Mike Myers on Austin Powers' unique mojo: "There's something about sexuality that is corny"

Myers discussed some of his most famous roles and movies, from Shrek to Wayne's World, in a new interview

By Reid McCarter  |  May 25, 2022 | 6:00pm
Film Features Mike Myers
Mike Myers on Austin Powers' unique mojo:
A man looks back on his life’s work and finds it pleasing. Screenshot: Vanity Fair

Austin Powers looms large over Mike Myers’ career. Despite playing a ton of memorable characters over the years—from Saturday Night Live’s Dieter, Phillip, and Wayne Campbell to Shrek and a live-action version of the Cat In The Hat whose horrible face is burned forever onto our minds’ eye—Myers can never escape the hairy-chested, snaggletoothed Bond parody that dominated late ‘90s and early ‘00s pop culture.

Why, exactly, the world was so captivated by Powers may remain a(n international man of) mystery, but Myers himself has at least attempted to explain how the spy’s uniquely magnetic displays of sexuality—his mojo, if you will—were formed.

In a recent Vanity Fair interview, Myers discussed famous scenes from his movies, including, of course, the Austin Powers trilogy. When faced with footage of himself performing a strip tease for a group of lingerie-clad robots—a reflective moment that too few of ourselves will ever find ourselves in—Myers brings up the inspiration for Powers’ goofy horniness.

“There’s something about sexuality that is corny,” he says. “People get very, very serious about their sexiness and… to me, that always makes me laugh because it’s almost too arch.”

Myers goes on to explain how he finds “overt sexuality” fundamentally funny, “especially really contrived dirty jokes.” While dissecting one of his own sort of dirty jokes, he talks about being a kid who was struck by Sean Connery’s chest hair—Myers calls him “part-man, part-beast.” The striptease scene’s choreographer drew on the actor having studied jazz dancing and tap as a child when helping him create a dance so hot it short circuits nearby robots.

We highly recommend watching through the entire video for more insight on Myers’ characters, from his fight to use Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” in Wayne’s World to the seismic, history-altering decision to change Shrek from a Canadian to a Scottish ogre.

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