RICHARD CURTIS / SCREENWRITER

Rowan Atkinson’s bumbling Mr. Bean character didn’t just fall from a tree--well, he probably has a few times, but his antics in the “Bean” film (opening in the U.S. on Nov. 7) are indeed scripted. London writer Richard Curtis, 40, has matched wits with Atkinson for the British “Mr. Bean” and “Black Adder” TV series and earned an Oscar nomination for his “Four Weddings and a Funeral” screenplay.

FUNNY BUSINESS: “People talk about the dumbing down of comedy, where everything gets more stupid. But that’s not true of things like ‘The Full Monty’ or even in general. ‘Pulp Fiction’ was a smart comedy, and ‘Fargo’ was an extremely funny film.”

CONSOLATION PRIZE: “If [“Bean”] is a total failure in America, we’ll take solace that it’s the biggest film ever released in Serbia and is also huge in Latvia.”

JOB MARKET: “We’ve got a lot of wonderful comedians here, but we don’t make enough films--whereas, in America, if someone is good they find a vehicle. Eddie Murphy, Steve Martin and Robin Williams became movie stars.”

LIGHTEN UP: “Britain got in the habit of thinking movies should be serious. No one would invest 5 million pounds in a movie about a bloke whose car didn’t work, when you should do one that shows the way the system doesn’t work.”

MOOD ELEVATION: “Now maybe it’s loosening up. There’s a big sense of optimism here about movies. There’s a new government and a new feeling.”

IMPORT SCOREBOARD: “Everybody in the entire country saw ‘Men in Black,’ which is a fantastic film. But ‘Air Force One’ is having trouble. I thought it would be a huge hit, since Harrison Ford has been voted the No. 1 star of all time in England’s Premiere magazine.”

COST CONTROL: “ ‘Four Weddings’ was about $4 million--a tiny budget and a big hit. I have nothing to do with huge-budget movies, so I don’t know how they work. No interest in making them--I’ve never had an idea that required that much money.”

TAKE DIRECTION, PLEASE: “Whenever I see a movie that I don’t think was well directed, I walk out saying, ‘That’s exactly how I would have done it.’ I’m not a very visual person. I write for stick people who talk. I’m always thrilled when it’s made flesh.”

HUMOR VS. HUMOUR: “I think the things I’ve done have proved that there’s no such thing as ‘generic British humor.’ I’ve never been able to see the difference between American and British humor.”