Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002)

Prior to coming aboard the production, Caine had completed several intense dramas and decided he wanted to look for a comedy. "I’ve never done a comedy as outrageous as this," he says. "I thought it was a tremendous challenge which proved to be a helter-skelter ride, but I stayed with it as we went along. In every actor there is a ham waiting to get out and I found the ham in me," Caine jokes.

"The first time you see Nigel he’s on a bed with four women," he continues, "so you get the idea he’s a ladies man right from the start. Nigel has tried to turn his son into himself, but he’s failed miserably. He’d been away quite a bit while Austin was growing up. He’s a great man of mystery and one doesn’t dare ask him where he’s been.

"I think Nigel is a con man -- he’s conned everybody," declares Caine. "I met a lot of real spies when I was doing those Harry Palmer films and they were always rather sleazy characters. So is Nigel."

"I copied as many of the mannerisms of Austin as possible based on the fact that Austin would have copied them from Nigel," he notes. "That’s what’s funny. It’s also a unique experience to practice lines wearing the prosthetic teeth. The first time I did a scene where Nigel loses his temper, they flew out of my mouth. I didn’t want to wear the teeth when I wasn’t in costume because people might think they were my teeth!"

"Michael Caine reminds me of my father," says Myers. "He tells great stories and he’s kind of cheeky. He loved putting on the glasses and the teeth, and then loved to complain about the teeth, which was very funny when he tried to say dirty words."

"We were talking once and I asked him how many films he had done, which number this one was," recounts Myers. "He said, ‘141.’ He knew off the top of his head! I thought, ‘okay, I’ve done eight, maybe ten.’ So even if I lied and said ’25 or 30,’ he’s still done 141 films. That’s a lot of movies."

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