Myers and Alba talk 'Love Guru'
By Alysse Shaheen
Austin Powers, Shrek, and Wayne Campbell are just a few of the classic and iconic characters that Mike Myers has developed and embodied on the silver screen. In his latest film, “Love Guru,” Myers adds Pitka to his list of hilarious characters. The movie is about an American boy who was raised by Indian gurus and moves back to the U.S. when he grows up, to become famous in the world of self-help and spirituality. “Love Guru” also stars Justin Timberlake, Verne Troyer, and Jessica Alba. UWeekly got a chance to speak with Myers and Jessica Alba about this upcoming release.
UW: Knowing that Mike has a tendency to improve, did you find it difficult to keep up with him when he did, or did you find it challenging and fun?
Jessica Alba: It was fun; it was so much fun — you know, going to work and not really knowing how that day is going to go, and it being so unpredictable, and you fly by the seat of your pants — that is most fun to me. Whether it be in comedy or drama or whatever, and you know, certainly in comedy, it keeps the energy up and keeps it interesting.
UW: You are recently married and expecting your first child, and now your work with “The Love Guru.” What would your best advice be to someone in the matter of love?
JA: In the matter of love. Well, you definitely need to be on the path of loving yourself before you are capable of sharing your life or your heart with anyone else. And I think a lot of people look for love to validate themselves or to lose themselves in, you know, putting themselves second, and it’s easy to get lost in a relationship. But you have to love yourself first before you’re even ready for that kind of thing.
UW: Mike, what gave you the idea for the character in the film?
Mike Myers: The idea for the film came, strangely enough, when my father died in 1991 and I went on a spiritual quest. And I started to become very interested in a lot of philosophies, but Eastern philosophy, especially. And it’s a very interesting world, the world of spirituality; because often these people have no sense of humor whatsoever. But the real genesis of the idea is when I was working on “Austin Powers III”; it was a day with Tom Cruise, Steven Spielberg, Gwyneth Paltrow, Danny Devito, Kevin Spacey all on the set. It was at the Paramount lot and it was raining, and it was an outdoor shoot. I woke up and I said, “We’re doomed, because there’s no way we’re ever going to get all these people together again.” And then I put on the news, and George Harrison had died. My parents are from Liverpool, and so I’m a huge Beatles fan. I cried like a baby. And I just thought, “This is going to be the worst day of my life.” Somebody from George Harrison’s office gave me the last letter that George Harrison ever wrote, which was to me, and it was a fan letter of Austin Powers. And it was at that moment that I went, you know what, doing a movie about a Guru has been one of the ideas that has been circulating the airport. That’s my next idea.
UW: What are some of the things you do on set or off set just to get into character?
MM: Well, I stay in character all day. It’s kind of an odd thing. It’s, you know, my hero is Peter Sellers. And I studied everything that he did and all the preparation. So I believe in total commitment, and just trying to make every aspect of the film as funny and as cool as it can be, because you only live once. And when I’m 80 I want to look back, and I want to know that I made stuff that made people laugh, because that’s the greatest joy I know anyway — to write something and have a room full of people laugh at it.
Originally Published: Issue 650 - May 28, 2008
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