10 Actors Whose Careers Never Rebounded
6. Mike Meyers
To hear Wayne's World director Penelope Spheeris tell it, Mike Meyers is a demanding, cruel control-freak who will throw a tantrum if one thing doesn't go his way. To hear Mike Meyers tell it, you kind of just want to smile politely as you back away into the party as he rambles on about Deepak Chopra.
Meyers was at the top of the list of Canadian talent Lorne Michaels stole away in the late 80s/early 90s of SNL - an era that included the likes of Phil Hartman, Dana Carvey, Chris Rock, Louis C.K., Kevin Nealon and Norm MacDonald. So Meyers had a lot to prove and he made his mark, big and loud, creating memorable characters whose catchphrases still give children of the era a warm sense of nostalgia.
He was bombastic. Even his misses grew a fan base, such as So I Married An Axe Murderer. But his on-set tantrums during Wayne's World are the stuff of legend. He apparently stormed off the set at one point due to there being no margarine available for his bagel.
His success continued with Austin Powers, but the problem with fame and comedy is that you don't know when to stop: and he never did, taking what worked as a great one-off sketch and maybe a feature and turning it into a trilogy. He then focused his interest in Chopra's teachings and used them to make us laugh with The Love Guru. No one laughed.
He's taken some small dramatic roles recently, but his comedic career ended when he picked up a book.