Austin Powers star Mike Myers recently paid an emotional tribute to his fallen co-star Verne Troyer, saying, “I miss him.”
Myers sat down for an interview with late night host Jimmy Kimmel on Wednesday night, calling Troyer “sweet” and opening up about his death.
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“Verne was a fantastic human being,” Myers shared. “And a great comedian. And I always just want to make that point. As written, Mini-Me is like almost a prop, but he brought it up off the page, made it better than written and we just ended up giving him more and more stuff to do. But a great physical comedian, a great dancer, just a fantastic guy.”
“Verne just brought so much love to people,” continued Myers. “Verne was very small, like very small. And every day you see him you go, ‘Wow, that is a small human.’ But by the end of the day you just saw Verne, it sort of just went away. He was just a sweet… he was just part of the cast and fantastic. I miss him.”
Myers also noted that doctors originally did not believe that Troyer would live past his teenage years, but he surprised them by living well into his 40s.
Sadly, Troyer passed away on April 21 at the age of 49. His cause of death has been has been reported to be due to alcohol poisoning, and considered a “possible suicide.”
“It is with great sadness and incredibly heavy hearts to write that Verne passed away today,” Troyer’s family said in a statement announcing his passing. “Verne was an extremely caring individual. He wanted to make everyone smile, be happy, and laugh. Anybody in need, he would help to any extent possible. Verne hoped he made a positive change with the platform he had and worked towards spreading that message everyday.”
“Verne was also a fighter when it came to his own battles,” the statement continued. “Over the years he’s struggled and won, struggled and won, struggled and fought some more, but unfortunately this time was too much. During this recent time of adversity he was baptized while surrounded by his family. The family appreciates that they have this time to grieve privately.
“Depression and Suicide are very serious issues. You never know what kind of battle someone is going through inside,” the family statement concluded.
“Be kind to one another. And always know, it’s never too late to reach out to someone for help.”
