Mike Myers thinks about Canada every day
At his home in New York, Canadian comedy star Mike Myers has a map of North America on the wall so his three young children can learn about his roots.
“Each state is its own colour and Canada is just this pink blob,” he says. “I’ve taken to, as best I can, draw the provinces on with a magic marker and go, ‘This is where dad is from.’”
Despite having lived outside of Canada for 33 years, the 53-year-old Toronto native says he thinks about the country “every day,” has referenced it in his work, and often travels here to visit his mother and brothers.
So when Penguin Random House asked if he’d like to write a book on his relationship with his home and native land to commemorate its 150th birthday, he thought: “I guess in a weird way, I’ve sort of been writing a book for 53 years, collecting thoughts and whatnot.”
“Canada,” on shelves this weekend, is a treasure trove of all things Canuck as Myers documents his life and offers humorous and thoughtful reflections on the country — from its history to its pop culture and unique brands.
Growing up in the Toronto suburbs of North York and Scarborough, as the youngest of three boys with English parents, Myers writes that he loved soccer, the Toronto Maple Leafs, heavy metal and punk music.
Myers went on to act in commercials and a couple of Canadian TV series, including “The Littlest Hobo,” before getting his start in standup and improv comedy.
It was while at Second City Toronto that he got a call from fellow Canadian Lorne Michaels to be a featured performer and writer on “Saturday Night Live.” There, he introduced viewers to his “Wayne’s World” character Wayne Campbell, a rock lover with a distinctly Canadian accent that Myers couldn’t shake.
“Kevin Nealon used to make fun of me all the time,” says Myers. “Every sentence started with ‘In Canada?’ and always ended with ‘Sorry.’ He had an impression of me for two years. I didn’t know he had it and I busted him on it. I was like, ‘God, have I been reduced to, ‘In Canada? Sorry.’
“People accuse me of, ‘You really enjoy being Canadian?’ I said, ‘Why not? Why shouldn’t I enjoy being Canadian? What’s not to enjoy?'"
Myers has gone on to inject Canadian-isms into several of his projects over the years, including the “Wayne’s World” movies as well as his :Austin Powers” characters.
“I did on ‘Saturday Night Live’ as well,” he says. “It was just something that you can’t help.”
“Canada has shaped me and, as I say in the book, I’d be nowhere without it.”
Living outside of Canada, Myers says he’s come to realize the country has a sense of morbidity that’s reflected in films like the bus-crash drama “The Sweet Hereafter” and in names of organizations like the War Amps, the Grey Cup and the Hospital for Sick Children.
“I was like, ‘Yeah, War Amps,’” he says, recalling a conversation with an American,” and it was like, ‘You mean amputees?’ ‘Oh wow, yeah, I never really thought about it.’”
Myers also writes how Canada has struggled with its identity and selfimage over the years.
“I think Canadians really know who they are. They may not know why we are,” he says.
But he’s hopeful that will change under the government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
“This election to me was very heartening that I think we may have found why we are, which is we’re a collection of progressive ideals," says Myers, who can next be seen in the film “Terminal.”
“That's why I’m so hopeful with Prime Minister Trudeau, the junior, as I was a fan of Pierre Trudeau during that period of time from ’67 to ’76.”
Myers met Trudeau in March at the White House state dinner and says he feels he can “continue the eloquence, continue to elevate the conversation” in the tradition of his father.
“We are poised to be the future,” says Myers, “a high literacy rate, low crime rate, just a collective understanding of inclusion.
Myers says he would “love” to do a documentary based on the book. And he’d “happily” move back to Canada some day, but not while his children are still young and in school.