Interview with the Shrek Cast:
The Final Forever After
by Lynn Barker
 Although we'll keep Shrek, Princess Fiona, Puss N' Boots and Donkey in our hearts happily ever after, this week, the last Shrek film hits theaters, this time in 3-D. We know you probably grew up with these films and we thought you'd like to know how the voice actors Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, Eddie Murphy and Antonio Banderas feel about this emotional last chapter in the Shrek saga.
Everyone agreed that Puss 'N Boots, despite his new chubby look, is still very adorable and hot and Antonio is thrilled that his cat will continue in his own films and there will be more holiday specials no doubt but for now this new tale of what might have happened if Shrek had never rescued Fiona from her tower, will have to suffice. In Shrek Forever After, Fiona is a hot Warrior Princess leading a rebellion against the new government now run by horrible Rumpelstiltskin who wants to kill all ogres, Donkey is a true beast of burden, Puss is a fat, retired house cat and Shrek is just a regular ogre with no wife and family. Yikes!
AGW: Cameron, this film goes back to the emotional roots of the first Shrek, right?
Cameron: Yeah. Since you get to see true love happen all over again, for the first time between Shrek and Fiona as they get to find one another, that's your favorite moment from the first movie and you get to experience all over again. We get to take the journey with them of finding that love again. You open up on the two of them sort of in the routine of a life that they've taken for granted, or Shrek has for sure, and then we get to see him journey back through trying to regain and find his true love. And that, ultimately, is just a beautiful, lovely story and you get to fall in love with Shrek and Fiona all over again.
AGW: So, Cameron and Mike, with Shrek and Fiona starting over again from scratch, was that challenging for you as actors to make that fresh since we have seen them as a couple and with kids?
Mike: Well, the writing's so great and all filmmakers are so committed to just being excellent that you're just kind of...
Cameron: Following the script?
Mike: Well, there's that. But, it's kind of like a Lamaze birth going back into the (world of Shrek) every time.
Cameron: I agree. It's well-structured and clear as to what the two of them are going through. The animators are great actors. They're really the actors, the animators who put the looks in our eyes and the chemistry between us.
AGW: Antonio it seems like you are having so much fun doing the voice for Puss in Boots. Looking back, were you surprised to be involved and that it was such a success over the years?
Antonio: It was unexpected because I came to this country without speaking the language. The fact that they called me just for the use of my voice is very, very surprising, actually. Fun every time, but I like being in the recording room. I remember when we opened in the Cannes Film Festival and (the audience) interrupted the movie with applause 12 times. It was kind of startling to me and beautiful, at moments. It had emotion all around it, the whole entire time.
AGW: If this is, indeed the final film, are you sad to see Puss go or isn't he spinning off into his own movie?
Antonio: Well, it's sad on one side, but very satisfying because I think through four movies with Shrek, actually, sometimes even playing against pop culture became pop culture itself. I was in New York this year watching the Thanksgiving parade and there it was, Shrek, abig balloon person with two legs. We ended up behind Mickey Mouse, who is part of pop culture right now. It was beautiful. That's what he's done in these 10 years of work. So, it's sad on one side.
 On the other side, yes, the cat's going to continue now on its own, and I hope, it goes well. What we're doing so far doesn't involve the same plot or process as Shrek. It goes with a different energy. It takes more from the set that we're on, kind of, like Sergio Leone movies. (Mike whistles the theme). It's a lot of fun, too, but it's in a different context.
AGW: Mike, looking back on all the years of the Shrek films, what's been one of your favorite moments of the past ten years?
Mike: I think, when Jeffrey (Katzenberg) said, 'Would you like to be in a animated movie?' I said, 'Yes,' and he said it was called, Shrek and I said, 'That's the worst title I've ever heard in my life.' And I didn't know what it was gonna be. The first time I saw it with an audience and the line, 'But you are beautiful to me' got a gasp, (I knew that) people were so into the whole romance and the whole heart of it that I was just blown away that an animated movie could move people. And that it was something that people would be invested in, emotionally. And I think that's been the most satisfying thing to me.
AGW: Eddie, why have the Shrek films been so successful do you think?
Eddie: I think it's really funny and very well made. I really do think it's that simple. It's really well made and it's very funny and it's smart and those are the reasons. Those things add up to hits sometimes.
AGW: Cameron, what if this isn't the end? Would you come back to do another Shrek ten years from now?
Cameron: It's like if somebody asked me, 'Are you gonna do Charlie's Angels 10 years from now?' I'd go,' What?!' It's a little bit different fitting in those pants from ten years ago, but Shrek, of course. We'd get to go back to whatever they will be doing ten years from now. And hopefully we won't have to wait that long.
AGW: Fiona is very empowered in this film. She's a leader and warrior and is kicking butt. Do you feel that being a wife and mom in her life with Shrek is a little less great for her?
Cameron: You know, for me Fiona's always been a warrior. I've always seen her as that. She's been a warrior of love through all these films. It's what she's worked for, what she's fought for; the love that she has for herself and the love that she has for Shrek and her family and her friends. So, she's always been a warrior. It's just in a different tone for this film and her responsibilities are a little bit more obvious as far as the Resistance. But, she's always been a warrior to me. And I think that is her nature and it has given her all the things in her life that she values.
AGW: Is there anything any of you would like to have a "do-over" on? A day or experience you would change?
Cameron: Well, if I had known that Fiona's parents both had British accents when I first did this, that it was Julie Andrews and John Cleese, I might have (used a British accent) because when I first started the movie, when I did my voice I didn't know who was playing my parents. So, it was like 'Wait a second! How come I sound like I'm from California?'
AGW: This is the first Shrek in 3-D. Did any of you notice any physical details about your character that you hadn't seen before?
Cameron: The abundance of the weight that Puss in Boots carries in this movie in all his glory.
Mike: Even though he's a fat cat, he still manages to be [hot].
Antonio (big grin) Thank you!
AGW: Antonio, what was your reaction when you saw Puss ‘n’ Boots in this movie? He's quite rotund!
Antonio: It was almost freaky, because they record you with a camera when you are doing the cat. There are certain things you see of yourself in there and you don’t know how the hell these guys put that together in that way, it was unbelievable but, rotund? What shocked me was actually that the character had kept that capacity of comedy, I didn’t expect that, it was surprising.
AGW: Mike, in the film, Shrek is tired of being the town hero, the tourist attraction basically. Is there a parallel in your own life?
 Mike: I do now live in a swamp. I like my privacy. But, I love being part of this (doing press for Shrek) When I’m not doing stuff, I like to go away. I enjoy being just a person a great deal.
AGW: Do you think being a Canadian helps you with that just "being a person" stuff?
Mike: It's hard to be super full of yourself in Canada. If there was a motto of Canada it would be, 'Who do you think you are, eh?' (laughter) and I think it's very good training to just be a person, growing up in Canada. People say a lot of things about Canada, that it's boring and stuff, but if you look around the world I would praise boring. I think it's a very civilized place to grow up.
AGW: We see love and light and happiness in the film as being very important. Shrek and Fiona's love is what matters. What do you guys love a lot?
Mike: I love New York City. I love that I get to live there. I love everything about it.
I'm in love with New York City.
Cameron: I'm in love with life. I think it's pretty awesome when you're engaged in it. And I love my family and my friends and that's the wealth of my life; my friends and family and the experience that I get to share with them. And it puts a smile on my face and in my heart.
Eddie: (being silly) I feel the same way you feel. I just love everything. I just love everyone. And I love love. Does anybody not love love?
Antonio: I would tell you that today, especially; I love the fact that I have been married (to actress Melanie Griffith) for 14 years (we congratulate him).
Eddie: But really, what Cameron said is true. I think everybody loves being with their family and loves being around people that make you feel good. All those things you said hit it right on for me.
AGW: Eddie, Donkey has a lot of songs in this film. Do you approach his voice differently when he's singing than when you are just doing his dialogue?
Eddie: I did a Christmas Carol for the DVD special (coming up) and it's pretty much the same, the singing and the voice over. We do it during the same session and it's using the same (acting) muscle I guess.
AGW: Shrek gets to re-live part of his life even it was quite different this time around. What would be your dream day, if you could relive one?
Mike: When I was a kid in Toronto, you have your nose against the window looking South into show business, 'showbiznia', the United States, and I feel like every day I get to do what I do is a dream day. It's an amazing thing. I think all of us here are incredibly grateful and blown away at how well it's gone (for us) to be honest. This (work) is a constant dream day.
AGW: Is this more a film for adults or kids?
 Mike: I think Shrek is a little bit like Flintstones vitamins. You're eating Barney and Dino and you don't need to know it's good for you. It's has built-in vitamins in the message. But, the delivery system is very enjoyable.
Cameron: It think it's for adults and children. I think you're never too old or young to learn these lessons. I think that's been the case through all the Shreks and why they've been so successful. They're not just speaking to one audience. Anyone who watches it can walk away understanding exactly what Shrek and Fiona are going through relevant to their own life.
Antonio: It's about the balance of both things. There are obviously references to things that they have to do with people of our age that are right there in the movie. I'm telling you that because I saw Shrek first when I was not part of it and I love that type of thing. The first time I saw it, I was with my baby and she took the whole, entire story in an totally different way. She just loved the adventure, the plot of the story but I could pick from there, things that were launched directly at me and I think we kept going in that direction all through the four movies all the time.
AGW: Many kids recognize the voices you do. Do you often get begged by kids to do the voices? Do they realize that you do the voices?
Antonio: It's very weird. I remember a woman came to me once in a supermarket with a little kid like five years old and she said to him 'look! Look! This is Puss 'n Boots. Can you do the voice?' And the kid just looked at me and looked at his mother and said 'that isn't Puss 'n Boots, mom. That's Zorro!' (laughter). So what do you do in that circumstance? You don't know what to do with the kid. What voice do I (do) for him? It's weird. What about you, Eddie?
Eddie: I've had people come up and do lines from the movie to me. They don't really ask me to do (the Donkey voice). The only time I do that voice of Donkey is I can do a shadow puppet of the Donkey. So, if I'm watching movies at home on the screen, and the movie's not good, I'll have the Donkey come up and do commentary. (Everyone says "do it!". Eddie gets up and finds a light that will throw the shadow and, darned if it doesn't look just like Donkey!)
Mike: Oh, that's great!
Cameron: There you go. There it is!
Eddie (doing the shadow puppet) He'd be like (in Donkey voice) 'this movie ain't [good]! I wanna watch Shrek.' I'm the master in the home theater. Sometimes I'll take the Shrek ears, the little green ones and I'll have this shadow of Donkey and Shrek. I've had some wild times in the house.
Cameron: That's great! For me, I've had parents come up to me, 'You know who this is? This is Princess Fiona' and kids are like in tears. I try to stop them before they tell them because, as a kid, you believe the characters you are watching and you fall in love with them. You want to believe they're real. You don't want to believe that there's a human being behind it. Same way you want to believe in Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny. You don't want that myth to be ruined and dispelled. I'm always like 'please don't tell them. Let Fiona exist as Fiona'.
Mike: I've called kids that have the measles or are sick and I'm always stuck by how incredibly accepting they are that Shrek is calling them. It's like 'ah, Shrek, good. Anyways, here's my idea'. I'm like 'isn't this a little bit extraordinary?' That's the part that always kills me. It's like 'Can you put the Tooth Fairy on now?' (In his Shrek voice) 'Yeah. I'll go get the Tooth Fairy'.
AGW: If you had a day to yourselves, what would you do?
Mike: It's crazy. It's like being on the sun up here. It's so bright. So I would want to be somewhere cool and dark, but if I had a day to do anything I wanted, I would sleep all day.
Cameron: That's a good answer.
Mike: But, if I had a day to live over again? The day that I got called by (TV producer) Lorne Michaels to be on 'Saturday Night Live' was a great day and I remember just being like 'Wooooo! This is craziness'. That was just a magical, out of the blue call that I just couldn't believe.
 Cameron: Lately I've been thinking about this day that I was on the back of an elephant in Nepal riding bareback towards the sun in full gallop with bare feet and a tank top on. It was a pretty awesome moment. I wouldn't mind going back there. That was pretty liberating, pretty freeing.
Mike: Can I change mine? My day sucked! That's a better day than mine.
Cameron: No, I'll bet it was fun to have Lorne call you and say....
Mike: I was on an elephant when he called.
Eddie: I've had some pretty good days. I don't know if I've had that one day yet where I'm like 'You know, this is the day. I haven't had that this is THE day moment. A lot of good times, a lot of good days but not THE day yet...sorry. I'll call you when I have that day.
Antonio: We've all had beautiful days but probably the day that I would like to have is the one I didn't have yet, the one that is still to come.
Eddie: That's what I said but without the accent.
Cameron: I think we should all just give that answer.
AGW: Eddie, we talk to actors about getting in touch with their characters so could you channel your inner Donkey and tell me how similar you two really are?
Eddie: I'd feel creepy if I started doing that. Ask me an easier question.
Antonio: Eddie, do your Donkey for us.
AGW: If it's easy for you to find him, how do you do that?
Eddie: I just do him. Whenever I'm on camera or on mic doing anything, I don't have any process, I just do it and when I'm finished, it goes away. There's no process. I wish there was some technique to it but I just turn it on and off, then I go home. (I do that) with everything, even this. When this is over, I just be gone! (laughter).
AGW: Has anyone seen the foreign version of the film; seen your characters speaking foreign languages?
Cameron: I've seen like the first three minutes of Taiwanese, Japanese, Chinese, German but only the first three minutes because you go in for the premiere and stay for the first three minutes and then you leave because you have to get to the next country and the next country where you'll hear it for three minutes.
AGW: Antonio, have you seen the Spanish version?
Antonio: Yeah I've seen it because I have to do it. I do the Spanish, two different versions actually, Castilian version for Spain and another version for Latin America and then I do the Italian version too.
Mike: I do the Canadian version. Remarkably like the American one.
pictures
courtesy of and copyright DreamWorks Animation, 2010 |
