Bean graduated from RADA in 1983, making his professional acting debut later that year as Tybalt in "Romeo and Juliet" at the Watermill Theatre in Newbury. His early career involved a mixture of stage and screen work. As an actor, he adopted the Irish spelling of his first name. His first national exposure came in an advert for non-alcoholic lager. In 1984, he starred in "David and Jonathan" by William Douglas-Home at the Redgrave Theatre in Farnham. Between 1986 and 1988, he was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, appearing in productions of "Romeo and Juliet", "The Fair Maid of the West", and "A Midsummer Night's Dream". He appeared in his first film, Derek Jarman's "Caravaggio" (1986), opposite Tilda Swinton, playing Ranuccio Tomassoni, followed by the same director's "War Requiem" (1988). In 1989, he starred as the evil Dominic O'Brien in "The Fifteen Streets", where he gained a dedicated following.