Mike Meyers Shares How Shrek was Based on Real Life Experiences

By: Brooke Price

Mike Myers admits that “Shrek” was based on his life. (Credit: imdb.com)

It’s no secret that Mike Myers starred in the popular film and franchise “Shrek,” but do people really know the motive behind the production?

The 2001 film, “Shrek” gained notable popularity after its release. Many people know of its comedic lines and scenes.

Mike Meyers, the voice of Shrek has recently opened up about how the film was an autobiography of his life. He wanted to create a fictitious world and characters to display his life story.

Meyers sat down with Onion Entertainment to discuss the influence behind “Shrek” and how he brought this character to the big screen.

“Back when I was in high school, I was bullied by the other kids. I had bad acne and people said that I looked like an ogre. It got so bad that I put a paper bag over my head during English class.”

“We were reading “Macbeth” that day and being the comedian that I am, thought it would be funny to put on a Scottish accent. Little did I know that this would inspire a character that would resonate with so many people.”

“I grew quite fond of my Scottish accent and decided to use it in the film, thinking that it would bring a humorous effect to Shrek.”

Meyers said that he learned to stop caring what others thought of him and learned to live life his own way.

“I wanted the main character to look unappealing and have these disgusting habits. I wanted viewers to see the real me with no filter. I live my life unfiltered and felt that Shrek should resemble and take up some of my habits.”

“I think that “Shrek” has done so well because it’s funny, different and unique, like me. It’s the unconventional fairy tale that people need to hear. Sometimes the prince isn’t always the swooning handsome fellow, but rather the hideous, awkward guy with a good personality.”

In an interview with Onion Entertainment, Meyers said, “The quote ‘Onions have layers. Ogres have layers… You get it? We both have layers.’ was really about my life. All throughout my life, I’ve had this guard up that was like this tough outer shell of an onion. The more people that got to know the real me, the more layers they could dig through to see my true personality.”

Later in the interview, Meyers was asked about his inspiration for “Donkey,” the loud and talkative sidekick to Shrek. “Donkey was actually based on my childhood friend, Tommy Greene. He wouldn’t shut up and kept talking during class. The more you told him to be quiet, the louder he talked.”

His first wife resembled Fionna, since she had a different personality in school versus outside of school. “She was the queen bee of the school and I was always too scared to talk to her. I tried to approach her once, but chickened out.”

“Once I finally got the courage to ask her out, she said yes. However, we couldn’t be seen together in school because our cliques didn’t mesh; I was the shy, nerdy guy and she was the outspoken, popular girl.

After a while of being together, we decided to walk into school together. Although at first people looked at us in disgust, as time went on, we were able to display our relationship without the backlash.”

“When I was growing up, I felt that people would just stare at me for being different. Sometimes I would feel as if I had been isolated from society.”

“That’s why in the film, I chose to have Shrek living in the swamp and have the townspeople act menacing towards him, to show how people don’t react well to change.”

Mike Myers’ life served as inspiration for “Shrek” and showed that beauty on the outside is not as relevant as what’s inside.