Throughout cinematic history, there is a long tradition of comedy actors taking the world by storm. For example, during the early stages of Hollywood, actors like Harold Llyod, Charlie Chaplin, and Buster Keaton became massive stars. Over the last few decades, people like Eddie Murphy, Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, Robin Williams, and Richard Pryor have similarly become fan favorites.
While there is no doubt that all of the aforementioned actors deserve to be considered legends, there is another actor who is one of their peers but he doesn’t get the credit he deserves. An absolutely massive star in the past, Mike Myers was one of the biggest box office draws in the world at the height of his career.
To this day, Mike Myers is best known as the actor who brought Austin Powers to life. Of course, that is far from a bad thing as that film franchise was such a massive success that some of Hollywood’s biggest movie stars made cameo appearances in it. However, it has been many, many years since the last Austin Powers film was released so that begs an obvious question, what has Myers been up to since then?
Becoming A Massive Star
After graduating from high school, Mike Myers was accepted into the prestigious Second City Canadian touring company. As it turns out, that initial success would be wildly overshadowed by what was to come. After first rising to fame when he joined the cast of Saturday Night Live, Myers would go on to become one of the show’s most popular stars. As a result, Myers was able to beat the so-called SNL curse when he starred in a movie based on a character from the show and it became a massive success.
Released in 1992, Wayne’s World became one of the most popular comedies of the year and it would even go on to spawn a successful sequel. Several years later, Myers would enjoy even greater success when Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery was released in 1997. After that, Myers would go on to star in Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me and Austin Powers in Goldmember.
Surprising Career Trajectory
Since the Austin Powers movies undeniably are Mike Myers’ greatest claim to fame, there is a perception out there that his career went downhill as soon as they were finished. On the one hand, there is some truth to that as Myers hasn’t starred in a beloved live-action movie since then. In fact, Myers would go on to headline a couple of movies that are seen as legendarily bad, The Cat in the Hat and The Love Guru.
Amazingly enough, however, a lot of people seem to forget that Mike Myers starred in an incredibly popular film franchise that was mostly released after the last Austin Powers film came out. Originally planned to star Chris Farley, when he passed away Mike Myers took over Shrek’s titular character. While the first Shrek film was released in 2001, every other film in the series was released after the last Austin Powers film was released. To date, all four films in the series were huge successes at the box office but the last Shrek movie was released in 2010.
Off Camera
Since the release of the last Austin Powers film, there have been a lot of noteworthy moments in Mike Myers’ life that had nothing to do with the release of a major film or TV show. For example, in 2017 Myers was named an Officer of the Order of Canada by Governor General David Johnston. While that may not mean anything to most people, it is a big deal, to say the very least. After all, that is an honor that is only given out to people who are deemed to have made a major positive difference to Canada.
Unfortunately, in 2006 Mike Myers broke up with Robin Ruzan, the woman he’d dated since the late-80s, and then married in 1993. Even though Myers’ career was on fire at that time, since the last Austin Powers movie had come out a few years earlier when his divorce hit the headlines it must have been heartbreaking. Despite that, Myers would go on to rebound by dating Kelly Tisdale, the woman he would go on to marry during a secret New York City ceremony that took place in 2010.
After many years of seemingly avoiding the limelight on purpose, Mike Myers took most people by surprise when he decided to revisit one of his most famous characters. Reuniting with longtime co-star Dana Carvey in 2021, the two actors would portray their famous Wayne’s World characters in a Super Bowl ad. While there have been many Super Bowl commercials that viewers loved, the 2021 Wayne’s World commercial has to be one of the most noteworthy of recent years.