Insight with Chris Van Vliet - Mike Myers: From Austin Powers to Wayne's World, Advice From A Comedy Legend

Episode Date: May 17, 2022

Mike Myers is an actor and comedian known for his films like “Austin Powers”, “Wayne's World”, the “Shrek” movies, “So I Married An Axe Murderer” and many others. He joins Chris Van Vliet to talk about his new Netflix series called THE PENTAVERATE and also goes into detail about how he gets into character, how Martin Short inspired him, the biggest misconception about Canadians, what it's like sharing the same name as Michael Myers from the Halloween movies, why he loved working with Dana Carvey and he does some of his famous voices like Dr. Evil, Austin Powers and Wayne Campbell from Wayne's World. For more information about Chris and INSIGHT go to: https://chrisvanvliet.com If you enjoyed this episode, could I ask you to please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcast/iTunes? It takes less than a minute and makes a huge difference in helping to spread the word about the show and also to convince some hard-to-get guests.  Follow CVV on social media:  Instagram: instagram.com/ChrisVanVliet Twitter: twitter.com/ChrisVanVliet Facebook: facebook.com/ChrisVanVliet YouTube: youtube.com/ChrisVanVliet TikTok: tiktok.com/@Chris.VanVliet Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

All systems are gathered. Ladies and gentlemen, Chris Van Blin. Oh, welcome back, my friends, to another audio adventure here on Insight. I'm Chris Van Vleet. Thank you so much for joining us as we sit down with a legend. And as I was preparing for this interview, I was thinking about all the iconic characters that Mike Myers has played, and it's nothing short of amazing.

Austin Powers, Dr. Evil, Shrek, Wayne Campbell from Wayne's World. the cat in the hat, fat bastard, gold member. I mean, the man just has talent oozing out of him. And in his new Netflix series called Pantavarit, he puts this on display. He plays eight different characters, and we dive into the process of what it looks like to create a character. Where does that start for him? We also talk about the best advice that he's ever received. And, oh yeah, what do you think of the other famous Michael Myers?

you know, from Halloween. And just like the interview with Craig Robinson from a few weeks ago, you might notice this is a bit of a shorter conversation. A mini view, as I'm calling it, a mini interview, mini view. I like that. Hopefully it catches on, a mini view. I'd also encourage you, though, to check out the video of this on my YouTube channel. Hopefully you're already subscribed on there.

And hopefully you're subscribed on here. If you're not, please take a second right now to click subscribe wherever you're listening to the podcast right now. Shirley M is our fan of the week. She left this review on Apple Podcasts. It says, great. This is a great podcast. It's one of my favorites. And I learned something new on every single episode.

Well, thank you so much for that, Shirley. I appreciate the kind words. I read a review on every episode. So if you listen on Apple Podcasts, if you have an iPhone, I'd be so grateful if you would consider leaving a review on there. If you listen on Spotify, by the way, they have ratings.

So please go in there. Click the five stars, if you would. I'd hope that you would. Please, it would be so helpful if you could do that. All right. Here we go. What a pleasure to sit down with this man. Ladies and gentlemen, Mike Myers.

Mike, it is a pleasure because I grew up in Pickering, Ontario. Hey. Yeah, so all of these references, Ken Scarborough and all the Canadianisms, I love them so much. Oh, yeah. Near the nuclear plant, birthday. Of course. Can't you tell? Yeah, no, you're glowing.

You're glowing. That's it. What do you think is the biggest misconception about Canadians? Well, one of the things, I think people can fuse our kindness for weakness. And I think that people do so at their peril because we have consistently fought for democracy. And I know that sounds a little corny and heavy. but with what's going on in the world right now, with democracy under attack,

I think we're as a country on the right side of it, you know. I lost count it eight. Is it eight characters you play in the series? Wow. Okay, so what does the process look like of actually getting into character? Can you just jump right into it, or do you wait till the costumes on

and the makeup's on, the wig's on? So what happens is I remember seeing Martin, short from SCTV who I, of course, worship. And he said that in the makeup chair is where the character begins. The outside in the mirror fools the inside, you know? And so for me, there are certain words, too, that get me into the character. When I did Linda Richmond, it was always the word coffee. Because as a Canadian, I couldn't believe that it was K-A-U-P-H-Y.

You mean coffee? Yeah, coffee. daughters, dogs. With Austin Powers, believe it or not, as corny as it might be, it was, yeah, baby,

that got me into it. Dr. Heval was just the word right. I would just say it into the mirror. Right, right. Sometimes really. Just different words, but mostly it's, you know,

it's game day, you know what I mean? And I love having, I love performing, and I love performing, and I love having to be there for it, you know what I mean? To show up for it.

Speaking of characters, I've always wondered, Mike, what's it like when you share the same name as a very famous horror movie character? So, you know, I didn't grow up as a public person, you know? Like, I grew up in a very working class house in Toronto. And I get on Saturday Live, which is exciting. And then I go to check, cash a check from NBC Saturday Live. I went way back way into the chemical bank.

I don't know if you remember that. And I went and the cashier said, Michael Myers, you're not going to kill me, are you? And I was like, so I finally, I'm on a TV show and the name of a mass murderer, fictional though he might be, has already happened. But surprisingly, people don't remember the Michael part as much. They tend to remember the Mike part.

But, yeah. Yeah, no, it was kind of a. kind of a really? Oh, well. Just grateful to be out of Saturday Live. I mean, and look at the career you've had. Unbelievable. You make me as a Canadian, very proud.

Thank you, sir. Thank you. If you were to choose one of your previous characters to join the Pantavit, who do you think would be the best fit? I think Dr. Evil would be a good choice. Or Shrek. Shrek would be an interesting choice.

How about Wayne Campbell? How would he do? He would do okay. I think that would be fun. At one point, I wanted to do a Wayne's world where Wayne got his own country, the first heavy metal state. So there'd be like a ministry of being partied out, ministry of being hassled by your parents. So I could actually see him running a secret society. It could be fun.

The United States Soccer Federation present. U.S. Soccer Podcast. My name is David Goss, and I'm joined by my co-host, Megan Klinemberg. And now we're giving people an inside look at the World Cup. Time's ticking. I think you can feel the intensity. All the guys are wanting to really take their claim, and they want to be on that World Cup roster.

There's no doubt about it. Hosting the World Cup on the home soil comes with its pressures, but we're just really excited just as the people are. The U.S. Soccer Podcast, presented by Henco. Follow and listen on your favorite platform. What's the best advice that you've received in your career, Mike? Never give up. The reason you should never give up is great reviews is just information,

and it's just really comfortable information. Bad reviews is just uncomfortable information, but none of it is definition. You know what I mean? And if you are making, something that you want to see, you've already won. And if you're honest, with my upbringing, which is that

it's a lot to ask people to show up to see your thing, you know what I mean? So you should really work your hardest, and it's a lot of work because it's a lot to ask somebody to sit in the dark and not talk about themselves with strangers, plus ticket, plus popcorn, plus Diet Coke. You know, and I think that my working class parents really drilled into me.

You've got to give people their money's and you have to be a good entertainer. And that's what I loved about working with Dana Carvey, is he grew up exactly the same way. He was a brother from another mother, you know. He also loved to entertain. And I think that's why we hit it off so well. Mike, such a pleasure.

Thank you so much. Congratulations to Pantavarit. Yay. Thank you so much. Thank you. Well, there we go, my friends. The legendary Mike Myers, and his new series called the Pantavarit is available

right now on Netflix. What a guy. So much talent. We didn't talk about it during the interview, but if you look really hard in the movie The Love Guru or even just really hard in the trailer for The Love Guru, you might see a familiar face wearing a green shirt. Yeah, back in 2007, I spent about 10 days as a background actor in The Love Guru, and it was an amazing experience. I was on set with Mike Myers, Vern Troyer, Jessica Alba, Val Kilmer, Mariska Hargitay. Yeah, so cool. So if you happen to watch The Love Guru at any point, let me know. Take a screenshot of that.

Also, take a screenshot of this episode. Let us know what you thought of this one. I'm going to keep these mini interviews coming as we get them. I mean, I know it was only five, six minutes with Mike Myers, but come on. It's Mike Myers. I will leave you with a quote from another great Canadian, another great comedian, another legend. It's a quote that I've always loved here.

It's from Jim Carrey, who said, you can fail at what you don't want, so you might as well take a chance on doing what you love. Be great, be grateful, we will see you on the next one for some more insight. Jim Rome takes on sports. Why?

Because I have a job. to do with rapid fire takes so I don't want to hear from you lava pigs on this notion today no idea what you're talking about you're complaining more than you like to breathe air it's like you get up in the morning only to complain and cry and moan on social media about things that you don't even understand he's the spitfire of sports smack ticket man job but get up in here the Jim Rome show podcast what should be follow and listen on your favorite platform you've been warned