Rowan Atkinson turns back on Bean in favour of stage roles?

Rowan Atkinson, who is preparing to star in Richard Eyre's West End-bound revival of Quartermaine's Terms by Simon Gray, has revealed he may turn his back on Mr Bean in favour of more stage acting.

Speaking to the Telegraph recently, Atkinson says he was put off stage acting by his appearance in a series of Chekhov shorts called The Sneeze in 1988. “It was a success, but I made the mistake of signing up for six months and I lived to rue the day,” he said. “That more than anything was what put me off theatre. I couldn’t understand what the point was of doing the same thing every night. I found it was a case not so much of reinventing the wheel as presenting the wheel again and again”.

Rowan Atkinson with his Whatsonstage.com Award

But now the Blackadder star appears to have had a change of heart, prompted by his Whatsonstage.com Award-winning role as Fagin in Oliver!. “I had the strange feeling in the middle of the run, for the very first time, that I was in a worthy profession,” he said.

Of Quartermaine he added, “What I love about him is his optimism. You don’t tend to feel much sympathy for pessimistic people but those who retain their optimism despite the sadness of their lives are interesting, engaging and sympathetic.”

Quartermaine's Terms runs at Wyndham's Theatre from 23 January to 13 April 2013.

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Booking Tickets & Show Listings
	Quartermaine's Terms Listing Page

Internal Links
	Rowan Atkinson returns to West End in Quartermaine's Terms - 8th Jun 2012 News
	Atkinson Stars in Oliver!, Opens Drury Lane in Jan - 26th Mar 2008 News
	Guest Blog: Equity president Malcolm Sinclair on why My Theatre Matters - and what you should do about it - 15th Apr 2013 blog
	Quartermaine's Terms - 30th Jan 2013 reviews
	Review Round-up: Full marks for Atkinson's Quartermaine? - 30th Jan 2013 roundup
	Opening: NT's Port, Rowan Atkinson in Quartermaine's Terms & Pinter's Old Times - 28th Jan 2013 news
	Show Pics: Rowan Atkinson returns to the stage in Quartermaine's Terms - 28th Jan 2013 photos
	20 Questions with ... Quartermaine's Terms' Malcolm Sinclair - 16th Jan 2013 interviews
	The Swedes are coming: Waiting for Wallander at Wyndham's? - 30th Aug 2012 gossip
External Links
	Daily Telegraph interview