Mike Myers Got Pitched ‘Shrek’ While Crying as He Walked Out of ‘Saving Private Ryan’ Premiere; His First Reaction: ‘That’s the Worst F—ing Title Ever’

Myers:

> “I went to the premiere of ‘Saving Private Ryan,’ and Jeffrey Katzenberg comes up to me afterward in the lobby and brings his daughters, who then do the dance sequence from ‘Austin Powers. This was after such a heavy movie, and I was in tears because my parents were in World War II. I was shell-shocked and then they’re doing the dance, and I was like, ‘Yeah, that’s great. Read a room!’”

> Katzenberg asked Myers if he would ever consider doing an animated movie, to which Myers said, “Sure.” But when Katzenberg said he was developing a movie called “Shrek,” the actor responded: “Well, that’s the worst fucking title I’ve ever heard in my life.”

> “It’s the sound you make after drinking too many Molson Canadians. ‘Agh! Shreck!’ So he said, ‘Just come down and see it,’” Myers said. “So I saw it and I liked that it turned fairy tales on its head. I thought that was really, really smart. The fairy tale is a Eurocentric form, dealing with class, right? To say, ‘Yes, we know it’s Eurocentric but it can be more inventive and inclusive. And to have an African American voice in Donkey in it, I thought it was brilliant.”