MIKE MYERS
What’s next for the iconic comedian.
Every Halloween night, Mike Myers loves to swing by the Greenwich Village parade near his home in New York City and watch how many people walk by dressed up as the famous characters he’s created throughout his career. “It’s the most gratifying thing ever,” he says.
“There will be like 20 Austin Powers. A bunch of Waynes. A dog or a baby dressed as Garth. It’s endlessly flattering and satisfying, because you make up these characters that you might think are funny but have no idea anyone else ever would. And then it becomes this … thing.” Though the Toronto-born Myers, 55, has been creating these “things” for 30 years, he says he sees no reason to stop now—and he’d happily do Austin Powers 4 or a Dr. Evil film. He also claims his current role as Tommy Maitland, the gregarious host of US ABC network’s Gong Show revival, is one of his favourites. “He’s just a fun character,” Myers says of dressing up as Maitland, who is modelled after cheeky old-school British television presenters. “Those guys are just so iconic and beloved over there. They’re truly fixtures in everyone’s lives. I just wanted to channel that kind of energy.” The character also features a thread of the comedian’s own father, Eric, an insurance salesman originally from Liverpool, who died in 1991. “My dad liked to have a good time and was very silly,” Myers recalls. “Whenever you told him something crappy had happened, he’d say, ‘ Well, how fast can you find the silly?’ And [Maitland] looks a little bit like him.” As far as rebooting the ’70s variety show, which showcases real people revealing their most ludicrous talents (for example, an opera singer stuffing her face with cake while singing), Myers says it simply satisfies his obsession with “absurd, silly, crazy comedy.”
For the past few years the actor has been more quiet than silly—for good reason. “I always wanted to have a family,” says Myers. He and his second wife, Kelly Tisdale, 41, are parents to son Spike, 6, and daughters Sunday, 4, and Paulina, 2. “I have three beautiful kids. I can’t believe my luck, I really can’t. It’s the happiest time of my life. And it’s been hard to leave the house. So the last six years has really been hanging with them.”
In 2013 he did produce the documentary Supermensch: The Legend of Shep Gordon, about a Hollywood manager who is famously nice. (“He likes to be nice for no good reason other than it’s nice to be nice,” says Myers. “That was an important message.”) Still, he did it so he could work from home. “I made it in a studio out of my house so I could see the kids,” he says. “I could take a Spike break whenever he rolled in on his wagon.”
Myers says he decided early on he would tell his kids what he does for a living—and his favourite moment was watching Austin Powers with Spike. “It was one of those crazy summer rains, and we were snuggled under a blanket,” he says. “Spike whispers, ‘Can I tell you a secret?’ Then he goes, ‘I’m your No. 1 fan.’ I literally couldn’t handle it. I mean, stick a fork in me, dude. I’m done.”