Yahoo Lifestyle Mike Myers Got Pitched ‘Shrek’ While Crying as He Walked Out of ‘Saving Private Ryan’ Premiere; His First Reaction: ‘That’s the Worst F—ing Title Ever’
Mike Myers recently joined Vulture for a career-spanning interview in which he hilariously recounted how he was first pitched “Shrek” immediately after walking out of the the world premiere screening of Steven Spielberg’s “Saving Private Ryan.” But that didn’t stop DreamWorks co-founder Jeffrey Katzenberg from pitching him the chance to voice a a big green ogre.
“I went to the premiere of ‘Saving Private Ryan,’ and Jeffrey Katzenberg comes up to me afterward in the lobby and brings his daughters, who then do the dance sequence from ‘Austin Powers,'” Myers said. “This was after such a heavy movie, and I was in tears because my parents were in World War II. I was shell-shocked and then they’re doing the dance, and I was like, ‘Yeah, that’s great. Read a room!'”
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Katzenberg asked Myers if he would ever consider doing an animated movie, to which Myers said, “Sure.” But when Katzenberg said he was developing a movie called “Shrek,” the actor responded: “Well, that’s the worst fucking title I’ve ever heard in my life.”
“It’s the sound you make after drinking too many Molson Canadians. ‘Agh! Shreck!’ So he said, ‘Just come down and see it,'” Myers said. “So I saw it and I liked that it turned fairy tales on its head. I thought that was really, really smart. The fairy tale is a Eurocentric form, dealing with class, right? To say, ‘Yes, we know it’s Eurocentric but it can be more inventive and inclusive. And to have an African American voice in Donkey in it, I thought it was brilliant.”
It’s well known by now that Myers first used a Canadian accent as the voice of Shrek before second guessing the decision and deciding to pivot to a Scottish accent instead. He told Vulture there was initial pushback to asking for an accent change, as Katzenberg argued the production would need to spend “so much money to reanimate” scenes to fit the Scottish accent.
“And I was like, ‘Jeffrey, I know you haven’t spent that much money,'” Myers said. “So I called Steven Spielberg, who’s part of the thing, and I said, ‘Steven, I want this to be good. I love the theme of “You are beautiful to me.” Because, listen, I’ve never traded on my looks. I’m a comedy actor, I’m not like Rob Lowe.'”
Spielberg aligned with Katzenberg and said, “It’s gonna cost millions” if the accent is switched, to which Myers responded: “I’m not getting paid more to do this. Let’s do it.”
“We did it, and later on, I got a letter from Steven Spielberg saying, ‘Thank you so much for caring.’ It’s framed in my house,” Myers recalled. “He said, ‘You were absolutely right. You were 100 percent more connected to it.’ And Jeffrey came to like it, which is fine. Now here we are.”
Myers is returning as Shrek in an upcoming fifth installment of the franchise, which will also see the returns of Eddie Murphy as Donkey and Cameron Diaz as Princess Fiona. He confirmed in the interview that he has started voice work on “Shrek 5,” but he doesn’t get to work directly with his co-stars until later.
“I want Donkey to live in my house,” Myers said. “I love that character, and I kind of enjoy not seeing Eddie, although he’s hilarious and lovely and very nice, a generous human being. I love Donkey so much that seeing and hearing him gets me excited. Then I see Eddie at the press junkets and stuff, and it’s fun. He’s a cool dude. Cooler than I’ll ever be.”
“Shrek 5” is set for release on July 1, 2026. Head over to Vulture’s website to read Myers’ full interview in its entirety.
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