Mr. Bean retires?

Rowan Atkinson, the British actor, has admitted that he plans to abandon the comic character of Mr. Bean in favour of more cerebral roles on the stage.

The 57-year-old acknowledged that the hugely successful creation had reaped many rewards but said middle-aged actors playing childlike roles risked appearing “a little sad”.

- The stuff that has been most commercially successful for me – basically quite physical, quite childish – I increasingly feel I’m going to do a lot less of - he told the Daily Telegraph’s Review.

- Apart from the fact that your physical ability starts to decline, I also think someone in their fifties being childlike becomes a little sad. You’ve got to be careful.

Atkinson admitted that the huge success of Mr Bean, a bumbling buffoon who rarely speaks, had typecast him to a degree and made it difficult for people to see him in other roles.

Mr. Bean became a bumbling sensation nearly two decades ago. Despite rarely getting anything right in the television show or subsequent movies, he has become an icon, who even appeared in the London 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony that was directed by Danny Boyle. The two movies centered on the character, “Bean” and “Mr. Bean`s Holiday”, have grossed over $480 million worldwide combined. Mr. Bean was even turned into an animated series.