Mike Myers: Supermensch Up Close

Mike Myers: Supermensch Up Close

Mike Myers, one of the most multifaceted performers of his generation, has brought an astonishing array of memorable characters to life in film and television. As a writer, producer and actor, Myers is best known as the creative force behind such iconic characters as Austin Powers and Shrek. Mike Myers is the director of the movie Supermensch,  where he tells us about the life of his great friend, Shep Gordon. We had the opportunity to have a brief chat with Mr. Myers about his new work , the Supermench movie.

Omtimes: You’ve been trying to get Shep to agree to let you make a movie about him for 10 years. Why do you think he finally relented?

Mike Myers: Shep is a very modest man. He’s not comfortable in the spotlight but he is very comfortable at the edge of the frame, being in service to others. I think I just wore him down. I wanted everyone to pay a lot of attention to the man behind the curtain.

Omtimes: What prompted the idea for your film and how did it evolve?

Mike Myers: His stories. Name an artist from the last 50 years and Shep has a first-person story about them. It’s Six Degrees of Shep Gordon. He helped shape Alice Cooper which in turn begat so many other great bands from Kiss to The Sex Pistols. If it was Folk, Soul, Shock, Metal, Glam, Goth etc, etc, etc., Shep was there, protecting nurturing, guiding and in many cases creating out of whole cloth. He also found time to manage Groucho Marx in the last days of that comedic genius’s life (pro bono) and he even found time to invent the Celebrity Chef (also pro bono). He is one of the best Showmen on earth, an ethical hedonist, a progressive capitalist, and one of the nicest human beings I have ever met.