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'Wayne's World' Director Penelope Spheeris Was Fired For Standing Up To Mike Myers

By Andrew Sanford | Film | May 26, 2023 |

By Andrew Sanford | Film | May 26, 2023 |


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I love the Wayne’s World movie. It’s funny, has a laundry list of great actors giving excellent performances, and it had a great sense of self. As overplayed as it is, the Bohemian Rhapsody moment lets you know exactly what you’re in for, and the movie maintains that tone until the end. I think it is the most successful SNL movie to be made. That said, I don’t know if I can be objective because I’ve loved the film for so long.

I also enjoy the second one! While not breaking much new ground, it hits a lot of the same beats as the first. There are moments when it almost feels like a retread of the first (as many sequels do). There may be a good reason for that. I want to make it clear that I am not questioning the talent of the film’s director, Stephen Surjik. It was his first feature film as a director, but he had done great work before and has done great work since. No, the reason the second film may not have been as successful is Mike Myers (and Lorne Michaels).

The director of the first Wayne’s World film was Penelope Spheeris. She came to the film with an impressive resumé that included two of her three Decline of Western Civilization documentaries. She was more than qualified, not just as a director but with having a sense of the world that Wayne and Garth inhabit. In a recent interview on The Hollywood Reporter’s It Happened In Hollywood podcast, she mentioned how Myers could get low blood sugar on set and become grumpy but that it wasn’t an “uncomfortable set.” The editing process was a different story.

Spheeris said that the test screenings for the film went great. However, Myers was not there for them. His father had just died, so when he finally watched the movie, he did so alone. He then went to Spheeris with 11 pages of single-spaced notes. According to Spheeris, “most of them sucked.” For instance, Myers didn’t like the Bohemian Rhapsody moment which is arguably the most recognizable moment of the film! He has tried to change this narrative in the past. She went to Lorne Michaels to tell him the movie would suffer if she followed the notes. Lorne said that if she didn’t do them, Mike wouldn’t approve of her directing the sequel. Paramount told her the same thing.

The worst part is that both Michaels and the Paramount execs wouldn’t tell Myers that Spheeris wouldn’t do his changes. They made her do it, which she did because she’s a badass. After that, she was not asked back for the sequel. She said she ripped her phone off the wall, cried for two weeks, and then got over it. She hasn’t talked to Lorne since, despite working together on SNL in the past, but her career has been just fine. Myers, on the other hand, has built a less-than-sterling reputation, and below-average excitement for his work.