Rowan Atkinson Not A Funny Man, He Says

20 October 2011

You would think the actor behind Mr. Bean and Johnny English would be funny off-camera, but Rowan Atkinson says he is a serious man and you'll never catch him on a bloopers reel laughing on set.  The JOHNNY ENGLISH REBORN star brought some of that serious side to the bumbling English spy sequel.

Rowan Atkinson reprises his role as the improbable secret agent eight years after first bringing the James Bond-spoof to the big screen. In Johnny English's latest adventure, MI-7’s top spy returns from hiding to serve once again for Her Majesty’s Secret Service and stop a group of international assassins before they eliminate a world leader and cause global chaos.

The spy genre has changed since his last outing as the British agent to a more darker tone with Daniel Craig's James Bond and the Jason Bourne movies.  He initially planned to parody the Matt Damon spy thriller, but ultimately director Oliver Parker and Atkinson, as the producer and writer of the film, decided the British character had nothing in common with the American action hero and the film's style.  They did, however, bring in the serious element to one part of the film.   Atkinson hoped to counterbalance his comedic skills with a serious M1-7 team.

"I always believed the more serious and believable the British secret service were the funnier Johnny English mistakes would appear".

On set, the British actor played the straight man. While he's playing it up for laughs on screen, behind the scenes he's quite a serious actor who never breaks character.

"I'm actually not a funny man in real life. I become funny when I become somebody else, I need to act the part then I can be funny. I'm not a joke smith. I tend to be quite serious. I don't have any trouble at all during a funny scene."

Atkinson added bloopers reels are almost impossible to produce since he "never really laughs at anything on set."  Rowan admitted there was very little improvisation on the studio floor which probably didn't help for creating blooper reels.  Most of the improvisation came during the writing process during meetings with director Oliver Parker.  They threw out ideas  and discussed whether something would be "funny if that happen or this happened".

Rowan wore many hats in this film from actor to producer to writer. His goal with this film was to produce a comedy that the whole family can enjoy together. He didn't want to go the popular route and make a raunchy comedy in the vain of The Hangover or make it too cerebral.

"It's a very simple comedy and it's not that sophisticated. Occasionally it's sophisticated. And of course it's clean. It's a family comedy. This day and age there isn't too much of that. Much of the comedy has been adult in the more American Pie and  Hangover tradition."

Returning to this role was an enjoyable experience, according to Atkinson. What made it fun for the Mr. Bean star was Johnny English's relatability and human nature of the character.  James Bond, he says, is "just a super man" and not realistic.   He calls it "fun" to portray someone with "thoughts and foibles".

For those that enjoy easter eggs, stick around until the end credits for a two-minute, twelve-second lamb casserole cooking segment with Johnny English.  Rowan admits to not knowing where it came from or it's inspiration was.  It originally intended it for a sketch for Mr. Bean,  but it seemed to adapt quite well to Johnny English.

JOHNNY ENGLISH REBORN is in theaters October 21.