It’s a nightmare that many of us have experienced at picnics or barbecues: a bee that just won’t leave us alone. In Man Vs Bee, Rowan Atkinson plays a man battling a persistent bee as he attempts his first house-sitting job in a possibly too high-tech home with numerous valuable collectibles. Atkinson is well known for his beloved bumbling character Mr. Bean, as hilarious spy Johnny English, and for his starring roles in the lauded 80s anthology series Blackadder. Man Vs Bee showcases the actor’s signature blend of deadpan and physical comedy like never before, and Atkinson sat down with Queue to tell us a bit more about the film and his process.

Queue: What film or TV show made you fall in love with entertainment or made you want to become an actor?
Rowan Atkinson: Probably Monty Python’s Flying Circus, which was a silly British comedy sketch show. The 1970s, was it? Starring John Cleese and others. That was probably the starting point. 

What was your first TV-watching experience as a child?
RA: Rather oddly, I didn’t have a TV at home until I was 14, but probably a strange singer variety show here called the Val Doonican Show. That’s what I seem to remember. 

What’s one word you would use to describe Man Vs Bee?
RA: Stressful.

What work goes into developing a new character?
RA: Specifically with Man Vs Bee and a lot of the visual comedy that I’ve done, particularly Mr. Bean, it’s a matter of the writing and rehearsal processes being, in many ways, in reverse. Normally, you write a script and then you rehearse it. Whereas with us, with the visual comedy, we rehearse it first and then we write down what we did in rehearsal. That’s the way it has worked and the way it did work for Man Vs Bee.

What do you have in common with your character, Trevor, if anything?
RA: Oh, he’s a very sweet, very engaging, and well-meaning man. Well, I’ve described the character — whether I’ve described myself is up for others to decide.

What is the furthest thing you are from your character?
RA: Yeah, that’s a good question. I do hope that I’m not as obsessive as he is because, in his case, it turns out to be a very dangerous quality to have.

What scene was the most fun to film?
RA: Undoubtedly, for me, anything involving cars is always the most fun. And we had an E-Type Jaguar in the show, which is a car that I’d never driven. I’d driven its race car version, believe it or not. I once raced an E-Type Jaguar at the Le Mans circuit in France. Not in the main race, in a support race. And that was a lot of fun, but I’d never driven a road car version.

But I thought it was a good choice for [the series, as] we needed a car that was fabulously valuable, but also that we could easily make a replica of, so we could be very unpleasant to it on set. The E-Type Jaguars seemed like a good choice because they did, back in the day, make thousands and thousands of them. I would say yeah, driving the car [was the most fun].

What’s one thing that you always bring with you to set?
RA: I try to bring a sense of calm, which I can lose very easily. I don’t lose my temper or shout, but I just get very stressed on set. And I wish I could bring something with me that would calm that.

Who or what makes you laugh the most?
RA: Truth, I suppose. I mean, I always like the definition of comedy as exaggerated truth. And so, what you laugh at in comedy, I think, is when you recognize the truth. When you see, Oh yes. That’s how life is. Oh yes. That’s what happens in that situation. Oh, I know that. Oh, I’ve met people just like that person. It’s when you can sense a real bit of humanity being presented, but also exaggerated for comic effect. That’s what makes me laugh, when I recognize situations or characters from my life experience.

If you weren’t an actor, what would you be doing as a career?
RA: I wanted to be a cameraman actually, when I was young. I wanted to be on the technical side of entertainment and I tried to get a vacation job with the BBC, but I failed the interview. I can’t remember why.

All I do remember is I passed the color blindness test. I remember that was one of the tests. I was really good at that, but the other questions, whatever they were, clearly I failed that. I might have ended up doing that. But somewhere yeah, probably on the engineering side of media. Yeah, that's probably where I would end up.

Do you think that you’d make a good house sitter?
RA: I think I would actually. I think I’d be okay. I’m not sure I’d want the job. I’m not sure I’d find it very interesting or engaging, unless I knew there was something I really wanted to do during that week or fortnight or year, or however long it is. Particularly if you’re not allowed to leave the house. I think that’s a bit tough. It’s a bit like a lockdown experience, isn’t it? That doesn’t sound fun. But if I had something to write or something engaging to keep me occupied, then I’d probably be okay. I think I’d be responsible enough to be a house sitter. I’d be better than Trevor.