Mike Myers Reportedly So Fond of Verne Troyer, He Changed ‘Austin Powers’ Ending

Austin Powers actor Verne Troyer passed away at the age of 49 on Saturday, leading fans to fondly look back at his iconic comedic role as Mini Me.

As the internet mourned Troyer’s passing, a number of old interviews from the making of the Austin Powers films resurfaced, revealing the friendship between Mike Myers and Troyer, and how the Troyer’s performance and demeanor influenced the actor and creative team to change aspects to the films’ scripts.

Troyer revealed during an interview with Oprah Winfrey that Mini Me was originally supposed to die at the end of the second film.

“When they did a test screening, Mini-Me died at the end,” Troyer said. “We had to go back and re-shoot that because the crowd was upset that Mini-Me was no longer there.”

Along with avoiding his character’s death, Troyer also managed to get his role more screen time with his natural comedic timing.

“In the beginning, Mini-Me character wasn’t in the film that much,” he said. “Once we started rehearsal, Mike kept adding more parts and more parts and more parts.”

“I had written Mini-Me to not talk, but within five minutes of meeting Verne I was, like, ‘what an idiot, this guy is so funny,’” Myers said in an interview on The View. “But you know, the train had sailed, but in the back of my head I was, like, ‘I gotta write something where this guy can talk’.”

Troyer starred in Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me and Austin Powers: Goldmember as the mute compatriot of Myers‘ Dr. Evil and his performance led to some of the funniest moments in both installments. Myers released a statement on Troyer’s death hours after his passing.

“Verne was the consummate professional and a beacon of positivity for those of us who had the honor of working with him,” Myers said. “It is a sad day, but I hope he is in a better place. He will be greatly missed.”

Troyer’s family also released a statement on his Instagram page announcing his passing.

“It is with great sadness and incredibly heavy hearts to write that Verne passed away today,” the post read. “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.”

Photo: Instagram/@VerneTroyer