guess would be Keeping Mum, considering the focus of that film was the relationship between KST and Maggie Smith, and Atkinson's character is secondary, whereas his bit in Four Weddings and a Funeral was essentially a cameo.

His daughter Lily, whom he had with his first wife, said of his affair and divorce that it was a "dick move."

She's not wrong.

I cannot approve of this person.

He plays characters that are 'spastic' with Cerebral Palsy.

[quote]People who play pretend racists for laughs usually are perfectly racist in their own right. The outrageous, exaggerated version they play is meant to make their own casual racism and that of their audiences more palatable.

Bullshit. That’s why we’re called actors.

Exactly r51. People who believe that are the same nutcases who run up to actors who play villains, and berate them as though they are one and the same as the characters they play. It's bizarre and creepy. Atkinson married and had two kids with an Indian woman, I seriously doubt he's a racist. He still shouldn't have traded her in for a younger, less attractive version. That was poor form, to say the least.

Dreadfully poor form, I'm offended.

I’m outraged.

He came out against hate speech legislation, but supported it for racism. He was against hate speech including homosexuality and religion. He wants to bash the fags and his brother is a Nazi.

The fact that he got one woman to marry him let alone two is astonishing.

His face looks like it’s made of silly putty and he sounds like an asswipe too.

I'm surprised he has a wife. He seems to overact in everything and goes for the most obvious laugh. Never could stand him in anything.

r12 = Betty Broderick.

Maigret the character is a moron, in that he endangers the innocent, sometimes to their demise. Atkinson plays him superbly.

I have a friend who lives near him. Atkinson is generally loathed in the vicinity, because when he isn't being miserable and rude, he is being a pompous ass. Nobody expects a comic actor (and he is very funny) to be a comic all the time, and his struggles with mental illness are well known. However, none of that gives anyone permission to set their internal personality register permanently to 'cunt'.

R60, any examples of his cuntitude? Do tell!

R59 I couldn't bring myself to watch Maigret. Watching a comedian playing a non-funny role just seems so fake.

Did someone say he got depressed when Johnny English didn't do well? I thought it did well at the box office? It must have, they went on to make 2 more.

He took this video too seriously and figured if he could get young tail there, he could get it in real life too. His bank account and his mistress agreed.

[quote]Atkinson married and had two kids with an Indian woman, I seriously doubt he's a racist.

No idea if he's racist, but racist men marry non-white women all the time.

I find him low-key sexy, tbh. He has a really sexy voice.

"No idea if he's racist, but racist men marry non-white women all the time.

I certainly agree that it happens, but all the time is a stretch. Plus, he (Rowan, not one of his characters) has said in an interview that "disliking someone for their race is idiotic, but criticism of people's religion should be done."

Racism is found everywhere, but it's not as prevalent in the UK as many other countries, so, given all these things, I doubt he's racist.

Very few of us in America know who he is.

I think he might have had a bit part in FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL many years ago.

Is that him?

Are you kidding? You've never heard of Mr. Bean?!

The whole world knows Mr. Bean.

Mr. Bean has cerebral palsy.

[Quote] Very few of us in America know who he is. I think he might have had a bit part in FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL many years ago. Is that him?

R63, the problem was that Johnny English was mowed down by the critics. Atkinson stupidly tried to sue The New York Times for suggesting he was depressed because of the bad reception. I mean, who sues for something like that?!

[quote]r69 Are you kidding? You've never heard of Mr. Bean?!

Sorry. No.

You must have been living under a rock all your life. Up until recently, you couldn't shake a stick without pointing it at a pic of him. He was everywhere.

Too bad, r62.

r74, NOT HERE!

Maybe the wife he left was an insufferable bitch, OP.

r76, Mr. Bean was famous enough in the United States that when he transformed it into a film, he set it IN the U.S. And it opened at #2 at the box office.

Must have been a slow week.

People might have thought they were going to see Pee-Wee Herman? They look sort of the same.

[quote]r78 And it opened #2 at the box office.

Appropriate.

Do you think that both Mister Bean AND Pee-Wee Herman suffer from Cerebral Palsy, or they are both emotionally-retarded?

Neither have sex lives do they?

[quote] OP, it's a deep-seated evolutionary device in all men -- once the woman he's with has become incapable of delivering his offspring, his genes drive him to find a younger mate who has more years of reproductive capability left. It's really more extraordinary, from an evolutionary standpoint, when a man stays with the same woman decades past her reproductive ability.

You realize "evolutionary" explanations like this are complete bullshit? Or are you prepared to explain the "evolutionary device" behind gayness?

Only on DL is racism not "prevalent" in the UK.

R83 compared to America, the UK is a racial utopia.

Here's Rowan on free speech.

Poor r82 hasn't been paying attention to evolutionary science for the past 60 years.

R17 described this piece of shit to a T

He an ugly guy, you'd expect him to have a small ego, but he has a GIANT ego. He's a shit stain. He's a fucking cliche'

Driving super expensive cars, cheating on his wife, leaving her and so much more bullshit.

They do not have Freedom of Speech in the England. They don't even have a free press

Are you English, R87?

"Driving super expensive cars"

Ok, I don't know the behind doors info on the marriage, but it's definitely a bad look. But what is wrong with him having expensive cars? He earned his money and can spend it any way he wants to, what do you expect, for him to drive a 90s Geo?

I met him briefly working on a show and he was lovely and professional. Honestly nothing to say about him.

R90 did he smell good? Verificata?

Never knew how he pulled Leslie Ash. Could not believe he left her, gorgeous girl. Johnny English is so fucking bad. NTNOCN is the nest sketch show ever

Guess again, r78 and r74. "Bean"---like Atkinson's "Maigret"---was only shown on HBO and then PBS. There were no "pic(s)" of the character anywhere in the US.

Moreover, that "#2 Box Office" is a world statistic, not, again, here in the States.

R89 He always liked driving, he even have a licence to drive truck as seen in this sketch of Not the nine o'clock news (don't watch if you like hedgehog)

R87 British don't have idependent press, they are brain washed by Ruppert and co, even the BBC is shit now.

Shakespeare / Hugh Laurie (House) and his editor / Atkinson doing some rewrite on Hamlet.

R93 how old are you? He was pretty ubiquitous in the 90s in America. Even now he's on a lot of memes and gifs that are used. I can't imagine anyone who was alive and old enough to be aware of what's going on wouldn't have seen him. His Mr. Bean dance to the song Mr. Boombastic by Shaggy was viral, and hilarious.

Here's his quote, I didn't get it exactly right in my post before.

"To criticize a person for their race is manifestly irrational and ridiculous, but to criticize their religion, that is a right. That is a freedom. The freedom to criticize ideas, any ideas – even if they are sincerely held beliefs – is one of the fundamental freedoms of society." - Rowan Atkinson