Real story behind one of TV's funniest scenes

Br. Bean gets a little stuck.

Mr. Bean with a turkey stuck on his head is one of the funniest scenes in television history.

But filming it was a bit of a nightmare for Rowan Atkinson, who starred in the British sitcom Mr Bean from 1990 until 1995.

In the "Merry Christmas, Mr Bean" episode, the bumbling character loses his watch inside the turkey he's preparing, so he sticks his head inside to look around for it.

Obviously, it gets stuck.

In an interview with PeopleTV, Atkinson, 63, revealed that he'd actually been left with months of back pain after shooting the scene.

"Even though it was a prop, that turkey was fantastically heavy," Atkinson said. "And it had terrible repercussions on my neck and down my back for months afterwards. A vicious turkey prop injury."

The actor — also known for his work in the Blackadder TV series and Johnny English movie franchise — also opened up about how he'd come up with the idea for the show.

"(Mr Bean screenwriter) Richard Curtis and I met when we were both students at Oxford, and we'd already done some visual sketches for a stage revue we were doing," Atkinson said.

"We didn't call them 'Mr Bean' sketches, but they effectively were. And I'd discovered by then that I could express myself visually once I'm asked to tell a comedic story, without words."

The TV series went on to become a global hit, and later inspired two movies and an animated cartoon spin-off.