So, let’s be honest. If you close your eyes and think about Austin Powers in Goldmember, you probably aren't thinking about the plot involving a tractor beam or a Dutch guy with a skin condition. You're thinking about Fred Savage. More specifically, you're thinking about the giant, hairy growth on Fred Savage’s face.
It’s one of those movie moments that feels like it lasts for forty-five minutes even though it’s only a few seconds long. The mole mole mole austin powers gag is the peak of Mike Myers’ specific brand of uncomfortable humor. It’s the kind of scene that makes you want to crawl out of your own skin while simultaneously laughing until you can't breathe.
But why is it so iconic? And where did this obsession with a "moley-moley-moley" chant even come from?
The Birth of a Very Weird Obsession
Mike Myers didn't just pull the mole joke out of thin air. In various interviews over the years, including a pretty famous chat with Vanity Fair, Myers revealed that the whole bit was born from a real-life moment of pure insecurity.
Back when he first started on Saturday Night Live, Myers was walking past a group of girls—basically the real-life version of the "Mean Girls"—who were looking in a window. They recognized him but weren't exactly fans. One of them pointed at him and said, "That’s not Mike Myers... he’s got that big ugly mole on his face."
Myers said it felt like getting smacked. He actually did have a small mole on his chin that he eventually had removed, but the way they fixated on it stuck with him for decades. In typical comedian fashion, he took that trauma and turned it into a scene where Fred Savage gets verbally dismantled for having a blemish.
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Who Was the Mole, Anyway?
The character’s actual name in the script is "Number Three." He’s a British Intelligence agent who has successfully infiltrated Dr. Evil’s inner circle.
He's played by Fred Savage—yes, Kevin Arnold from The Wonder Years. At the time, seeing the kid from the most wholesome show on TV with a massive, prosthetic "guacamole" (as Austin almost calls it) on his face was half the joke.
Why the Scene Works (and Why it's Exhausting)
The scene is a masterclass in breaking the "social contract." Austin and Foxxy Cleopatra (Beyoncé) are meeting Number Three to get intel on Dr. Evil’s new lair. It’s a high-stakes spy meeting. But Austin cannot, for the life of him, look Number Three in the eye.
The humor comes from the repetition. It’s a classic "Rule of Three" comedy trope taken to a psychotic extreme.
- Austin tries to be polite.
- Austin fails.
- Austin starts chanting "Mole! Mole! Mole!"
The way Mike Myers’ voice goes up in pitch—that "Moley-moley-moley!"—was actually an ad-lib that almost made him break character. If you watch the scene closely, you can see Myers' face twitching because he’s about to lose it.
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The Making of the "Mole"
Technically speaking, the mole itself was a prosthetic masterpiece (or nightmare). Makeup artist Kate Biscoe and the team had to create something that looked "real" enough to be gross but "fake" enough to be funny. It even had a few long, wiry hairs sprouting out of it to really drive the point home.
Fred Savage was a total pro about it. In fact, he later went on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and brought the prosthetic mole with him in a little case. He knew exactly what kind of movie he was in.
Interestingly, the filming of these scenes is always a bit of a technical headache. Because Mike Myers plays Austin Powers, Dr. Evil, Fat Bastard, and Goldmember, the production has to use body doubles and "plate" shots. When you see the back of Dr. Evil's head while Austin is shouting about the mole, that's a stand-in. They have to shoot all of Austin's lines, then spend hours in the makeup chair to turn Myers into Dr. Evil, then shoot the other side.
Beyond the Gag: Cultural Impact
Is it "high-brow" humor? Absolutely not. It’s the definition of low-hanging fruit. But in 2002, this was the height of pop culture.
People were quoting "Nice to mole you! Meet you! Nice to meet you, Mole!" in middle school hallways for three years straight. It represents a specific era of comedy where "cringe" wasn't a category on TikTok—it was just Mike Myers being Mike Myers.
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The joke also serves a purpose for Austin’s character. For a guy who is supposedly a world-class spy and a "man of mystery," he has zero impulse control. He’s a child in a velvet suit. The mole scene proves that no matter how many times he saves the world, he’s still the guy who will point at your blemish and yell about it.
The Actionable Takeaway for Movie Buffs
If you’re planning a rewatch of the Austin Powers trilogy, keep an eye on the background characters. The "Mole" scene is the most famous example of how the franchise uses "throwaway" characters to steal the show.
Next time you watch Goldmember, try to spot these three things in that specific scene:
- The Break: Look for the split second where Beyoncé starts to smile because Mike Myers is going off-script.
- The Hair: Notice how the hairs on the mole actually move when Fred Savage talks—it’s a gross level of detail.
- The Irony: Listen to the dialogue where Number Three mentions he "is a mole" and "no one would make that connection." It's the only smart joke in a scene full of dumb ones.
If you want to dive deeper into the world of 2000s comedies, check out the behind-the-scenes features on the Goldmember DVD. They actually show the prosthetic application process, and it's surprisingly intense for a joke about a face bump.