There have been a lot of famous actors to emerge from the set of Saturday Night Live, but one of the most successful is Mike Myers. After getting his start in Canadian television, Myers was cast in the iconic sketch comedy series SNL. Throughout the late 1980s and into the early 1990s, he introduced several extremely popular characters and sketches, including the beloved “Wayne’s World” skit. Over the years, Myers became a force to be reckoned with in the world of film, too. However, all while Myers’ brand was building, he was earning a bit of a reputation behind the scenes – and to this day, rumors persist that the beloved comic can be difficult to work with.
Mike Myers was a show business veteran by the time he was a teenager, having acted in a variety of TV commercials when he was just a young child. According to IMDb, Myers was accepted into The Second City Canadian touring company after graduating high school. Throughout the 1980s, he developed a reputation as a talented comedian and improvisational player in his home country of Canada.
In 1989, Myers began appearing on Saturday Night Live. He quickly became one of the show’s most valuable players, introducing hilarious characters like Lothar, Wayne Campbell, Linda Richman, and “Handsome Actor” Lank Thompson. Myers became one of the first SNL cast members to embark on a very successful film career, with movies like Wayne’s World and Wayne’s World 2. After leaving SNL, Myers furthered his Hollywood success by acting in the Austin Powers franchise and standalone films like The Cat in the Hat.
By the early 2000s, Mike Myers had become a major movie star. While fans around the world love Myers, rumors started to emerge that the talented star is challenging to work with. According to Looper, Myers’ co-star Amy Hill told The A.V. Club that Myers was a “diva” on the set of their movie The Cat in the Hat, who made the cast and crew adhere to unrealistic demands. According to The Richest, Hill said that working with the actor was “a horrible, nightmarish experience” that made her life “miserable.”
Penelope Spheeris, who directed Myers in his movie Wayne’s World, told Entertainment Weekly that the actor was “emotionally needy” and that he “got more difficult as the shoot went along.” With several notable co-stars and professional cohorts speaking out about Myers, the rumors grew louder until, by the 2010s, Myers had earned a reputation as one of Hollywood’s “temperamental” stars.
By 2008, after the release of his movie The Love Guru, Mike Myers took a small step back from feature film acting. He turned instead to voice roles, most notably continuing with his animated series Shrek. Reportedly, Myers was instrumental in making Shrek a success, even insisting on the ogre’s now-infamous Scottish accent.
Myers has worked consistently in recent years, even taking on some roles in dramatic films. He had a featured role in the musical biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, as well as a role in the 2018 thriller Terminal. However, he’s never left the world of comedy behind, and in May 2022, he collaborated with Netflix to launch a comedy miniseries called The Pentaverate. A comedy icon responsible for so many entertaining characters, Myers has undoubtedly left his mark on pop culture.
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