\nCelebrating diversity should be a cornerstone of our society, as it is the unique qualities and differences among us that enrich the world. Unfortunately, this is not always the reality. Human nature often leads to the mistreatment of those who deviate from perceived norms, causing pain and division instead of acceptance. It’s a societal flaw that needs addressing, but change may take considerable time.\n
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Verne was born in Sturgis, Michigan, on January 1, 1969, where he grew up with his parents. He is best remembered for his iconic role as Mini-Me in the Austin Powers film series, showcasing how embracing one’s uniqueness can lead to success and acclaim.\n
Growing up, Verne did what every other child does and he didn\u2019t consider himself different, but when the time came for him to attend high-school he started thinking about his height, especially because his parents, and everyone else in the family, was of average size.\n
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Thankfully, his parents were there to teach him to love himself the way he was. They assured him that no matter his height, he could do anything he would put his mind into and that helped him a lot with his self-confidence.\n
\u201cI never got much trouble off other kids either, although there was one incident in third grade where a kid who was much taller than me called me the M-word [midget], which is very offensive. So without even thinking, I just jumped in the air and punched him in the nose. He never bothered me again,\u201d Troyer recalled, adding that he was told off whenever he did something wrong.\n \u201cMy parents were strict on discipline \u2013 if we did something wrong, we got the belt. I certainly learned right from wrong more quickly because of it. I get that it\u2019s a controversial issue nowadays and I don\u2019t necessarily agree with it \u2013 it\u2019s just how it was back then.\u201d\n The producers of the film Baby\u2019s Day Out were looking for a new stand-in stuntman but had a hard time finding one so when Verne\u2019s friend, the president of Little People of America (LPA), got a call from Hollywood, he knew Verne could be perfect for the job.\n \u201cThey were wondering if there was anyone close to a stand-in size, I guess they searched worldwide and couldn\u2019t find anyone. I sent in my picture, and they flew me out to Hollywood to meet with them. Two days later, they offered me the job, and I quit my job at Sprint,\u201d the actor said. After landing some minor roles, Verne was cast for the iconic role of Mini-Me in Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me. As we all know, he also appeared in the next movie, Austin Powers: Goldmember. His signature move of putting his pinky to the corner of his mouth became iconic.\n \u201cI\u2019m not a very confident person, but I grew up with parents who\u2019ve given me the optimism that whatever you put your mind to, you can do, and hopefully I show that to other people,\u201d he said\n In the film, his character was supposed to die, but fans loved to see more of him so Mike Myers needed to rewrite the script and keep Verne\u2019s character alive. \u201cIn the beginning, Mini-Me character wasn\u2019t in the film that much,\u201d he said. \u201cOnce we started rehearsal, Mike kept adding more parts and more parts and more parts,\u201d he added. \u201cWorking with Mike was great. He improv\u2019d a lot. It just kept you on your toes.\u201d\n Mike Myers later said: \u201cAs written, Mini-Me is like almost a prop, but he brought it up off the page, made it better than written, and we ended up giving him more and more stuff to do.\u201d\n As his career advanced, his personal life suffered. Namely, Verne started drinking a lot and even experienced mental issues in the early 2000. He married model Genevieve Gallen in 2014 but their marriage was short lived. In 2017, the actor spoke openly of his addiction and said he was willing to brake his bad habits and even go to rehab.\n \u201cWhile it\u2019s not always been an easy fight, I\u2019m willing to continue my fight day by day,\u201d he said at the time.\n \u201cI\u2019ve been receiving treatment for the last week, and I am voluntarily checking into a treatment center later this week to continue to get the help that I need.\u201d\n \u201cIt is with great sadness and incredibly heavy hearts to write that Verne passed away today. Verne was an extremely caring individual. He wanted to make everyone smile, be happy, and laugh. Anybody in need, he would help to any extent possible,\u201d his family said.\n Shortly after his passing, it was revealed that Verne Troyer took his own life.\n \u201cOver the years he\u2019s struggled and won, struggled and won, struggled and fought some more, but unfortunately this time was too much,\u201d the statement read. \u201cDepression and [taking your own life] are very serious issues. You never know what kind of battle someone is going through inside. Be kind to one another. And always know, it\u2019s never too late to reach out to someone for help.\u201d\n During an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel, Mike Mayers said of his dear friend, \u201cHe died at 49. He wasn\u2019t supposed to live past his teens. You saw 150 years worth of life in this photo montage.\n \u201cVerne brought so much love to people. Every day you see him, you go \u2018Wow! That is a small human.\u2019 But by the end of the day, you just saw Verne. It just sort of went away\u2026.He was part of the cast and fantastic. I miss him.\u201d\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Celebrating diversity should be a cornerstone of our society, as it is the unique qualities and differences among us that enrich the world. Unfortunately, this is not always the reality. Human nature often leads to the mistreatment of those who deviate from perceived norms, causing pain and division instead of acceptance. It’s a societal flaw\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":76180,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[670],"tags":[693],"class_list":{"0":"post-76176","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-news"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/inovatestory.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Screen-Shot-2024-05-08-at-16.08.42.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inovatestory.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76176","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inovatestory.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inovatestory.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inovatestory.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inovatestory.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76176"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inovatestory.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76176\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inovatestory.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76180"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inovatestory.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76176"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inovatestory.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76176"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inovatestory.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Until he was 21, Verne led an ordinary life and worked as a telephone company operator in Texas but one day in 1993 would change his life forever.\n
\nBecoming a celebrity helped Verne fight against the stereotype about little people and he was very proud of that.\n
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\n\u201cWhen they did a test screening, Mini-Me died at the end. We had to go back and reshoot that because the crowd was upset that Mini-Me was no longer there,\u201d he recalled to Oprah.\n
\nSadly, on April 21, 2018, Verne passed away. He was 49.\n
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