Summary
- Though Nicolas Cage has starred in countless films, he ultimately turned down the role of Shrek.
- While Cage is known for his intense, over-the-top performances, Shrek’s character required a tone of anger that wouldn’t have matched well.
- Mike Myers ultimately proved the perfect fit for Shrek, allowing Cage to explore other animated voiceover roles like Grug in
The Croods
.
Nicolas Cage is nothing short of a living, breathing enigma. Ever since breaking out in the early 1980s and winning a Best Actor Oscar for 1995’s Leaving Las Vegas, he has built up one of the most eclectic filmographies of anyone in the industry. Some of his films have been good, some have been awful, but almost all of them have been memorable in some way, and Cage himself can almost always be counted on to do something interesting with the material he’s given. And for an actor as prolific as him, there was a stretch of time when he seemed incapable of turning down a role.
But there is, in fact, one notable role he turned down, and it may not be the one you expect or for the reasons you’d expect. It’s well known that before Mike Myers made the role his own, the late Chris Farley was set to play the title character in Shrek. But what many people might not know is that, before Farley’s casting, Nic Cage was approached to voice everyone’s favorite big green ogre.
Nicolas Cage’s Reason for Turning Down Shrek Highlights the Movie’s Point
Shrek
- Release Date
- May 18, 2001
- Runtime
- 90
But why did Nicolas Cage turn down the role? As he explained to TODAY in 2013, “The news said it was because of vanity. I think that’s a bit strong. But the truth is, I’m not afraid to be ugly in a movie… When you’re drawn, in a way it says more about how children are going to see you than anything else, and I do care about that.”
Additionally, at the time, Cage had no voiceover credits to his name, at least in the field of animation. But he’s had a few since then, in 2006’s The Ant Bully and most notably in another DreamWorks joint – he voiced Grug, the gruff but loving father figure in The Croods, as well as its sequel. Nonetheless, even after The Croods, he stood by his decision to turn down Shrek: “I want kids to look at Grug and think ‘well, he’s a little scary, but he’s a big teddy bear. And I wasn’t sure I could do that with Shrek.’”
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There’s a great irony in Cage’s reasoning and wanting to avoid the image of Shrek, as one of Shrek’s key themes is about inner beauty and the dangers of judging a book by its cover. The title character spends most of his runtime in the first installment closed off from virtually everyone around him, wanting to live in solitude. And while his introductory scenes, which see him use the pages of a storybook as toilet paper and later scare off a local band of hunters, give him a harder edge, he’s granted a softer side later on. In his most humanizing scene, he tells Donkey, “They judge me before they even know me, that’s why I’m better off alone.”
Furthermore, the fact that the film proved such a surprise blockbuster highlights how much of its young audience understood this message. As evidenced by the fact that the character remains a beloved animation icon over 20 years later, clearly, he didn’t prove too frightening for his original audience. So, while Cage’s reasoning for turning the role down makes a bit of sense, it admittedly feels like it only highlights the film’s message and its importance.
Would Nicolas Cage Have Been a Good Fit for Shrek?
We live in a world where Mike Myers made the character of Shrek entirely his own and played a huge part in why the franchise remains so beloved today. But for the sake of speculating about what could’ve been if Nicolas Cage had taken the role instead, how could he have played it? And, more importantly, would he have been a good fit for it?
It’s hard to say on that matter. Cage has become such an iconic actor because he’s never been afraid to crank his emotions up to 11 at a moment’s notice. There’s always been something almost operatic in his ability to go over the top, and sometimes this has worked for him (Kick-Ass, Raising Arizona) and sometimes against him, like The Wicker Man. But he’s also a great actor because he can be more restrained when needed, like in Pig. At least on paper, it seems like he could’ve delivered on Shrek’s softer moments.
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On the other hand, Cage’s wildest characters (H.I. McDunnough from Raising Arizona, Castor Troy from Face/Off) are defined largely by their kookiness and quirks. The cantankerous Shrek admittedly doesn’t match well with that, and while Grug from The Croods was a bit gruff, as Cage acknowledged, he was still well-meaning and loving. Cage, in theory, doesn’t seem like the most natural fit to play a character so overtly nasty, which Mike Myers and, originally, Chris Farley could much more believably pull off. Additionally, there’s always been something weirdly endearing about Cage’s manic energy, while Shrek’s initial unlikability is supposed to be off-putting.
It seems likely that Cage himself recognized this. While there is an irony to his decision to turn down the role because he thought it would frighten children, it’s clear that Cage didn’t think he could pull off that kind of character even if he wanted to. Admittedly, it seems like he made a smart decision, as Mike Myers proved perfectly accustomed to Shrek’s nasty streak of humor, and Cage still managed to have his DreamWorks success after the fact when he worked on The Croods.
What Could Have Been With Nicolas Cage in Shrek
As phenomenal an actor as Nicolas Cage is, it’s clear he wasn’t the right fit for Shrek. Though his self-consciousness about playing a character with the potential to be frightening to children is ironic, considering the film’s theme about inner beauty, the role required a command of tone to pull off well.
Cage, as an actor, has always been best known for letting loose, arguably to the point of parody, and that wouldn’t have meshed well with a character whose energy is largely defined by his anger. It’s clear that the decision worked out for everyone involved, as Mike Myers proved a match made in heaven for Shrek, and Cage was able to build up an eclectic filmography that proves he’s one of the most interesting working actors (even if he had some rough patches here and there). Shrek is streaming on Netflix.
