Mike Myers has been acting since the mid-‘70s, but one of his most famous roles is Austin Powers. There have been three Austin Powers movies to date: Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, The Spy Who Shagged Me, and Goldmember. All three films were directed by Jay Roach and star Mike Myers as Austin Powers and his arch-nemesis Dr. Evil.
For years, a fourth film has been rumored, but nothing has ever come to fruition. With the last film being released over 15 years ago, there is a lot of interesting details known about the three Austin Powers movies you may not be aware of. Here are 10 Shagadelic Things You Didn’t Know About The Austin Powers Movies.
Austin Powers Was Inspired By A Few People
The character Austin Powers was created when Mike Myers was joking and flirting with his wife. His wife told him to write his ideas down for the character instead of messing with her and Austin Powers was born.
Myers went on to write the script in a few weeks and apparently based his character on a few different people. It’s widely believed that Austin Powers was based on TV host Simon Dee. Michael Caine also believes Austin Powers was based on his character Harry Palmer from The Ipcress File.
There Was A MTV Special That Aired First
Before Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery hit theaters, the character was first introduced on the small screen. The first appearance of Austin Powers was in the TV movie Austin Powers’ Electric Pussycat Swingers Club. The film is less than an hour and originally aired on MTV in order to promote the first Austin Powers movie.
The film shows clips from the actual movie and also has Austin talking about being frozen for 30 years. The TV movie didn’t ever get a home release, but copies of it can be found online and even on YouTube.
New Line Cinema Struggled To Decide On Titles For The Sequels
When it came time to make a sequel to International Man of Mystery, New Line Cinema had a tough time settling on a name. Initially, the sequel was going to be called Austin Powers 2: The Wrath of Khan. New Line had to get permission from Paramount to use the name, which they obviously didn’t go for. Austin Powers 2: Electric Boogaloo and Austinpussy were also potential titles, but they decided to go with The Spy Who Shagged Me.
For the third film, MGM even sued New Line over the subtitle Goldmember, but they were allowed to use the title only after they agreed to approve future titles with MGM and if they agreed to play a trailer for Die Another Day in front of Goldmember.
Colin Quinn Was Almost Scott Evil
Saturday Night Live helped kickstart Mike Myers’ career and another SNL cast member was almost in Austin Powers. Colin Quinn almost played Scott Evil, but the role later went to Seth Green. Scott Evil is Dr. Evil and Frau Farbissina’s son, who Dr. Evil always complains isn’t evil enough.
Quinn was initially offered the role in International Man of Mystery, but he turned it down. Quinn still regrets his decision but has since appeared in films like A Night at the Roxbury, Grown Ups, and Trainwreck. Given his filmography, if he would have played Scott Evil, it likely would have been the biggest role of his career.
Felicity Shagwell & Mustafa Almost Returned For Goldmember
After Vanessa Kensington (Elizabeth Hurley) turns out to be a Fembot, Austin has to find a new lover in The Spy Who Shagged Me. He falls in love with Felicity Shagwell, who was played by Heather Graham. Also, the first film introduced Will Ferrell’s character Mustafa: A henchman of Dr. Evil who was a weapon designer and had a quirk where he couldn’t resist answering a question if he was asked three times.
Both were memorable characters but neither of them came back for Goldmember. The characters were supposed to return in some capacity, but their scene was cut from the film.
Dr. Evil Was Based On Lorne Michaels
Mike Myers was a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1989 to 1995 and also hosted an episode in 1997 when the first Austin Powers came out. Lorne Michaels is the creator and producer of SNL, but he was also the inspiration behind Dr. Evil. Myers has stated before that his impression of Michaels was the inspiration for the character.
He also explained that Donald Pleasence’s portrayal of Blofeld was also a big inspiration for Dr. Evil. That being said, Dana Carvey claimed Myers copied his Lorne Michaels impression for Dr. Evil, which caused a rift between them for several years.
They Almost Made An Animated Series
The three Austin Powers films are among Myers’ greatest movies, but the franchise almost continued with an animated series. While details about The Spy Who Shagged Me were still developing, it was reported that New Line Television was also developing an Austin Powers animated series. Not much is known about the project (besides the fact that it didn’t happen), but at the time it was being compared to King of the Hill’s comedy style.
The animated Austin Powers series seems to have gotten canceled along the way, but fans are also still waiting for Austin Powers 4. Unfortunately, that looks just as unlikely as the animated series since Mini-Me actor Verne Troyer passed away last year.
Jim Carrey Could Have Played Dr. Evil
Part of the reason why people find Austin Powers so funny is that Mike Myers plays multiple characters in the films. He, of course, plays Austin Powers, but he also portrays Dr. Evil and Fat Bastard. That being said, the film could have had Jim Carrey in the role of Dr. Evil.
Much like Myers, Carrey is a comedy legend, starring in films like The Mask, Bruce Almighty, and Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. Carrey was offered the role by Mike Myers and while he was interested, Carrey had to turn it down because he was shooting Liar Liar.
The Actor Behind Random Task Is A Real-Life Villain
If you haven’t seen the actor Joseph Hyungmin Son lately, it’s because he’s currently serving a life sentence at Salinas Valley State Prison. Son was the actor behind the henchman Random Task in the first Austin Powers film. In 2011, he was arrested for a heinous crime committed in 1990.
Police were able to obtain a DNA sample from him decades after the crime since he had been picked up for violating his parole in 2008. As if a life sentence wasn’t enough for Son, he also got an additional 27 years in 2017 for beating his cellmate to death.
Sean Connery Could Have Played Nigel
It’s no secret that Austin Powers is a spoof of the 007 films, but not very many people know that director Jay Roach wanted to get Sean Connery to play Nigel Powers in Austin Powers: Goldmember. Connery is, of course, famous for playing the first James Bond back in 1964 in Dr. No.
Connery likely turned down the role, which was then given to Michael Caine. As mentioned earlier, Caine believed Austin Powers was based on his character Harry Palmer, so given him a role in Austin Powers: Goldmember sort of made the series come full circle.
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