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Mike Myers interview
MONSTER MAYHEM FOR MIKE
Kermit the Frog might not have found it easy being green but for the movie world's latest animated character, Shrek, it's definitely the winning colour.
The film has been a massive hit in the States. It's already the highest grossing movie of 2001 and is on target to become the biggest moneyspinner ever for Steven Spielberg's studio DreamWorks.
Pearl Harbor might be the most expensive movie ever made but it's definitely had its thunder stolen by the tale of a little green ogre, called Shrek, who is so ugly armed soldiers run for their lives.
The only creatures who give him the time of day are a talking donkey, voiced by Eddie Murphy, and a beautiful princess (Cameron Diaz) who sees beyond his less than perfect looks.
Shrek is probably the most unlikely romantic hero Hollywood has ever seen and has taken everyone by surprise, not least Mike Myers the voice behind the little green man.
"When I saw it I was completely blown away," he smiles, "I think it's set to become a classic fairytale like Peter Pan or Cinderella.
The Austin Powers star had never made an animation movie before but jumped at the chance to work with Eddie Murphy and Cameron Diaz.
"They're brilliant and great to work with," he beams. "Cameron is incredibly charming. I've seen Charlie's Angels four times."
Shrek, which could net DreamWorks more than $300 million over the next few years is the first computer-animated movie for the studio since 1998's Antz, but looks set to join Toy Story as one of the most profitable movies ever made.
So just why is this gruesome little monster such a big hit? "I think it's the message of the movie," ponders Myers. "It's so great and so well told and done in the best way which is through humour and adventure. The message of the movie is to accept who you are and not to succumb to the pressure of what the media tells you is beautiful and what you should be looking like.
"I was in Toronto and a nine-year old kid was eating a hot dog and she said, 'Oh I have to go exercise for an hour now to work this off', I thought, we are in a time right now where a handful of people are deciding what is normal, what is pretty and what is an appropriate body image," he says.
"I just don't remember that as a kid. I know I'm a boy and it's different for girls, but I just don't remember girls saying, 'Oh I have to go work out' at such a young age.
"DreamWorks have turned the fairytale world on its head and at the same time it has a great message, so I'm really proud. I think when I have kids and grandchildren I will be very proud to have them watch this movie."
The film also reminded him of his own childhood. Myers, a Canadian, whose mum is from Liverpool, decided to draw on his British heritage by making the character of Shrek Scottish.
"I had done Shrek as a Canadian and I'm very proud to be Canadian, but I knew I could give more to it," he explains. "My mum is a trained actress and when I was a kid she used to read fairy tales to me. The bookmobile would come by and fairy tales would be in the back of the bookmobile. My mum would read all the different parts, so all children's books and fairy tales have English accents to me.
"The Scottishness of it is very important. I think that Scottish people, like Canadians, are often misunderstood and what I like about my Scottish friends and relatives is how quickly it can go from love to anger. It's a great dynamic."
Myers, 38, also cites one of his early influences as quintessential British author Enid Blyton.
"My parents would read those books to me as well but they used to make me starving when I was a kid because they were always eating ham sandwiches with the crusts off and drinking ginger beer," he laughs.
The three dimensional imagery in Shrek has been heralded as a major breakthrough in animation. Although DreamWorks have had other big hits, such as Gladiator and Saving Private Ryan, they were shared ventures with other studios. Shrek is not, which means it should be DreamWorks biggest profit-making film.
The movie could also be in the running for a big screen animation Oscar and has already been sold to American TV channel NBC for more than 30 million dollars.
It's not surprising then that there's already been talk of a Shrek sequel and Myers eagerly admits that he'd be first back on board.
"I would love to do a sequel," he smiles. "It's such a rich world. When I watched that film I wanted to go back and see more."
This is definitely one green-eyed monster it seems everyone is happy to see rear its ugly head.
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