Inside Wayne’s World at 30
In February 1992 ultimate slacker Wayne Campbell and his best friend Garth Algar headbanged their way into theatres, turning a popular Saturday Night Live skit into a worldwide phenomenon.
Wayne’s World starring Mike Meyers and Dana Carvey, which was shot on a modest budget over 34 days, made over $183 million worldwide and became the most successful SNL spinoff movie -- by a long shot. Number two is the 1980’s classic The Blues Brothers which earned just under $60 million.
Meyers came up with the long-haired, babe-loving rocker Wayne character in his mid-teens while living in Scarborough, Ontario (better known as Scarberia to those who grew up in the Toronto area in the 80s).
He first tried it out on the CBC variety show Only Rock n’ Roll and then after Meyers joined Saturday Night Live he convinced his cast mate Dana Carvey to do him a solid and appear as cohost of Wayne’s public access TV show.
The skit was so popular that just three years later Wayne’s World the movie was in theatres. Penelope Spheeris, at the time an underground documentary filmmaker, was brought on to direct the iconic comedy. This might seem like an odd fit but her experience filming quick and cheap was exactly what SNL boss Lorne Michaels was looking for.
In a recent interview on “The Talkhouse” podcast, Spheeris said her only real direction on the movie was to be “faster and funnier.” She let the actors do their thing with the understanding that she could still construct her version in the editing room.
As a result some of the classic moments in Wayne’s World were partly adlibbed including the scene where Wayne and Garth are lying on the hood of a car watching planes fly overhead as they philosophize about how much of a babe Wayne’s girlfriend Cassandra is. (Answer: If she were a president she would be Babe-reham Lincoln.)
Wayne’s World included notable appearances by Rob Lowe as the antagonist TV producer who wants to take the guys show out of the basement, rock legends Alice Cooper and Meatloaf as well as fan fav Tia Carrere as Wayne’s gorgeous love interest. Rumor has it that Meyers wanted Nirvana for the movie’s sequel, but Cobain turned him down.
Despite the success of the movie the relationship between Meyers and Carvey suffered during the filming. A power struggle between the two lead to 20 years of not talking but that finally ended in 2021 when the pair reunited for a series of Wayne’s World themed tv commercials for Uber Eats.
To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Wayne’s World a new Blu-ray steelbook, which includes a digital copy of the film, was released on February 1, 2022. Party on.