Before Shrekever had a Scottish burr, he spoke in the flat Midwestern tones of Chris Farley, the Chicago-trained actor first cast as the fairy-tale ogre in the first of Dreamworks’ animated films.
At the time of his death in 1997 he had recorded almost all of the dialogue for “Shrek.” His ignominious demisein Chicago’s John Hancock Center forced producers to start over with new star Mike Myers, who tweaked the character considerably to suit his style.
Now footage has emerged revealing how Farley would have played the big green guy. The comedian’s line readings with Eddie Murphy as Donkey are synched to test drawingsof a Shrek bearing features similar to Farley’s.
Hopes were high among the “Shrek” team when Farley was performing the role.“The recording sessions were essentially everybody in the booth rolling off our chairs onto the floor, laughing our asses off,” one of the movie’s writers, Terry Rossio, says in “The Chris Farley Show,” a 2008 book by Tanner Colby and Farley’s brother Tom.
The Myers version of “Shrek” eventually was released to acclaim and box-office success in 2001, spawning three sequels and a Broadway musical.
A documentary about the late comedian, “I Am Chris Farley,” is now showing at the Music Box Theatre and airs Monday on Spike.
