Rowan Atkinson is an English actor, comedian, and writer. He is best known for his work on the sitcom Mr. Bean (1990–1995). His journey to becoming the most famous character around the globe wasn’t an easy one. He endured his share of failures and rejections before getting a chance to step into the limelight.
Despite several failures, he never gave up. He kept working hard towards his passion and successfully accomplished himself worldwide. Here’s his success story.
Early life:—
Rowan Atkinson was born into a middle-class family. He had a speech disability right from his childhood. This gave him a tough time in his childhood and at the start of his career. Because of his stuttering, he suffered a lot.
He was constantly bullied and teased because of his look and his speech disability. This made him very timid and withdrawn. He didn’t have a lot of friends, and the several rejections left him feeling lonely.
Rowan was very interested in science. And he decided to pursue a career in this field. One of his teachers commented that “nothing is outstanding about him. I really don’t expect him to become a fantastic scientist.” He proved everybody wrong when he got placed at Oxford University.
During his days at Oxford, he started realizing his passion for acting. But, though he was very eager to try it out, the biggest hurdle that stood in his way was his stuttering. So leaving acting aside, he continued his master’s degree in Electrical Engineering.
Rowan’s struggles and failures:
After he completed his Master’s degree, he realized acting was something he really wanted to pursue. He went ahead to chase his dreams of becoming an actor. He got himself enrolled in a comedy group, but there again, his stammering stood in the way.
Rowan found it extremely difficult to get past this major barrier. He faced several hardships, but despite all these, he never stopped believing in himself. He auditioned for several TV shows but faced back-to-back rejections. He was constantly rejected because he lacked a good face and a great body, in addition to his stammering problem.
Rowan Atkinson kept his passion alive and worked hard towards reaching his dreams. He aimed at making people laugh, and with persistent efforts over the years, he has successfully established this. After several rejections, he started creating original comedy sketches.
Interestingly, he realized that whenever he played a character, he spoke fluently. He used it as inspiration for his acting. This is exactly where Rowan’s life changed.
Rowan’s major breakthrough:
Rowan kept going after his dreams, even though he had trouble and was turned down because of how he looked and behaved. He had a major breakthrough when he started his own show, Mr. Bean.
Mr.Bean was a strange, surreal, and non-speaking character.” He proved that even without a Hollywood face or a heroic body, you can become one of the most loved and respected actors in the world. Today, his net worth is $130 million. And he is one of the funniest actors in the world.
He was never tired of believing in his dreams. He kept moving forward despite the ups and downs of his career.
Mr. Beans actor Rowan Atkinson compares “cancel culture” to a medieval mob looking for someone to burn.
Life lessons from Rowan Atkinson’s life: —-
Rowan Atkinson Life teaches us that to be successful in life, the most important things are: hard work, dedication, passion, and, of course, never giving up!
Because without caring about our feelings and weaknesses, everyday life places obstacles on our path to success. Those obstacles come from self-doubt, failures, rejections, and other people’s opinions. But life always rewards those who are willing to keep moving forward. He teaches us that for success, you don’t need a beautiful face or a heroic body.
All you really need is hard work. Never let your fears and disabilities cripple your life. Walk past these and make yourself better. Your hard work and efforts are sure to pay off one day.