With a successful run on Saturday Night Live and two franchises that blew up at the box office, it’s no surprise that Mike Myers is considered a comedic genius. Now, Myers brings a new character to the big screen in The Love Guru, about a spiritual adviser who one day hopes to beat out Deepak Chopra and land a guest spot on Oprah. We talked with the actor, his co-stars and his fellow filmmakers and learned 10 reasons why Mike Myers really IS a comedy guru.
Reason #1: He created his own brand of comedy:
“Isn’t it cool that there is a Mike Myers-style of comedy?,” says co-star Justin Timberlake. “I was talking about that with someone, which is sort of what makes him a legend already to me, that he’s already carved out his own and that’s a great thing.”
Reason #2: He’s no slacker:
“[Stage time] is essential,” says Myers of taking the character to the New York stage prior to making the movie. “I did it with Wayne’s World, I did it with Austin Powers and I did it with The Love Guru. It is part of the process. I only say this by comparison of process but not by comparison of quality…the Marx Brothers used to tour their movies for six months before they filmed them. They wrote something like two and half hours worth of material and then settled on 90 minutes and performing in front of a crowd was a key part of shaping it and getting the timing, all that stuff. I feel very honored to be able to do this work and I feel the responsibility that when I do do a movie it is going to be the best that I can make it. I’m a hard worker. That’s what I was raised to do. My dad sold encyclopedias, my mom worked in the office of a factory and it was instilled in me to work hard.”
Photo: Mike Myers (Daily Celeb)
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Reason #3: He’s not afraid to throw the plan out the window:
“We wanted it to look effortless and funny and crazy, but it really is like NASA,” explains director Marco Schnabel of working with Myers. “It is incredibly planned. Basically, then when you get on the set and do it a couple of times and know that we’ve got it the way we rehearsed it then you feel more comfortable throwing it away and allowing whatever new ideas to come across.”
Reason #4: He’ll never run out of ideas:
“I have about 10 to 20 ideas that are always kind of circling the airport,” confesses Myers. “The ratio of things that I don’t begin, develop and don’t do is about 20 to 1 and I think that is on par with most people that have had the great blessing that I’ve had to be able to do this work.”
Photo: Mike Myers (Paramount)
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Reason #5: He doesn’t forget who his friends are:
“I thought it was great to have the opportunity to play this role just because you would normally think that it would be a normal size person,” says Verne Troyer of his role as Coach Cherkov. “I was just glad that Mike thought outside of the box and had me come in and play this. It was a great part…it is a great surprise [when he offered the part]. If he asked me to be in every one of his films I would do it I just enjoy working with him so much and we seem to have chemistry.”
Reason #6: He’s a true artist:
“I wish there was more predictability to the system,” admits Myers. “I make stuff up and it is not controllable, it is not quantifiable, it is not science it is creative so it is prone to all of the randomizers that making something has.”
Photo: Verne Troyer and Mike Myers (Paramount)
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Reason #7: He’s the master of the innuendo:
“I think what Mike does extraordinarily well is point at the extraordinarily dirty joke without being dirty and he lets you be the dirty one,” says co-writer Graham Gordy.
Reason #8: He caters to all fans whether young or old:
“I would say that Mike has a much more structured process, but at the same time he’s got this really scientific way of approaching how you sell each joke to whatever demographic of the audience that you want to sell it to,” says Romany Malco who stars as hockey player Darren Roanoke. “If you notice kids to adults all enjoy the Mike Myers movies in a way that you can’t really explain. He just has these huge turnouts. He’s very smart. He doesn’t deny or neglect any of his audience and that’s a very fun thing to do because Mike Myers is this over the top guy who somehow manages to keep his character reality.”
Photo: Mike Myers and Romany Malco (Daily Celeb)
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Reason #9: He never tires of his job:
“I’m made of 99 percent water and one percent ham, so I love performing!” Myers says of taking some time off between films.
Reason #10: He’s an example to young actors:
“Working with Mike is a blast, he’s awesome,” says costar Manu Narayan. “I look up to him, I think he’s great as far as a teacher. But not a teacher like he has to tell me stuff, but a teacher in the sense of the way he carries himself, the way he prepares for each shoot day…my guru of comedy.”
Photo: Mike Myers and Manu Narayan (Paramount)
