Lauded as one of the greatest animated films of all time and a trailblazing blockbuster triumph, the 2001 fantasy comedy Shrek featured an all-star cast of Hollywood greats led by Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, and Cameron Diaz, and famously told the story of a grumpy, anti-social ogre who goes on an epic journey with a fast-talking donkey to rescue a captive princess who harbors a shocking secret. The beloved DreamWorks picture was unsurprisingly a knockout at the box office, grossing over $492 million worldwide and effectively launching an enduring, fan-favorite franchise.
Shrek
- Release Date
- May 18, 2001
Not only did Shrek dominate movie theaters all across the globe, but it won the first Academy Award for Best Animated Feature as well as a whipping eight Annie Awards, while also further establishing its dazzling ensemble cast as some of Tinseltown's most buzzed-about performers.
With the recent news that Shrek 5 is currently in the works with the main trio set to reprise their respective roles, let's take a look at how different the franchise could have been had these 6 actors appeared in the animated flick instead.
6 Bill Murray
Despite making its dazzling debut in the summer of 2001, the screenplay for Shrek began to circulate back in 1995, with Steven Spielberg at one point being attached to direct the adaptation of the William Steig children's book. The legendary filmmaker was previously interested in making a traditionally animated movie based on the unforgettable character, first expressing his desire in 1991 after buying the rights to the story and shortly before his co-creation of DreamWorks Pictures.
A Potential Spielberg & Murray Collaboration
During the early days of the casting process, Spielberg had envisioned comedian extraordinaire Bill Murray to voice the cantankerous Shrek, as the funny man would have brought his unique brand of humor and signature deadpan delivery to the famous green ogre.
Murray would have likely done a knockout job as the character, as Shrek co-director Andrew Adamson wanted to create a film that would appeal to both children and adults and made sure to add more risqué jokes for the older demographic. Though the role eventually went to Mike Myers, there's no denying that Murray would have been a delight to see in the animated flick.
5 Steve Martin
The other-half of Steven Spielberg's envisioned comedy duo to portray Donkey alongside Bill Murray's Shrek was none other than the great Steve Martin, who at the time was riding high on the massive success of his films L.A. Story and Father of the Bride.
Before Spielberg passed the rights to the animated comedy on to the DreamWorks team and co-founder Jeffrey Katzenberg, he pushed for Murray and Martin to star as the bickering oddball pair, and it's easy to see how their chemistry would have been a major hit.
A Murray & Martin Pairing
It is quite apparent that Mike Myers and Eddie Murphy made for a sensational Hollywood dream team and their on-screen camaraderie and effortless chemistry helped make Shrek the fan-favorite franchise it has become, yet it's also not a stretch to imagine the characters being portrayed by Murray and Martin.
The latter comedian brings charm and undeniable appeal to every role he takes on, and his version of Donkey would have no doubt been quite different than Murphy's, but memorable and charismatic nonetheless.
4 Janeane Garofalo
Before the bubbly and vivacious Cameron Diaz signed on to voice the fierce heroine Princess Fiona, the studio opted to go another direction and have the character be portrayed by the edgy, self-deprecating stand-up comedian Janeane Garofalo.
The actress was set to star alongside Chris Farley's Shrek in the big screen adaptation, with film historian Jim Hill expressing that the filmmakers hired Garofalo because of her "abrasive, sarcastic comic persona" and to serve as a foil against Farley's optimistic and upbeat Shrek.
Garofalo's Shocking Dismissal
Though Garofalo would go on to claim that she was fired from the project without explanation, it is widely believed that the actress was replaced after the tragic passing of Farley and his subsequent replacement by Mike Myers, believing that she was "too downbeat" for the animated movie's lighter tone.
Diaz was then ultimately hired as her replacement and she gave Princess Fiona a sweeter spin, while Shrek was re-tooled to be the pessimistic character audiences know and love. Garofalo remains adament that she was never given a reason for her dismissal, revealing in a 2007 interview with Film.com:
"I was never told why [I was fired]. I assume because I sound like a man sometimes? I don't know why. Nobody told me ... But, you know, the movie didn't do anything, so who cares?"
3 Chris Farley
Beloved comedy legend and Saturday Night Live superstar Chris Farleywas one of Hollywood's most dazzling personalities, having starred in a colorful array of lively flicks during his short life such as Tommy Boy, Black Sheep, and Beverly Hills Ninja.
Farley was continuing his silver screen takeover when he was cast as a more lovable and upbeat version of Shrek, having recorded nearly all of his dialogue for the animated picture when he heartbreakingly passed away on December 18, 1997 at just 33-years-old.
Farley's Lovable & Bumbling Portrayal
It was reported that nearly 85-95% of Farley's dialogue as the jolly green ogre was completed and that he only had five days left of voice work, but he died before he could fully finish the project. When Farley's brother John was approached to finish his brother's lines, he ultimately refused and DreamWorks even debated having a Farley impersonator step in before opting to go with Mike Myers.
Fans curious to see and hear Farley's version of the celebrated character are in luck, as an official story reel and animation sample was released by the studio in both 2015 and 2022.
John would go on to express his regret in not finishing the film for Chris, admitting that it was just too much to handle in the days following the comedian's devastating death. According to Farley's other brother Kevin, Chris' version of Shrek was very much like the lovable performer himself, with Kevin revealing in 2015 ahead of the release of the documentary I Am Chris Farley:
"Originally the Shrek character was a little bit more like Chris, like a humble, bumbling innocent guy. The studio needed to do what they needed to do. It was a bad time, bad timing… a tragedy. Mike did a great job with
Shrek
. He knocked it out of the park.”
2 Nicolas Cage (Shrek)
Perhaps the strangest and most unexpected actor who almost starred in Shrek was acting chameleon Nicolas Cage, who was approached by the studio to voice the eponymous character after big names like Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Cruise were initially considered by DreamWorks.
Jeffrey Katzenberg opted to go a different route and instead offered Cage the lead role, who surprisingly ended up turning down the lucrative pay-day because "I just didn't want to look like an ogre" and that he worried how children would view him.
Cage Stands By His Decision
At the time of the animated film's production, Cage had recently took home an Academy Award for his phenomenal work in Leaving Las Vegas and he had show time-and-time again his fearlessness to tackling any role, which is why his decision to pass on Shrek was a real head-scratcher.
It seems as though the dynamic actor doesn't regret sticking to his guns and turning down the blockbuster franchise, as he would go on to voice family patriarch Grug in The Croods and connect more with the character. He told Today in 2013:
"Well, the news said it was because of vanity. I think that's a bit strong. But the truth is, I'm not afraid to be ugly in a movie... When you're drawn, in a way it says more about how children are going to see you than anything else, and I so care about that. I want kids to look at Grug (and think) 'well, he's a little scary, but he's a big teddy bear. And I wasn't sure I could do that with Shrek."
1 Linda Hunt
A potential character who ended up being scrapped from the finished product of the side-splitting classic Shrek was a witch named Dama Fortuna, who would have been voiced by NCIS: Los Angeles star Linda Hunt. Dama Fortuna would have appeared in the sequence entitled "Fiona's Prologue," which would have detailed Princess Fiona's backstory and how she came to be locked away, with early drafts making the feisty heroine be born an ogre and imprisoned by her human parents.
A Negative Audience Reaction
Dama Fortuna would have been an elderly gipsy-esque fortune teller and witch who Fiona would have turned to for help after escaping her confinements, providing the princess with a potion that would allow her to become human by day and an ogre by night until she was saved by true love's kiss.
The character and prologue was eventually discarded by the studio after test audiences declared it far too depressing, and she was ultimately resurrected and re-tooled for Shrek 2 as Fairy Godmother, a role that was winningly portrayed by Jennifer Saunders.
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