“I’ve wanted to do that my whole life”: the classic rock icon Mike Myers said he was born to play
Apologies for stating the obvious, but Mike Myers is not a serious actor. He never was, and since he only sporadically emerges from professional hibernation as unrecognisable characters, he never will be.
He tried it once, and that was more than enough. While his performance as Steve Rubell in 1998’s 54 earned a decent amount of praise, the movie suffered from being stained by Harvey Weinstein’s grubby fingerprints, meaning that barely anyone saw it, and nobody saw the director’s true vision.
The same year, he played an Irish drug dealer in Pete’s Meteor, which has never been officially released. As far as the whole ‘comedy actors getting serious in the desperate search for acclaim’ cliché goes, the Saturday Night Live alum did a shite job compared to almost every one of his peers who did the same.
Not everyone gets to be Robin Williams, Bill Murray, or even the modern-day version of Adam Sandler; comedians by trade who constantly reveal new depths, pathos, and gravitas when they drop the act and try some real acting for a change, but Myers could have had the opportunity to blow any lingering assumptions that, without his signature makeup, prosthetics, and funny voices, he’d be nothing, although there would admittedly have been some of that, too.
One of the easiest and most blatantly cynical ways to manufacture awards season buzz is to play a well-known musician in a biopic. It’s worked for Joaquin Phoenix, Jamie Foxx, Rami Malek, Marion Cotillard, and others, and as Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley, Tina Turner, and Buddy Holly have shown, iconic performers usually guarantee at least a nomination, if not a win.
Still, Mike Myers as Keith Moon? The legendary drummer and one of The Who’s titanic four pillars was as revered for his skills behind the drum kit as he was notorious for his antics away from it, and anyone who’s even remotely familiar with a life that was cut short at the age of 32 will know there’s plenty of ground to cover in a biopic.
“Roger Daltrey came to see me on the set when I was filming Austin Powers 3, and said they’d like me to play Keith Moon,” he shared when his casting was officially announced. “I felt as if I had been hit by lightning, because I’ve wanted to do that my whole life. I loved The Who, and I loved his drumming, and I’m excited because the world of rock and roll in the ’60s and ’70s was a fascinating place.”
It’s a role he’d been flirting with for years already, and gaining Daltrey’s approval only sealed the deal. Obviously, questions were raised about a round-faced Canadian comic in his mid-40s playing a London-born classic rock icon who passed away in his early 30s, but everyone assumed there was nothing a little movie magic couldn’t fix, even if there was an ever-so-slight passing resemblance between them.
Obviously, it never happened, and there still hasn’t been a Moon biopic, despite Daltrey’s repeated efforts. And yet, it’s fascinating to ponder what could have happened if Myers had gotten to realise his lifelong dream. Would he have won or been nominated for an Oscar or a Razzie? Would it have saved him from his post-Love Guru fall from grace? Could he have become a serious actor after all? Sadly, we’ll never know.
