Mike Myers Doesn't Think He Could Have Made Austin Powers Without This Comedian's Sage Advice
Mike Myers practically raised millennials through the movie screens by headlining two major franchises through the '90s and '00s. He has one of the most recognizable voices thanks to his role as the friendly swamp-dwelling royal ogre, Shrek. With his turn in a different comedic franchise, he had already endeared himself to the parents watching the "Shrek" franchise by creating Austin Powers.
After his career took off on "Saturday Night Live," he found blockbuster fame as the titular spy hero in "Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery." The trilogy of movies starts with the famous Austin Powers (Myers) chasing his arch-nemesis, Dr. Evil (also Myers) into cryogenics and leapfrogging time to thirty years in the future. Navigating the '90s proved to challenge him to grow out of the free-swinging '60s lifestyle and help all those around him to embrace the more carefree aspect lost in the turbulent end of the century.
The franchise brought two sequels with another in the works (via Entertainment Weekly), one taking Austin back to the '60s once again and one to the '70s. Myers' satirical take on silver-screen spies proved to be one of the most beloved characters of the generation. Despite how popular the character turned out to be, you may be surprised to learn that the movies may never have happened if it wasn't for one piece of advice Myers received from a friend and fellow comedian.
Dana Carvey gave him the confidence to make Austin Powers
In an interview with GQ, Mike Myers broke down his most iconic characters. He began with his "SNL" spin-off pair of movies following Wayne Campbell and his co-host and best friend, Garth Algar (Dana Carvey), and went through Austin Powers, Shrek, and others.
The first character he talked about was Wayne Campbell's character and what it was like working with Carvey, who he called "one of the greatest comedians to be on 'Saturday Night Live." He continued, "I just learned so much from him. I think the thing I learned the most because I am a writer of the stuff, is that there is writing and there is performing, and [that you should] enjoy the performing." Myers went on to talk about the time working with him and how it influenced his career, more specifically how it led to "Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery."
"If I hadn't worked with Dana and learned that you have to get the fun molecules into the funnel that get onto the film. I don't think I could have done Austin Powers," he said. "It was just great to work with someone that goes, 'yeah, we're supposed to show off, we're supposed to have fun. That's why they came here.'"
While "Wayne's World" wasn't Myers' biggest and most successful set of films, we're sure glad he got the opportunity to soak up the wisdom that led to delivering us one of the most pivotal characters in comedy at the turn of the century.