Credit: @mikemyers
Mike Myers is not Michael Myers. In truth, he is Michael Myers, but Mike Myers is not the Michael Myers of Halloween fame. He does know Jamie Lee Curtis – though how close or how many times they’ve met is unknown to us – but he’s not the guy who has spent more than 40 years trying to kill her on Halloween night. No, Mike Myers was born Michael John Myers of Canada on May 25, 1963, but he is not the scary Michael Myers with the mask. He likely spent much of his life growing up hearing that joke, but the joke is on everyone else because Mike Myers might have the same name as a fictional serial killer. But Mike Myers’ net worth is also $200 million, so let the world laugh. He’s laughing…all the way to the bank.
Michael Myers Was Already Famous When Mike Myers Became Famous
The first Halloween movie came out in 1978, making Michael Myers a household name. On the other hand, Mike Myers did not really become famous until the 1990s. Sure, he’d had some minor roles in some movies and shows in Canada, but he was not a mainstream success by any means. He didn’t hit it big until 1989; even then, he wasn’t a household name. He landed a job on a little television show called Saturday Night Live. That show took up six years of his life – he did not leave until 1995. It’s where Mike Myers made a name for himself (rather than his own name already being used by a fake serial killer).
Mike Myers Hits it Big
Take a moment here to think about the famous Queen song, Bohemian Rhapsody. First and foremost, it’s a long song. Second, we all know this song from start to finish, verbatim. Third, we all have a favorite part. And, if you’re like most of us, your favorite part happens ¾ of the way through the song when the beat changes and your head starts to bang. Why is that? Because that’s what Wayne and Garth did in the hit movie “Wayne’s World” in 1992. It was Mike Myers who not only made this song more famous than it already was, but now we cannot hear this part of the song without seeing them in the car headbanging together – a move we all emulate decades later.
It was Wayne’s World that changed the game for Mike Myers. The world fell instantly in love with both him and Dana Carvey’s characters, Wayne and Garth. They were just stupid enough to be funny but funny enough to be loveable, and that’s where it changed. It was 1992, and that was that.
Credit: @mikemyers
From Wayne’s World to Austin Powers
By 1997, Mike Myers had changed the game with yet another memorable role. He took on the role of Austin Powers, International Man of Mystery. It was another role that allowed the hilarious comedian to play a character who is too stupid for his own good, as well as various other characters in the movie. He wasn’t just Austin Powers. He was also Austin Power’s biggest nemesis, Dr. Evil. He changed the game yet again with various movies in this franchise.
From Austin Powers to Shrek
Proving yet again that you can play an extremely unattractive character with a great sense of humor and still be the guy everyone loves, Mike Myers decided to voice the character of Shrek – alongside other famous voices from Cameron Diaz and even Eddie Murphy, just to name a few (because there are a lot in these movies). Mike Myers proved that he was the franchise king and the world loved him. Mike Myers’ net worth was growing substantially, and he was living his best life.
How Did Mike Myers’ Net Worth Grow?
We’ll start with his biggest and first major franchise roles. When Mike Myers starred in Wayne’s World, he earned $1 million for the first movie and $3.5 million for the second. When Mike Myers began acting as Austin Powers, he was earning $3.5 million per movie. By the time the studio signed him on to the second movie, they were paying him $7 million. When the contract rolled in for the third Austin Powers movie, the studio paid Mike Myers a staggering $25 million.
Credit: @mikemyers
His Shrek paychecks never reached the same scale as his final Austin Powers paycheck. However, he also didn’t have to sit in hair and make-up or memorize his lines. He lent his voice to the character, which is slightly less taxing than taking on the entirety of a role. For the first Shrek movie, he earned $3 million. The second movie paid him $10 million. He earned $15 million for the third Shrek, and he earned the same $15 million for the fourth Shrek.
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