Rowan Atkinson's daughter speaks on his 'dark divorce' for first time (2025)

Mr Bean actor Rowan Atkinson split from his wife of 24 years, Sunetra Sasty, back in 2015 after welcoming two children together as he moved on with younger actress Louise Ford

Rowan Atkinson's daughter has revealed his divorce plunged her into "darkness and chaos" as she addressed it for the first time. Lily Sastry's parents split in 2015 after 24 years of marriage.

The Mr Bean star, 70, was married to former BBC makeup artists Sunetra Sastry, 67, but things all came crashing down for the couple 10 years ago. Sunetra was granted a "quickie" divorce on the grounds of Rowan's "unreasonable behaviour".

Since their split, the comedy and acting icon has been in a relationship with actress Louise Ford, 44. Lily, 30, has revealed the impact of the high profile split as she tried to navigate a "broken family" and even ditched her dad's surname in favour of her mums.

The professional artist admitted she went through a lot of loneliness during her twenties, following her parent's divorce. "I went through so much chaos and loneliness in my twenties. Now I am 30, I can see clearly where I was at and what was happening inside me during the darkest days," Lily said online.

"I was so lost, and only really started to feel vaguely normal in my late twenties. I have always been trapped between worlds; do not belong here, but also don't belong there."

As she tried to figure out who she was, Lily tried burlesque dancing and then moved onto singing. Lily has since moved into the art world and had her debut exhibition in December.

In her candid Substack post, Lily wrote: "It's hard to find out who you are in the midst of no friends, a broken family, and no idea how to navigate making music and trying to understand the world.

"It has taken me years to figure out my life and who I am, as well as become the best person I can be. I have made countless mistakes, and been hurt, lost, and alone many a time. Art was my guiding light. The thing that made all the suffering worth it; as I was working towards a goal, a dream."

Just weeks after his divorce from Sunetra, the Johnny English actor moved his girlfriend Louise into his £4.65million home. Sunetra, who shares daughter Lily and son Ben, 32, with Rowan, officially ended the marriage in November 2015, citing his “unreasonable behaviour”.

They had been living apart for 18 months before that, and are said to have split mid-way through building a stunning new family home in Oxfordshire. The former couple reportedly managed to sell their five-bedroom home in the same village for £2.9million.

Rowan met partner Louise as they both starred in a West End play together in 2012. They welcomed their daughter Isla in December 2017. Louise is known for her portrayal of Kate Middleton in the satirical TV series The Windsors.

The actress had been in a relationship with comedian James Acaster, 39, who recently revealed their romance came to an unexpected end. He revealed that he "got dumped for Mr Bean" after Louise left him for Rowan.

The couple had been living together and dating for two years before Louise's role alongside Rowan in the West End play Quartermaine's Terms. For the first time, James shared in 2019 the quirky detail of their breakup, joking: "I got left for Mr Bean."

He found out about Louise and Rowan's romance a year later when he stumbled upon a full-page story in a newspaper. In a twist of fate that James described as unique, he remarked: "No one else in the history of time has ever been left for Mr Bean."

James, during a stand-up show attended by The Sun on Sunday, spoke openly about the situation, stating: "I'm a goddam saint to have kept this in the back pocket so long." In a twist of irony, he shared: "It's my job to say things that are funny and the funniest thing that's ever happened to anyone, happened to me and I put it on the back-burner out of respect."

However, he couldn't help but jest about Mr. Bean's constant presence in his life, remarking "Until you get left for Mr Bean, you don't realise how frequently he pops up. There's a shop two streets from my house that sells masks of his face. There's nowhere where I'm going to go that he's not there."

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