My father was a very funny man, and one of my strongest recollections is hearing him laugh. He didn't like people who had no sense of humour.
— Mike Myers
There's a joy in having the molecule of an idea, then testing it in front of audiences at secret shows that people only know about the night before.
Everything I do is autobiographical in some way. 'Wayne's World' was me growing up in the suburbs of Toronto and listening to heavy metal, and 'Austin Powers' was every bit of British culture that my father, who passed away in 1991, had forced me to watch and taught me to love.
I write everything I do. On the average, it takes you about sixty months from the first molecule of an idea to it being in front of an audience. I'm actually somebody that creates their own stuff.
My parents taught me to do whatever makes you happy - follow your bliss. That's why I don't make a lot of movies. I'm very meat and potatoes when it comes to work, putting in eight hours each day. I only do what I love.
I knew I wanted to be a father; I didn't know it was going to be this awesome or that my kid would come out so beautiful and lovely.
The interesting thing about life is, there is what you think is going to happen, and what actually happens.
If I went by all the rejection I've had in my career, I should have given up a long time ago.
I grew up in Toronto and as long as I can remember, as long as there was cable, even those old cable boxes that were wired to the TV, there have been Bollywood movies on Toronto TV.
I would love to be a father. I had a great father who taught me how gratifying that is. I'm not going to deny myself that. I think I'd be good at it. Everybody wants that experience. I definitely do.
I came out wanting to be an actor. From my first view of the world, that's what I wanted to be. I'm made of 99 percent ham and 1 percent water. I was just cooked that way!
I still believe that at any time the no-talent police will come and arrest me.
Austin sounds a little bit like Aston Martin, which is the type of car James Bond would drive.
Europe is scooters. Europe is five young people on one bench sharing a chocolate bar. Their idea of entertainment and fun is so much different than ours, which is exactly why a movie about them would be funny.
For me, everything definitely comes from music.
I had done Shrek as a Canadian and I'm very proud to be Canadian, but I knew I could give more to it.
I think that Scottish people, like Canadians, are often misunderstood and what I like about my Scottish friends and relatives is how quickly it can go from love to anger. It's a great dynamic.
My father and mother emigrated to Canada in 1958, but there's nobody more English than an Englishman who no longer lives in England, and our home was a shrine to all things English.
I play the ukulele. I have a great group of friends, and we do things like have battles of the bands - me sometimes on ukulele, but mostly on drums.
I really just love making comedies; I love doing characters.
In 1991, my father passed away and I went on a spiritual quest. It was a light one, not too terribly deep because I'm not terribly deep, and neither was my father.
Dad loved movies, and I grew up with British comedy. My ultimate favourite is Peter Sellers.
Anyone who tells you fatherhood is the greatest thing that can happen to you, they are understating it.
Once I turned 35, I got the bonus of some wisdom and began to accept life on its own terms.
I love making comedy. I never stopped loving it. I will continue to love it and I can't believe that I get to do it.
I'm a comedic actor, not to mix words, but it's something I think about. A comedic actor. I like to think that Christopher Guest, Phil Hartman, Peter Sellers and Alec Guinness are comedic actors. And Dan Aykroyd, too. Those are my heroes.
With fame there is a crosswire between intensity and intimacy. You have decoy intimacy, but you are also very much alone.
I like smart jokes, I like dumb jokes, and I like dumb jokes done smartly.
And I love Mel Brooks. My Dad loved his movies, too, they're awesome, the kind of thing that if you're in for ten minutes, you're in for two hours.
Comedy. It was just huge in my house. Peter Sellers and Alec Guinness, Monty Python and all those James Bond movies were highly regarded.
Europe is weird songs that would never make it in America.
I do miss Saturday Night Live, that's for sure. There's nothing like it. I just hosted, and I felt I'd only been away for a week.
I have very happy memories of fairy tales. My mother used to take me to the library in Toronto to check out the fairy tales. And she was an actress, so she used to act out for me the different characters in all these fairy tales.
I think when I have kids and grandchildren I will be very proud to have them watch this movie.
Canada is a country of ingredients without a cuisine; we're a country with musicians without an indigenous instrument; Toronto's a city that doesn't even have a dish named after it.
Justin Timberlake is the single most talented human being I've ever met in my life, and it sickens me. He is, like, 12 years old or something! He has 0 percent body fat, he is musically gifted, he has a great ear for accents, and he is hilarious.
I was well indulged as a child by my relentlessly self-improving, working class parents to express myself.
On my death bed, I'm not going to say, 'God I wish I did more movies.' I'm perfectly happy I was present for the ones I did.
I can be described as many things, but no description of me is complete without saying 'Englishman.' My parents were from Liverpool and emigrated to Canada before I was born.
When I graduated from high school, I got accepted to York University, Fine Arts film program.
Dad was in the British Army and my mom was in the Royal Air Force, so both of my parents believed in discipline.
My dad sold encyclopedias and my mom worked in a factory office.
Marriage can be viewed as the waiting room for death.
My father was always a straight-up funny guy. He was silly. He was my inspiration.
I love making stuff. There's a joy in having the first molecule of an idea, then testing it in front of audiences at secret shows that people only know about the day before. I videotape those, study them, enjoy being in the character and figuring out the movie.
And I thought, when I have kids, that's the sort of well told, silly, and fun fairy tale that I would want to take them to. But it was an amazing experience. And I think Shrek is a real classic, a fairy tale classic.
Dr. Evil got shortchanged in the first one. The family dynamic between Scott and Dr. Evil - the adventures of being an evil single parent - needed to be explored.
Europe to me is young people trying to appear middle-aged and middle-aged people trying to appear young.
I had a blast, but I still wonder sometimes why they saw me as the perfect guy for this strange character.
I loved the logistical reality of a guy who wants to take over the world, yet who has a family too.
