Most fairytales keep away from swamps, banished creatures and potty humor — however Shrek is not your typical fairytale.
Launched in 2001, the animated parody movie follows an anti-social ogre named Shrek (Mike Myers) who’s eager to spend his days relishing the peace and quiet of his beloved swamp. However when the petite Lord Farquaad (John Lithgow) exiles fairytale creatures from his fortress, they arrange camp in Shrek’s yard.
The one option to rid his house of dwarfs and unicorns? Rescue the lord’s betrothed princess from a fire-breathing dragon.
Shrek was an on the spot traditional that spawned three sequels (Shrek 2, Shrek the Third and Shrek Endlessly After) and two spinoff movies (Puss in Boots and Puss in Boots: The Final Want). In 2024, Eddie Murphy — the voice behind the insatiably chatty Donkey — teased to Collider that Shrek 5 was within the works.
Shortly after, Common Footage confirmed the news and in February 2025 they shared a cast announcement video that featured outdated favorites like Myers, Murphy and Cameron Diaz, who performs Princess Fiona, and a brand new voice: Zendaya.
The Dune actress will be a part of the franchise as Shrek and Fiona’s daughter, Felicia, in Shrek 5, which is able to hit theaters on Dec. 23, 2026.
However everybody’s favourite fairytale parody could be nothing with out the OG solid of A-listers who first introduced these fairytale creatures to life. This is every thing to know in regards to the unique solid of Shrek and the place they’re now.
Mike Myers as Shrek
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Myers had already made his mark on the planet of comedy by the point he voiced the titular ogre within the unique Shrek film. He held a solid spot on Saturday Evening Reside for six seasons, from 1989 to 1995, and starred as Wayne Campbell in Wayne’s World and its sequel, which had been primarily based on his SNL sketch by the identical title.
Myers secured widespread acclaim in 1997 when he debuted because the eponymous spy within the first Austin Powers film. He reprised the cult traditional character in two sequels in 1999 and 2002.
Within the latter half of the aughts, Myers starred in The Love Guru and as a minor character within the Oscar-winning drama Inglourious Basterds. After the fourth installment, Shrek Endlessly After, premiered in 2010, Myers proceeded to take an eight-year-long break from the massive display screen. He got here again in 2018 with appearances in Terminal and Bohemian Rhapsody.
Two years earlier than the fifth Shrek film was confirmed in 2024, Myers instructed GQ he was eager to revive the beloved character.
“I cherished enjoying Shrek,” he instructed the outlet in Could 2022. “If I needed to do one Shrek a 12 months, I might be thrilled.”
Myers and his spouse, Kelly Tisdale, have three youngsters.
Eddie Murphy as Donkey
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One other Shrek star who obtained his begin on Saturday Evening Reside, Murphy was a well-established star previous to voicing the ogre’s energetic sidekick, Donkey. The longtime funnyman is thought for his roles within the Beverly Hills Cop motion pictures, the 1983 comedy Buying and selling Locations and his late-’90s classics The Nutty Professor and Dr. Dolittle.
Within the 2000s, Murphy voiced Donkey in all 4 of the Dreamworks animated movies however went on to pursue extra dramatic roles. He gave award-winning performances as soul singer James “Thunder” Early in 2006’s Dreamgirls and because the titular character in 2016’s Mr. Church.
Murphy performed the comic Rudy Ray Moore within the 2019 biopic Dolemite Is My Identify and in 2021, he reprised his function within the Eighties movie Coming to America for its sequel, Coming 2 America.
The daddy of 10 married Paige Butcher in 2024.
Cameron Diaz as Princess Fiona
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When Diaz signed on to voice Princess Fiona, she was identified for her comedic roles in My Greatest Buddy’s Wedding ceremony, There’s One thing About Mary and The Masks, amongst others. She’d additionally established herself within the drama style due to appearances in Any Given Sunday and Being John Malkovich.
Throughout and after the 4 Shrek movies, Diaz furthered her comedy profession with movies like The Vacation, What Occurs in Vegas and What to Count on When You are Anticipating.
She’s additionally revealed two health-focused books — The Physique Guide and The Longevity Guide — which hit cabinets in 2013 and 2016, respectively.
Diaz married Good Charlotte rocker Benji Madden in January 2015, with whom she shares two children.
Antonio Banderas as Puss in Boots
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Spanish actor Antonio Banderas kicked off his Hollywood profession a couple of years earlier than he supplied the voice for the slick, sword-wielding feline in footwear who first seems in Shrek 2.
All through the ’90s, Banderas may very well be seen in main productions like Philidelphia and Interview with a Vampire and as one other swordsman (albeit a human one) in The Masks of Zorro.
Since debuting within the function of Puss in Boots, Banderas has reprised Zorro, performed a ballroom dancing teacher in 2006’s Take the Lead and earned a star on the Hollywood Stroll of Fame. He performed Vincent in Life Itself, starred within the Spanish drama Ache and Glory and costarred with Meryl Streep and Gary Oldman in The Laundromat, Steven Soderbergh’s 2019 Netflix movie.
In 2011, Banderas’ Shrek character obtained his personal starring second in a prequel, which was named after the swashbuckling cat with Salma Hayek voicing his furry love curiosity, Kitty Softpaws. The spinoff’s sequel, Puss in Boots: The Final Want, premiered in 2022 and was nominated for the Greatest Animated Function Academy Award.
The actor has one daughter with ex-wife Melanie Griffith and has been courting his girlfriend Nicole Kimpel since 2014.
John Lithgow as Lord Farquaad
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The actor behind the boastful Lord Farquaad boasts a formidable profession that started a long time earlier than Shrek got here out in 2001.
Lithgow obtained his begin on the stage within the ’70s, incomes a Tony Award for his Broadway debut in The Altering Room. The next decade, he made a splash on the massive display screen with The World In response to Garp, Phrases of Endearment and Footloose, amongst different main movies.
On tv, Lithgow performed Dick Soloman on third Rock from the Solar from 1996 to 2001 and nabbed a complete of three Emmys for his starring efficiency.
Lithgow solely appeared as Shrek’s nemesis within the first movie of the franchise (his character meets his unsavory finish on the mouth of a dragon), however his profession continued to flourish post-Farquaad. He returned to the stage for a 2002 theatrical adaptation of Candy Odor of Success, successful one other Tony and a spot within the American Theater Corridor of Fame.
In movie, Lithgow went on to seem in options just like the biopic Kinsey, the 2014 area drama Interstellar, Miss Sloane and Tommy Lee Jones’ The Homesman. Again on the small display screen, Lithgow took house an Emmy for his function in Dexter in 2009 and his portrayal of Winston Churchill in season 1 of The Crown.
The actor has two youngsters along with his spouse of 4 a long time, Mary Yeager, and one son along with his ex-wife, Jean Taynton.
Julie Andrews as Queen
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Queen Lillian guidelines over the dominion of Far Far Away, so it is solely becoming that the actress voicing her could be Hollywood royalty. Julie Andrews’ function in Shrek 2, Shrek the Third and Shrek Endlessly After added to an extended checklist of award-winning performances that started within the Nineteen Forties when she debuted on the British stage.
In 1964, she took house the Greatest Actress Oscar for her portrayal of Mary Poppins, the soundtrack for which nabbed her a Grammy as properly. Andrews has additionally claimed six Golden Globes, the second of which she received for her historic starring function in The Sound of Music in 1965.
She received her first Emmy in 1973 for her selection sequence, The Julie Andrews Hour, and he or she’s been nominated for 3 Tony Awards.
By the point Shrek viewers heard her voice within the franchise’s second movie, Andrews had a star on the Hollywood Stroll of Fame and several other lifetime achievement awards. She grew to become a Kennedy Heart Honoree in 2001 and was named a Dame Commander by Queen Elizabeth II the earlier 12 months.
After voicing Fiona’s mom within the Shrek franchise, Andrews voiced Gru’s mother within the 2010 animation Despicable Me, then once more in 2017 for Despicable Me 3 and within the 2022 spinoff Minions: The Rise of Gru.
In 2018, Andrews lent her voice to a personality in Aquaman. Beginning in 2020, she narrated the Netflix sequence Bridgerton and the fantasy movie The King’s Daughter in 2022.
Andrews has three daughters from her marriages to Tony Walton and Blake Edwards.
John Cleese as King
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Co-founder of the Mighty Python comedy troupe, John Cleese voices Fiona’s father, King Harold, within the second, third and fourth Shrek movies. In years prior, he was well-known for his 1988 movie A Fish Known as Wanda, which he wrote and starred in alongside Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline and Michael Palin.
In 2001, Cleese featured within the first Harry Potter movie as Almost Headless Nick.
Because the Shrek franchise ran, Cleese targeted on comedy, taking his present John Cleese—His Life, Occasions and Present Medical Issues on tour in New Zealand in 2005 after which at universities in the US. He continued to carry out across the globe in 2009 and 2010 on his Alimony Tour and in 2013, on a tour titled John Cleese: Final Time to See Me Earlier than I Die.
Cleese tailored the French play Monsieur Chasse! to jot down Bang Bang!, which toured round America in 2018 and within the U.Ok. at the start of 2020.
The actor has two youngsters and married designer and former mannequin Jennifer Wade in 2012.
Jennifer Saunders as Fairy Godmother
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Jennifer Saunders, who rose to fame as a comic book within the ’80s and ’90s, continued her voice appearing profession after her first main animated look in Shrek 2. Within the 2009 stop-motion flick Coraline, she was the protagonist’s eccentric neighbor April Spink.
In 2015, the British actress lent her voice to the Minions film because the Queen, and he or she might be heard because the theatrical Miss Nana Noodleman in Sing and its sequel, Sing 2.
The previous manipulative Fairy Godmother additionally appeared within the 2022 thriller Demise on the Nile, which featured Daybreak French, Kenneth Branagh and Gal Gadot. Saunders has additionally been in a number of theatrical productions, together with London productions of Blithe Spirit and Sister Act.
She is married to actor Ade Edmondson, with whom she has three youngsters.
Rupert Everett as Prince Charming
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Many years earlier than he appeared as Prince Charming in Shrek 2 and Shrek the Third, Rupert Everett broke into the leisure business along with his function within the 1982 Oscar-winning quick movie A Stunning Accident.
Within the late ’90s and early aughts, he may very well be noticed enjoying the confidantes of Julia Roberts’ character in My Greatest Buddy’s Wedding ceremony and Madonna’s in The Subsequent Greatest Factor.
Within the years main as much as his voice work for the depraved prince hoping to woo Fiona, Everett labored as a author, playwright and TV presenter. He went on to seem in British TV documentaries on Romantic poet Lord Byron and explorer Sir Richard Burton.
His appearing profession continued on the stage, as he featured in productions like Pygmalion in 2010 and performed Oscar Wilde in a 2012 revival of The Judas Kiss. In movie, Everett shared the display screen with Emily Blunt and Invoice Nighy within the 2010 comedy Wild Goal.
In 2018, the Shrek alumnus directed, produced and starred in a biographical drama primarily based on the lifetime of Oscar Wilde.
He married his longtime accomplice, a Brazilian accountant named Henrique, in 2024.
