There are certain film roles where it's just impossible to imagine anyone else playing them.
Whether it be an older classic like Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones or a newer one like Margot Robbie as Barbie, there's just some casting that is so perfect you cannot picture a world where anyone else was picked.
Shrek is undoubtably one of these, with Mike Myers’ performance as the beloved green ogre so iconic that it’s impossible to think of anyone else playing him.
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That is just what was originally set to happen however, because Myers wasn’t even the original casting for the role.
In actual fact the original actor cast for the role had reportedly recorded ‘85 percent’ of the lines needed for the film, with Myers cast way down the line.
The original actor in the role was Chris Farley, the iconic comedian best known for his time on Saturday Night Live.
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Farley was plagued with drug problems, and tragically overdosed on a combination of cocaine and morphine in 1997.
Farley was just 33 at the time of his death and was stated to have recorded most of his lines already after being cast in Shrek.
The comedian’s original take on Shrek was quite different to Myers, going closer to his own voice as opposed to the faux-Scottish accent that became iconic.
There is actually test footage partially drawn of scenes Farley voiced alongside Eddie Murphy, which can be seen below:
Myers spoke about the role years later and revealed he hadn’t even been told that he was brought in as Farley’s replacement.
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He spoke to Vulture, where he said: “They had created this maquette, a little statue made of clay of all the characters, and Shrek looked exactly like Chris Farley.
“I was at my third meeting, and I go, ‘Guys, was this offered to Chris Farley and then he died?’ Everyone looked at their shoes.
“I said: ‘No, but seriously, really?’ (Pause.) ‘No.’ ‘Oh, okay.’
“I get in the parking lot, and I go, ‘I think this was Farley’s.’ It was! I was right, but they didn’t tell me.”
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Farley's brother John was offered by the studio to complete his lines, as he apparently only had five days left of filming. He stated that he just wasn't able to do it however, and the role was recast.
Farley’s death was a shock to the American comedy community, of whom he was a trailblazer in the 90s.
Myers said in a documentary of his death: “I wasn’t shocked but I was very sad”.
Adam Sandler, who was also close to Farley, wrote a tribute song called the ‘Chris Farley Song’ in his 2018 Netflix special Adam Sandler: 100% Fresh.
In the song Sandler sings: “We laughed all night long because of Farley/ But a few months later the party came to an end/ We flew out to Madison to bury our friend.
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“Yeah I miss hanging out/ Watching you try to get laid/ But most of all I miss watching you torture [David] Spade.
“You’re a legend how you want it, but I still wish you were here with me/ And we were getting on a plane to shoot Grown Ups 3”.
Meanwhile, Chris Rock said on the 25th anniversary of his death: “No one was competing with Farley.
“It's sad when our friend’s not here, but it is curious to [think] ‘Wow, what would that guy have done?’
“He’s literally that level of actor, and that level of like, you just felt for that guy.
“Whatever ride Chris Farley was going to take me on, I was definitely ready to go on it.”
A biopic covering Farley’s life is in the works starring Paul Walter Hauser, with Josh Gad directing.
Meanwhile, Myers went on to star in four Shrek films, with a fifth confirmed to be in the works and coming out in 2026.
Topics: Saturday Night Live, Film, TV and Film
Michael Slavin