'Had to go off set' Rowan Atkinson on how Man vs Bee co-star 'had to cool off'

Rowan Atkinson is starring in a new Netflix comedy series, Man vs Bee, as housesitter Trevor Bingley. While looking after an elegant mansion for a well-to-do married couple, he finds himself entrenched in an ongoing battle with a bee. The star spoke to Express.co.uk and other press about working with dog Cupcake (played by Pixel).

Man vs Bee is a new comedy series written by Rowan Atkinson and it made its debut on June 24.

The series sees Trevor, who has just come out of a marriage, look after husband and wife Nina (Jing Lusi) and Christian’s (Julian Rhind-Tutt) home.

However, chaos ensues when he makes it his mission to keep a relentless bee out of the mansion.

Nina has a pet dog called Cupcake in the series and the real-life pet is called Pixel.

Atkinson spoke to Express.co.uk and other media about how she would sometimes need a “cooling off” period.

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Praising the dog for her impressive performance, he said: “Pixel was astonishing really and of course very, very sweet.

“Very photogenic, I think it’s fair to say.

“Dogs really do grab an audience’s attention far more quickly and more effectively than any human being can.

“So I think she’s a big hit in the show, I think she does really well for us.”

Yet he went on to explain how Pixel would sometimes get “spooked” by sudden movements.

He added: “There are moments when if there was something that spooked her or distracted her… and sometimes if you approached her merely from the front too quickly or too violently, she would get scared.

“And then sometimes she used to have to go off set and cool off for an hour while she sort of started to process whatever I had done to her.

“Which wasn’t anything violent or too strong but it’s just, you know, we all have our quirks, don’t we?

“Dogs are the same and there were certain… she didn’t like being lifted up very much.

“I did lift her up a couple of times which you see, but it had to be very carefully approached and choreographed so we didn’t spook her too much.

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Fans took to Twitter to share their thoughts on the series, calling Cupcake the dog “hilarious”.

@Manivannan said: “Oh man what a comedy, not a lengthy series, it’s a full-length comedy movie, fantastic weekend movie, enjoyable, kids love this, Rowan’s same comedy, same fun, same disaster, everything is there, the dog cupcake was hilarious, it’s actually Mr Bee.”

@Phmeza added: “#ManVsBee took me back to the 90s. It’s a 2022 comedy with 90s-style humour.

“It gave me #Homealone and #Mousehunt vibes.”

Man vs Bee is on Netflix now.

source: express.co.uk