Top 10 Times Rowan Atkinson Broke the Cast

#10: Mr. Bean Does a Blind Date

“Comic Relief” (1988-)

Heading all the way back to “Comic Relief” 1993, Mr. Bean hilariously participated in a fictionalised version of “Blind Date”. The hilarious sketch has Mr. Bean as one of 3 contestants vying for the attention of Tracy, who will take the winner out on a date. Somehow. Mr. Bean manages to convince her to choose him, which results in a hilarious moment of awkwardness in the studio. The subsequent date and conclusion had the entire studio in an uproar. It’s one of Rowan Atkinson’s finest “Comic Relief” moments, and makes us miss the days he was a regular.

#9: Begrudgingly Winning

“Rowan Atkinson Live” (1992)

Next, we have a clip so well performed that most people who watch it believe it’s real. It shows Atkinson looking far from pleased about winning an award. It was all a bit as part of his stand-up performance, so the audience is entirely real, but the award is not. The sketch had everyone screaming with laughter. It’s potentially one of his greatest pieces of stand-up. If you found that funny, then the whole 1992 video release is worth a watch. Unfortunately, Atkinson doesn’t seem to do stand-up anymore, which is a tragic loss for comedy in general.

#8: Invention of Mr. Bean

“The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” (2015-)

In 2018, Atkinson explained on “The Late Show” the origin story of his definitive character, Mr. Bean. While the retelling of the story was funny, it was the moment within the story that broke the cast. It seems Mr. Bean just came from Atkinson pulling faces in the mirror. Then, he decided to bring it in front of an audience, which was all French speakers. He requested this specifically to test the character. The amount of hilarity he can imbue into a scene with no words is mind-blowing. The audience at the time found it so funny, the character went on to get his own show, and eventually became an international icon.

#7: MacAdder

“Blackadder” (1983-89)

During the third series, one episode sees Blackadder come into contact with his Scottish cousin, MacAdder. The character’s sole appearance was quite a challenge to capture. Not only because the accent is far from authentic, but also because the role is just too funny. Both Atkinson and Helen Atkinson-Wood, aka Mrs. Miggins, can’t keep themselves together. This resulted in a fair few outtakes and explains why the character never returned. An interesting piece of trivia is that the fanbase believes he is related to him via the first Blackadder. Prince Edmund’s mother, Queen Gertrude of Flanders, was known to have had an affair with Donald MacAngus. Thus, MacAdder was born.

#6: “Top Gear” Interview

“Top Gear” (2002-22)

Star in a reasonably priced car was one of the greatest segments in “Top Gear” history. There were multiple leaderboards, each for its own car. The Kia Cee’d was the third, which was driven by our own beloved Rowan Atkinson. His interview was comedy heaven, with Clarkson asking Atkinson to read off random words. The relatively simple request had the whole studio chuckling. In the end, his lap was the most memorable moment. In the end, he came in second place with a time of 1:42.2, only 0.1 seconds behind Matt LeBlanc.

#5: Elton John Interview

“Hysteria 3” (1991)

In 1991, “Hysteria 3” was performed live at the London Palladium. Like previous entries, it aimed to raise money for the Terrence Higgins Trust. It included an incredibly comical interview between Atkinson & Elton John. The singer was tasked with keeping his cool and taking the interview seriously. Atkinson had other plans, constantly grilling him about why he had a Christian name as a surname. His methods seemed to work, as we can see John constantly struggling to contain his laughter and maintain his composure. It looks like John was asked to get angry, but it was so funny he couldn’t manage it.

#4: Crisis Scene

“Blackadder” (1983-89)

Atkinson portrayed Blackadder amazingly well in the final product, but behind the scenes, there were frequent mishaps. Many of these involved him stumbling over simple activities, like putting on clothes. This yielded a lot of bloopers for one scene where he storms down a staircase, then puts on a cloak. This turned out to be hilariously challenging for Atkinson, and by extension, Tony Robinson. It’s quite humbling to see outtakes of Atkinson. While many admire him as one of comedy’s greats, even the best of us make mistakes from time to time. Though few can make our side split with a cloak alone.

#3: Being Half-Recognised

“The Graham Norton Show” (2007-)

Mr. Bean has become one of Britain’s most recognizable figures since his debut. This has led to loads of funny stories from Atkinson’s travels. In 2018, he discussed a particularly outrageous moment on “The Graham Norton Show”. A fan almost recognised him, but refused to believe it was him. Retelling this story had everyone on Norton’s show laughing hysterically. One can only hope the misguided fan caught the interview and realised his mistake. At the very least, it made for another stellar Atkinson anecdote.

#2: Awkward Interview

“Mr. Bean’s Holiday” (2007)

The second ever Mr. Bean movie was just as chaotic as the first, only now it focused on the walking disaster’s adventure to Cannes, France. To promote the film, Atkinson was interviewed countless times. Many of these went smoothly, but his interview on “Sunrise” was beyond awkward. Atkinson was given one line to say for the outro, but kept messing it up. At some point, you have to expect Atkinson was purposefully adding to the chaos. In the end, he gives up on having him say the line. It makes you curious, how many unreleased clips are there of him being a menace in interviews?

#1: Reprising the Spy

“Johnny English Reborn” (2011)

The “Johnny English” series is a hilarious trilogy of spy satires, parodying franchises like “James Bond”. They’ve all become cherished films of his, despite not being critically acclaimed. Atkinson was elated to return for the sequel “Reborn”, which produced a plethora of comedic bloopers. Many were caused by Atkinson’s stoic delivery being way too funny to handle. Quite a few bloopers are the product of Atkinson failing to cut open a wire fence. Unfortunately, few outtakes from the rest of the trilogy have been released, but they’d undoubtedly be hilarious, given Atkinson’s comedic genius.

What’s your favorite Rowan Atkinson moment of all time? Are you a Mr. Bean enjoyer or prefer his years as Blackadder? Let us know in the comments below!