After twenty years of Shrek, the cast has mostly moved on. While 2010's Shrek Forever After seemed to be the final chapter in the animated series, there has been continuous talk about a fifth project or revamp. And this project appears to have the original stars set to return to voice their beloved characters. Because the truth is, there would be no Shrek without the likes of Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, Antonio Banderas, and, of course, Mike Myers.
Funnily enough, Mike wasn't the original voice for Shrek, nor was Mike's now-famous Scottish accent. But nowadays, Mike is downright synonymous with all things Shrek. So, that begs the question... does he actually like it?
A Great Cast And A Love Of Fairytales Made Mike Say 'Yes' To Shrek
It wasn't money that made Mike do Shrek, at least not at first. According to Empire, Mike was paid an average amount for his voice-over work for the first film as the studio had little faith in the project. This is until Mike convinced the production to re-record all of his lines in a Scottish accent instead of his Canadian one. After this, the studio had grown a faith in him and the project and handed him over some major coinage that only increased for the sequels.
According to an interview by Cinema after the release of the very first Shrek movie in 2001, Mike decided to take the job because of Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, and John Lithgow.
"When they told me [they were in it] I told them right away, I'm in," Mike Myers said to Cinema in 2001."And I loved the whole idea behind the story, which is that you're beautiful, so don't let other people tell you that you're not just because you don't look like the people in magazines. Or because you're not that weird ideal body image that's out there right now."
On top of this, a love for animated stories and fairy tales propelled Mike to take a job that was originally designed for the late Chris Farley.
"I have very happy memories of fairy tales. My mother used to take me to the library in Toronto to check out the fairy tales. And she was an actress, so she used to act out for me the different characters in all these fairy tales. And then my mother would change stuff. Like because she's from Liverpool, Babar the elephant would be from Liverpool too. So I have all these great memories and associations with those stories. And I thought, when I have kids, that's the sort of well told, silly, and fun fairy tale that I would want to take them to. But it was an amazing experience. And I think Shrek is a real classic, a fairy tale classic."
Mike Connected Deeply With Shrek
Of course, the Shrek movies, merchandising, and all of the attention that went with it increased Mike's net worth and reputation substantially since his Austin Powers days. But it appears as though he has a fairly deep connection with the character.
During an interview with Peter Travers in 2010 for Shrek Forever After, the perceived final Shrek movie, Mike appeared genuinely moved by the whole experience as well as adores the fact that so many kids have also connected with his work.
Additionally, in his 2001 interview with Cinema, he explained that the whole experience of playing Shrek has opened his eyes to how important the message of the movie is for kids.
"They like made Shrek into this person that isn't me, but that is kind of me. Shrek is this big, green, disgusting, and oafish character. So I guess that's why they cast me! But they've made me into a storybook character that is so three-dimensional. They've done a really great job, I've never seen anything like it before. It was a completely new experience for me. Shrek lives by himself in a swamp, and he's sort of sick and tired of people pre-judging who he is and what he's like, just because he's an ogre. They think he's like automatically going to eat them, or poke them with sticks and stuff. And he's just like an ordinary guy, he just wants to have fun, and hang out."
"Then one day Lord Farquaad, that's John Lithgow, he sends all these fairy tale characters off to Shrek's swamp. And Shrek is like, get out of my swamp. He goes to Lord Farquard who tells him, I'll get all the people out of your swamp, if you go and find this princess Fiona who I want for my bride. That's Cameron Diaz. So Shrek says fine. He goes with his friend, Donkey, played by Eddie Murphy, and they rescue Fiona from a tower and bring her back. But in the meantime Shrek and the princess fall in love. And Shrek feels that the princess could never be in love with an ogre. Then he goes from feeling bad about being an ogre, to being proud of who he is. And that's a great message for kids."