Chris Farley and the heartbreaking abandoned ‘Shrek’ recording
One of the most beloved animated films of the 21st Century is, of course, Shrek, directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jensen in their directorial debuts. Mike Myers wound up providing the voice for the iconic ogre, yet his feature was not always the way Shrek was meant to go down.
The truth is that Chris Farley had initially meant to voice the titular character. Myers had, of course, appeared as a cast member on Saturday Night Live, where he cut his teeth. But Farley was a more prominent name on the famous sketch show during the same time Myers was there.
When Farley appeared in the adventure-comedy hit Tommy Boy in 1995, he became a leading name in Hollywood, which prompted the producers of Shrek to cast him in the leading role. Development of the film began in 1995, with Nicolas Cage originally being offered the part. However, Cage did not want to be remembered for portraying an ogre.
In the end, the part of Shrek went to Farley, and before he died in 1997, he had recorded around 85% of the dialogue for the first film, which was subsequently abandoned following his tragic death. Naturally, Farley’s version of Shrek was in stark contrast to Myers’ iteration that we came to know and love.
Reportedly, Farley’s Shrek was unique because he was unable to use the usual physical comedy that he tended to rely on in Saturday Night Live. Rather, Farley had to rely solely on his voice. In many ways, Farley created a Shrek that was far more toned down than Myer’s over-the-top version, speaking without an accent, laid back and perhaps even shy.
Perhaps there would have been an air of vulnerability to Farley’s Shrek, too, as he had demonstrated in Tommy Boy. And to hear the chemistry between Farley and Eddie Murphy’s Donkey would have been something to marvel at. Shrek just may have been all the more heartbreaking.
Discussing his potential role, Farley’s brother, Kevin Farley, explained (via Yahoo): “Originally, the Shrek character was a little bit more like Chris, like a humble, bumbling innocent guy. I understand why [they replaced him]. They probably wanted to make Shrek 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, so…”
He added, “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.” It’s true that Myers delivered one of his most iconic performances, and it would be difficult to imagine the beloved series without his brilliant Scottish accent. Still, we can only dream of what Farley’s Shrek may have been.
