British actor and comedian Rowan Atkinson, who is popularly known as the face of Mr Bean, has a son who reportedly has been commissioned to British military service, has reportedly joined the British Gurkha brigade as Second Lieutenant.
According to multiple reports, Ben Atkinson, the actor's 26-year-old son, is a Lieutenant in the British army and quite recently, the young man spent three months in Nepal in order to become a Gurkha officer.
Ben, who is pretty much his father's lookalike, even had to learn the Nepalese language, since it was necessary for a platoon officer like him to know the local dialect before joining the Gurkhas. in addition to learning the local language, Ben was also made to undergo a 10-week long training period.
During his training, the young man was introduced to the culture of the Gurkhas, a special unit of the British Army. The Gurkha Brigade Association's newsletter even wrote about the young man, saying: "Lt Atkinson grasped the language remarkably quickly."
The newsletter continued, "This may be attributed either to his language experience, having studied both Arabic and Spanish previously, or to his urgent requirement to learn the local Nepalese 'chat-up' lines. Learning Nepalese dance moves was a personal priority and Lt Atkinson was quick to establish an impressive 'uthyo basyo' (an up-down rapid squatting dance-move)."
While the young Atkinson is still starting to make his mark in the world, the senior Atkinson, who is also famous for his role in Johnny English, retired his famous character of Mr Bean in 2012. It was in 2018 that the actor spoke in depth about his two successful characters: Bean and English.
"I like the fantasy that they represent. Mr Bean is a child trapped in a man's body, and he behaves like a child. He's got that anarchy and selfishness, but also love of fun and silliness," he said.
"It's hard to play people who are silly, or who are inclined to be silly. I don't think I'm a very silly person, so it's just fun to go back to being a child again, which I get to do when I play Mr Bean. Johnny English is not a child, but he's also not much more than a teenager. He hasn't really grown up yet."
