Goldmember: Who He Is, Who Plays Him and What Happens to Him

Goldmember is a Dutch criminal with a fixation on gold, and he is the title villain of the third film in the saga, Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002), directed by Jay Roach. The actor behind him is Mike Myers, who is credited in that film as Austin Powers, Dr. Evil, Goldmember and Fat Bastard, so one performer carries four of its biggest comic roles. If you are asking who the actors are in the movie, Myers leads the billing, followed by Beyoncé as Foxxy Cleopatra, Seth Green as Scott Evil, Michael York as Basil Exposition, Robert Wagner as Number Two, Mindy Sterling as Frau Farbissina, Verne Troyer as Mini-Me and Michael Caine as Nigel Powers.

The film is set in 2002, with a large stretch in 1975, and the gold obsessed villain belongs to the 1975 half. Dr. Evil plans to travel back to that year and join forces with him so they can pull a meteor toward Earth with a tractor beam. Because he is new to the third film, you can follow the Austin Powers movies in order and meet him fresh.

Who was he based on? No sourced account names a real person as the model for the character. What is documented is that the title drew an objection from MGM and Danjaq, the companies behind the 007 series, before the release, and that the matter was later settled. That fits a saga that parodies the spy genre. For the bigger picture, see the Austin Powers Bond parody page and the real series at James Bond.

The character is defined by his partnership with Dr. Evil and by his kidnapping of Nigel Powers. His main ally is Dr. Evil, who travels to 1975 to enlist him, and the pair share the meteor plan. Both are played by Mike Myers, so the film's central villain team is one actor in two costumes.

His most important target is Nigel Powers, Austin's father, played by Michael Caine. The kidnapping drives Austin Powers back to 1975 and then on to Tokyo. In 1975 Austin partners with Foxxy Cleopatra, played by Beyoncé, and she later joins him and Mini-Me in sneaking onto Dr. Evil's submarine.

The henchmen and family around the villains matter as well. Mini-Me leaves Dr. Evil's side to help Austin, and Scott Evil turns violently on one of his father's associates. Fat Bastard is the other Myers creation in the film. The Austin Powers characters page lists the rest of the ensemble, and the Austin Powers cast page gives the full billing.

In my opinion, the strongest moment is the reveal that he is behind Nigel's kidnapping, because it comes from Dr. Evil in custody and turns a villain who was already beaten into the person Austin must now chase. It is a small structural trick, and it keeps the second act moving.

The Tokyo chase comes next. Moving the tractor beam's command unit gives the film a clear objective, and it is where Mini-Me changes sides and Scott acts against his father's circle. Compared with the Moon base finale of The Spy Who Shagged Me, the third film's finale is more about family than gadgetry, since the beam is reversed by Austin and Doug working together.

Third is the 1975 setting itself. Placing him in a different decade from Dr. Evil's 2002 starting point gives the film its time travel spine, much as the first film pitted 1967 against 1997. It could be argued that the Austinpussy ending is the cleverest touch, since it lets the film wink at the Bond series by turning its own story into a movie. Perhaps the oddest scene is the credits one, where Mini-Me talks with Britney Spears.

If you want one place to start, watch the third film for the 1975 section and the Tokyo run, then go back through the Austin Powers movies in order to see how the series reached it.