Verne Jay Troyer was an actor, comedian, and stunt performer best known for playing Mini-Me in the Austin Powers film series. He was notable for having been only 2 feet 8 inches tall, the result of cartilage–hair hypoplasia; this made him one of the shortest men in the world.
Troyer's film career began when a former president of Little People of America contacted him, looking for someone of a "certain size" to serve as a stunt double for the infant character "Baby Bink" in John Hughes' film Baby's Day Out (1994). He gained further work as a stunt double with some minor comedic roles in several films of the 1990s, including Dunston Checks In, Jingle All the Way (both 1996), Men in Black (1997), and My Giant (1998).
Subject ID: 74766
MoreVerne Jay Troyer was an actor, comedian, and stunt performer best known for playing Mini-Me in the Austin Powers film series. He was notable for having been only 2 feet 8 inches tall, the result of cartilage–hair hypoplasia; this made him one of the shortest men in the world.
Troyer's film career began when a former president of Little People of America contacted him, looking for someone of a "certain size" to serve as a stunt double for the infant character "Baby Bink" in John Hughes' film Baby's Day Out (1994). He gained further work as a stunt double with some minor comedic roles in several films of the 1990s, including Dunston Checks In, Jingle All the Way (both 1996), Men in Black (1997), and My Giant (1998).
Troyer first met with Jay Roach to discuss portraying Mini-Me in the Austin Powers series, directed by Roach and starring co-creator Mike Myers, before filming for the series' second film began. Myers was impressed with Troyer's performance, rewriting the script for Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999) to give Mini-Me more screen time and remove the character's death. Troyer reprised the role three years later in Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002), and collaborated again with Myers on The Love Guru (2008).
After reaching a large audience as Mini-Me, Troyer portrayed the goblin Griphook in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001), and played the role of Percy in Terry Gilliam's fantasy film The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009). He also made several appearances as himself in reality television series, including The Surreal Life (2005), Welcome to Sweden (2007), and the sixth series of the British Celebrity Big Brother (2009).
Subject ID: 74766
Subject ID: 74766