Mike Myers Recalls How Shrek was Pitched to Him at Saving Private Ryan Premiere
recently shared how he first received the pitch for at the premiere of Saving Private Ryan.
In a career retrospective interview with Vulture, Myers spoke about the iconic characters in his career. One of those characters is Shrek, the green, foul-mouthed ogre who first appeared in 2001’s Shrek. The first time Myers heard about Shrek came at an awkward time during a screening of a famous World War II movie.
“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, and I was shell-shocked, and then they’re doing the dance, and I was like, ‘Yeah, that’s great. (READ A ROOM.)'”
Katzenberg then got around to pitching Shrek, which garnered a hilarious response from Myers.
“And then he said, ‘Mike, would you ever do an animated movie?’ and I go, ‘Sure.’ And he goes, ‘Well, we have an animated movie. It’s called Shrek.’ And I go, ‘Well, that’s the worst f—ing title I’ve ever heard in my life,'” Myers added. “It’s the sound you make after drinking too many Molson Canadians. ‘Agh! Shreck!’ So he said, ‘Just come down and see it.’ So I saw it, and I liked that it turned fairy tales on its head. I thought that was really, really smart.”
Myers’ decision to voice Shrek paid off, as it spawned some of the biggest hits of his career. Released in 2001, Shrek grossed over $492 million and won the first Oscar for Best Animated Feature. With a worldwide haul of over $4 billion between four films and two spin-offs, Shrek is the second highest-grossing animated franchise of all time, behind Despicable Me.
Myers will reprise the voice of his hilarious ogre for Shrek 5 in theaters on July 1, 2026.
(Source: Vulture)
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