Everyone’s favorite green ogre is back. This time around, Shrek (Mike Myers) finds himself in charge of Far, Far Away while his father-in-law, King Harold is ill. After a series of clumsy mishaps, he soon learns he does not want the responsibility of being king and will do just about anything to get out of his royal duties.
But, that’s not all Shrek doesn’t want to be accountable for in Dreamworks Animation’s highly-anticipated animated sequel Shrek the Third. He’s more than happy with his ordinary life in his insect-infested swamp and when Fiona tells him she’s pregnant, Shrek realizes he now has to be responsible and fumbles with the best way to be a new dad.
ComingSoon.net: Did you feel comfortable coming back to this all over again? And how soon did you know after the second one you’d be coming back for number three?
Mike Myers: I love the world so much. It’s such a fun world and I get to see my old friends. And it’s an odd experience though, because you are in this booth. So, it’s kind of like being a combination, like, a goal judge in hockey and like in the witness protection program. Like you are in this thing and you don’t really get a lot of feedback. You see the people in the booth and occasionally they go, “Let’s try another one.” So, I have developed imaginary friends. I have this imaginary eagle that sits with me and I talk to her. And if it’s a particularly good take she goes “Ka!” (Laughs.) And if it’s a great take it does three “Ka’s.” And I go, “What’s that? I was pretty good in that one.”
CS: Do you have input in terms of the overall direction of the movies?
Myers: No, and nor would I want to. Every time I meet with the people, the team, Jeffrey Katzenberg, who is just a great artist in his own right and Chris Miller and Aaron Warner and Andrew Adamson. When you meet with them, their world is so complete and their ideas are so great, that the dialogue begins because you are never shown a script. This is the entire script, they don’t even know what it is. You only record like a little bit at a time, so you start to ask questions, because as Antonio was saying, he’s like, “Well, how big is the cat?” He didn’t even know when he first started. So, the dialogue begins with clarification. “Am I scared at this point? Do I know this person?” All that stuff. And what happens is I end up asking the 4-year-old questions. Like, it’s like, “Do we have the airplane tickets?” “Oh! The airplane tickets.” That’s sort of the way, and I know that I have asked a hard question because they get quiet. So, I go, “In the end, blah, blah, blah, blah.” And they go, “Ah, we’ll get back to you. Let’s go on to the next line.” And then they come back and they have answers and that’s kind of the thing. ‘Cause I’m not in the room when they are writing it. But, it’s been a great experience. These guys are just really committed to it being excellent and quality. I feel like I’m on a Stanley Cup winning team. These guys, Jeffrey is literally tireless. No aspect of it isn’t improved. I think this is the best of the three. I think the animation has gotten better, the story is better — all the characters are great. And it’s a great message, well told. And the music is great. I am — because I normally create the stuff I do for me.
CS: There should be a “Shrek 4,” when it comes around to recording for that movie, would you be interested in recording together such as the cast of “Surf’s Up” did? To allow for more improvisation.
Myers: No, I like this process. Because, I start to fall in love with Puss and I fall in love with Donkey and Fiona. And when I get there it’s like a radio play. I like them all, who hasn’t fallen in love with Antonio? (Laughs.) Who hasn’t? (Laughs.) But there is something great, because in the process they don’t even know what the script is and they are constantly evolving it.
CS: Shrek has a lot more to ponder in this movie. When you saw the script did you think, “Oh, great, more stuff to chew on for Shrek”?
Myers: Oh, yeah. I feel extremely well served in terms of stuff to play. In the first movie it’s getting over the self — he has to learn to love himself in order to be in a marriage. And in this one he needs to learn to love himself in order to step into fatherhood or be the king of a country. (Laughs.) For me, I approach this as a dramatic part with some comedy. And that’s me happiest. I like making stuff, just believing and making, that’s the fun part.
CS: Who do you think is going to win the cup?
Myers: Oh, gosh. The problem is that hurts. The hockey one. We’ll, I’ll make a prediction the Leaf’s are not winning the Stanley Cup. Ah, the pain every year. Why do I put myself through it? I get so emotionally involved. Buffalo, I didn’t watch this last week, I just got too busy. Buffalo is still doing good?
CS: They are tied.
Myers: They’re tied? They’ll win. I predict Buffalo.
CS: Where would you take it if you had the cup?
Myers: Where would I take it? They are so propitious of the cup; they probably wouldn’t let me near it. But, I’d it to Lake Ontario and swim with it.
CS: I just wanted to know if you had a favorite of the “Shrek’s”?
Myers: This one. It has incorporated two and three and the wonderful Antonio Banderas.
Shrek the Third opens in theaters on May 18th.
