Rowan Atkinson blasts social media and blames it for widening divisions in society 

Rowan Atkinson has condemned online cancel culture as ‘the digital equivalent of the medieval mob’.

The actor, best known for his roles as Blackadder and Mr Bean, said social media fills him with ‘fear about the future’.

In an interview with the Radio Times, he also said social media has widened divisions in society and lowered tolerance.

Atkinson, 65, additionally revealed that it was ‘certainly not impossible’ for Blackadder to return – more than 30 years after Blackadder Goes Forth.

He said: ‘The problem we have online is that an algorithm decides what we want to see, which ends up creating a simplistic, binary view of society.

Rowan Atkinson at a ‘Johnny English Strikes Again’ film screening in New York in October 2018

‘It becomes a case of either you’re with us or against us. And if you’re against us, you deserve to be ‘cancelled’.

‘It’s important that we’re exposed to a wide spectrum of opinion, but what we have now is the digital equivalent of the medieval mob roaming the streets looking for someone to burn.

‘So it is scary for anyone who’s a victim of that mob and it fills me with fear about the future.’

He added: ‘It’s very pleasing that people want to connect with Mr Bean, but I have no desire to have any presence on social media. What happens there is a sideshow in my world.’

Atkinson starred in the 2007 film Mr Bean’s Holiday, playing his own creation

He has previously campaigned against laws which could limit free speech and offensive language.

In the interview, Atkinson, 65, also talked about the possible return of Blackadder – and opened up about his dislike of playing Mr Bean, his own creation.

He said the only role he has enjoyed playing during his illustrious career is Blackadder as the ‘weight of responsibility’ to be funny wasn’t just on him.

Mr Bean, a 15-episode sitcom about a baffoonish childlike man, ran on ITV from 1990-1995 and spawned a cartoon spin-off series and two big screen films.

Mr Bean, a 15-episode sitcom about a baffoonish childlike man, ran on ITV from 1990-1995 and spawned a cartoon spin-off series and two big screen films

It has become one of Britain’s most successful comedy exports and is popular in the US and in many non-English speaking countries as the character rarely speaks.

Atkinson is gearing up for an animated Mr Bean feature film, which he will do the voice for.

‘Having made an animated TV series, we’re now in the foothills of developing an animated movie for Mr Bean – it’s easier for me to perform the character vocally than visually,’ he said.

‘I don’t much enjoy playing him. The weight of responsibility is not pleasant. I find it stressful and exhausting, and I look forward to the end of it..’

Atkinson said the only role he has enjoyed playing during his illustrious career is Blackadder (pictured) as the ‘weight of responsibility’ to be funny wasn’t just on him

He said that it’s ‘certainly not impossible’ that there will be more Blackadder but that it would be hard to recreate the ‘energy’ the team brought to it in the 1980s.

‘Blackadder represented the creative energy we all had in the 80s. To try to replicate that 30 years on wouldn’t be easy,’ he said.

But Atkinson might see a gap in the market to revive the popular show as he claimed that ‘there’s not a lot that makes me laugh’ on British television at the moment.

‘I like American things – endless repeats of Friends and The Big Bang Theory. I tend to enjoy traditional sitcom formats,’ he said.

‘They say that the best sitcoms have five or six characters and are set in three rooms – that’s what both those shows are. There’s not a lot that makes me laugh on British TV at the moment.’ 

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