HOLLYWOOD — Mike Myers says the original pitch meeting for Shrek took place at what he described as “the absolute worst possible moment psychologically,” immediately after leaving an ogre-themed live donkey performance that left him visibly emotional.
According to Myers, he exited the show in silence while “trying to process several creative decisions” when DreamWorks executives approached him in the parking lot with an animated film concept involving an ogre and a talking donkey.
“I genuinely thought I was hallucinating,” Myers recalled. “I had just watched two uninterrupted hours of donkey material. Then suddenly a man in a polo shirt walks up and says, ‘What if the donkey never stops talking?’”
Witnesses say Myers stood completely still for several seconds before quietly responding, “Please don’t do this to me right now.”
DreamWorks executives allegedly interpreted the response as interest.
“We could tell he was emotionally vulnerable and creatively open,” said one former producer. “That’s usually when the best deals happen.”
The studio reportedly continued describing the project while Myers stared into the distance with what one onlooker described as “the face of a man who had already seen too much.”
“At one point they said, ‘The ogre learns to love himself,’” Myers said. “And honestly after the afternoon I’d had, that sounded reasonable.”
Sources say Myers initially tried turning the role down multiple times, but the pitch became increasingly difficult to escape as executives kept adding details they believed would help.
“They told me there’d be fairy tale creatures,” Myers explained. “Then they said Smash Mouth would probably be involved. I remember thinking, ‘This can’t continue escalating,’ but it just kept escalating.”
Studio insiders claim Myers finally agreed to the project after hearing the phrase “the donkey sings” and realizing there was “no longer any path back to normal life.”
At press time, DreamWorks confirmed the upcoming Shrek 5 will include a scene paying tribute to the original pitch meeting by featuring Donkey approaching a visibly exhausted man near a parking lot and refusing to stop talking.
