Yeah, Baby! Mike Myers Is Back in 'Goldmember'

Aug. 2, 2002 -- When the latest summer blockbuster features bad teeth, shagadelic babes and double entendres galore, it can only mean one thing: Mike Myers is at it again.

Myers told Good Morning America today that even he's surprised by the Autin Powers'' enduring success. The latest installment, Austin Powers in Goldmember, set records at the box office, bringing in more than $71 million in its opening last weekend.

"Honestly, I've said this probably too many times, I've never anticipated having a job when I was starting out," Myers told correspondent Alex Cambert.

"I literally wrote this just as a tribute to my father, who loved, you know, really silly English comedies."

‘If You’re Not Funny, Leave!’In the latest Austin Powers adventure, Dr. Evil, Mini-Me, and that horribly fat scottish assassin are back, with Myers, who turned 39 in May, playing all those characters, except, of course, the diminuitive Mini-Me.

Myers also plays a new character, Goldmember, a Dutch disco rollerskating evildoer who teams up with Dr. Evil, travels back to 1975, and kidnaps Austin's father, Nigel, played by Michael Caine.

Austin chases the bad guys back to Goldmember's Studio 69 disco, where he teams up with Foxxy Cleopatra, an undercover spy, played by Beyoncé Knowles of Destiny's Child.

Myers says his father, who passed away in 1991, was a big fan of Peter Sellers, Monty Python, Peter Cook and Dudley Moore.

"I literally thought you would have to have grown up in my house to get this movie," Myers said. "And I'm blown away."

Myers' dad put a premium on acting silly. One minute, he'd be pretending to be insane, the next, he'd be ambassador to Guatamala, or a banjo player. You can see where Myers got the inspiration to create so many onscreen characters.

Myers even jokes that he wouldn't let his friends in the house if he didn't think they were funny.

"My Dad was as nutty as the day is long," Myers says. "Somebody could have like pulled me from a burning house or something, but if they weren't funny, they were not welcome." A Surprise Sensation

When Myers and director Jay Roach introduced the world to the original movie, Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery in 1997, they figured it would be a one-time spoof of James Bond movies, and 1960s culture.

But after a decent run at the box office, the series premiere scored big on home video, leading the way to Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me in 1999, a film that grossed more than $205 million in the United States alone.

With the prospect of more sequels — perhaps until Austin and Dr. Evil are chasing each other in wheelchairs — Myers is trying to enjoy the success.

"We didn't know there would be a second," he says. "We actually wrote the film with the cheeky assumption we knew there would be three."

Myers was born in 1963 in Scarborough, Ontario. His television career began in 1988 when he joined Saturday Night Live, and he spent six seasons there, bringing characters such as Linda Richman of Coffeetalk and heavy metal enthusiast Wayne Campbell to life.

Myers' other major movies have included Wayne's World, Wayne's World 2 and So I Married an Axe Murderer.