The voice cast of “Shrek”: Where are they now?

Catch up with Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, Eddie Murphy, and more of your favorite swampy stars.

Based on the children's book by William Steig, DreamWorks' animated mega-hit Shrek burst into theaters in April 2001, kicking off a franchise that has lasted for more than two decades, spawned three sequels, two spinoffs, a series of television specials — and was added to the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress in 2020.

The Oscar-winning irreverent fairy-tale — which Entertainment Weekly gave an A– — follows the titular green ogre (Mike Myers) as he attempts to rescue the secretive damsel Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz) on behalf of the devious Lord Farquaad (John Lithgow) and restore order to his swamp. In 2016, NBCUniversal publicly discussed reviving the series for a fifth film. Eddie Murphy, the voice behind fan-favorite sidekick Donkey, said in 2023 he'd reprise his role "in two seconds" for another installment.

With the possibility of a return to Far Far Away, now is the perfect time to catch up with the voice cast of Shrek and its sequels.

Mike Myers (Shrek)

Mike Myers breathed life into the swamp-dwelling protagonist of the Shrek franchise.

"My mom read fairy tales to me," Myers told EW in 2001 of finding the voice for Shrek. "She's from Liverpool, and she's a trained actress. For me, Curious George was from London. So I went, Aha! Shrek should have the Scottish accent of somebody who's lived in Canada 20 years."

The Second City alum spent six seasons as a cast member on Saturday Night Live, where he created iconic characters like Dieter, Coffee Talk host Linda Richman, and Wayne Campbell, the latter of whom was the focus of the 1992 hit spinoff film Wayne's World. He left SNL in 1995, and, following a brief acting hiatus, returned to the big screen with Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997) and Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999).

Post-Shrek, he starred in a third Austin Powers movie (Austin Powers in Goldmember), a live-action adaptation of Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat, and 2008 box office disappointment The Love Guru — which made headlines again in 2023 when a former security guard on the film's set alleged that Myers had him fired for making eye contact with the star. In addition to small roles in Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds (2009), the Oscar-winning Bohemian Rhapsody (2018), and David O. Russell's Amsterdam (2022), Myers released the Netflix series The Pentaverate, in which he plays eight different characters. The same year, he also participated in a two-part tribute on the podcast Fly on the Wall in honor of his late SNL castmate, Chris Farley — who was originally cast as Shrek. ​​

Myers has received multiple awards, including a 2007 MTV Generation Award, a star on both the Hollywood and Canadian Walk of Fame, and was named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2017 for his body of work. In 2016, he published a book, Canada, described as part memoir and part history. Myers has voiced the giant green ogre in several Shrek projects since the original film’s release. He has hinted that a fourth Austin Powers movie could also be swinging into theaters at some point.

He has three children with his second wife, Kelly Tisdale.

Eddie Murphy (Donkey)

Eddie Murphy was already an icon before joining the voice cast of Shrek in 2001, thanks to his legendary stint on SNL, his stand-up specials Delirious and Raw, and films like 48 Hrs. (1982), Trading Places (1983), Beverly Hills Cop (1984), Coming to America (1988), The Nutty Professor (1996), and Mulan (1998). He even had a Billboard Hot 100 hit under his belt with the Rick James-produced single "Party All the Time," and a Grammy for his comedy album Eddie Murphy: Comedian.

Murphy's vocal performance as Shrek's wise-cracking sidekick Donkey was so acclaimed that it even scored him a BAFTA nomination. Decades later, he's still open to voicing Donkey again. "They did Puss in Boots movies. I was like, 'They should have [done] a Donkey movie,' he told Etalk, quipping, "Donkey is funnier than Puss in Boots. I mean, I love Puss in Boots, but he ain't [as] funny as the Donkey."

Following the first Shrek, he churned out several family-friendly films, like Dr. Dolittle 2 (2001) and Daddy Day Care (2003), as well as Disney's The Haunted Mansion (2003). He received widespread critical acclaim in 2006 for his performance as James "Thunder" Early in the big-screen musical Dreamgirls, including an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor, and Screen Actors Guild and Golden Globe award wins. In 2015, he was honored with the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, and in 2020 received another Golden Globe nomination for his work in Dolemite Is My Name, followed by the 2023 Cecil B. DeMille Award for his contributions to the world of entertainment.

After making a brief appearance on SNL for its 40th anniversary celebration in 2015, 2019 saw the comedian make a full return to the show for the first time since 1984, hosting an episode that won him his first Emmy. He has also revisited multiple properties that made him a star, including a Coming to America sequel in 2021 and a fourth Beverly Hills Cop film coming to Netflix in 2024.

Murphy has been dating model Paige Butcher since 2012; he has 10 children.

Cameron Diaz (Princess Fiona)

Cameron Diaz, a former model, made her acting debut alongside Jim Carrey in 1994's The Mask, then rocketed to box-office stardom in the films My Best Friend’s Wedding (1997) and There’s Something About Mary (1998). She proved her dramatic chops with 1999's offbeat Being John Malkovich, and then became a bona fide action hero with 2000's high-octane Charlie's Angels reboot.

After she lent her voice to another butt-kicking hero with Shrek's cursed Princess Fiona, Diaz received strong reviews the same year for her role opposite Tom Cruise in Vanilla Sky (2001). She teamed up with Leonardo DiCaprio and Daniel Day-Lewis in 2002 for the Martin Scorsese epic Gangs of New York, and then reteamed with her fellow Angels for Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle in 2003. Throughout the rest of the aughts, she starred in a string of comedies such as In Her Shoes (2005), The Holiday (2006), Bad Teacher (2011), and, like her castmates Myers and Murphy, returned to the role of Fiona for each of the sequels and specials set in the Shrek universe.

"There's always something very comforting for me for the last 10 years knowing that I get to go back to Fiona, Shrek, Donkey, and Puss," Diaz told EW upon the release of 2010's Shrek Forever After. "That they're there, and somebody is thinking about them and creating them. I’m starting to get a little bit emotional thinking about it. You don't realize what it is until it's gone."

Following her performance in the 2014 update of the musical Annie, Diaz retired from acting, and in a 2021 interview with comedian Kevin Hart stated that the decision has made her "feel whole." She came out of retirement for a Netflix action comedy called Back in Action, which is set for release in 2024.

In her decade of retirement, Diaz authored the wellness-focused books The Body Book and The Longevity Book, married Good Charlotte's Benji Madden, and welcomed a daughter via surrogate. Diaz has remained busy with motherhood, the launch of her wine brand Avaline, and even a guest judge appearance on the all-winners season of RuPaul's Drag Race All-Stars.

John Lithgow (Lord Farquaad)

John Lithgow voiced the villainous Lord Farquaad in Shrek. While the veteran actor has numerous memorable parts in his filmography, he is sometimes recognized by parents introducing their children to him as Farquaad.

"The kids look at me completely bewildered, this big, kind of amiable man who bears no resemblance whatsoever to Lord Farquaad," Lithgow told EW. "But then I would say something like 'I'm not the monster here — you are!' and they'd recognize the line and the voice, but it didn't make any sense to them."

At the time of Shrek's release, Lithgow had almost three decades of acclaimed work on his résumé. He won a Tony for his Broadway debut in The Changing Room; received two Oscar nominations for The World According to Garp (1982) and Terms of Endearment (1983); and won four Emmys — three of which were for his performance as Dick Solomon on the sitcom 3rd Rock From the Sun. He also notably starred in the films The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984) and Cliffhanger (1993).

After Farquaad’s ill-fated attempt to marry Fiona, Lithgow has continued to rack up an impressive list of accolades. The year after Shrek premiered, he won a Tony for Best Actor in a Musical for Sweet Smell of Success, and he received two more Emmys in the 2010s, one for playing serial killer Trinity on Dexter, and the other for playing Winston Churchill in season 1 of The Crown. Some of his more notable films include costarring with Alfred Molina in Love Is Strange (2014), playing Roger Ailes in Bombshell (2019), and appearing in Martin Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon (2023).

Lithgow has been married to wife Mary Yeager since 1981; he has three children.

Vincent Cassel (Monsieur Hood)

Before he nocked his first arrow as the mercenary Monsieur Hood in Shrek, Vincent Cassel was a celebrated actor in his native France, receiving two César award nominations — the French equivalent of the Oscar — for his breakout performance in the film La Haine (1995). In addition to his work in French cinema, the actor, who speaks five languages, garnered strong reviews for his work in the English-language films Jefferson in Paris (1995), Elizabeth (1998), and The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (1999).

After he retired Robin Hood's bow, Cassel continued to star in a variety of international productions such as the controversial Irréversible (2002) with his then-wife, Monica Bellucci; Ocean's Twelve (2004); Ocean's Thirteen (2007); and Black Swan (2010). In 2008, he won the César for Best Actor for his portrayal of French gangster Jacques Mesrine in the two-part biopic Mesrine. While Shrek is his only voice-over work in English, he has provided the French dub of Diego in the Ice Age series and Rodney Copperbottom in 2005's Robots. He has also faced off against Matt Damon in the fifth Bourne film, Jason Bourne (2016), and was a recurring villain in season 3 of HBO's Westworld.

Cassel has two daughters with Bellucci and one daughter with his second wife, model Tina Kunakey.

Conrad Vernon (Gingerbread Man)

Before his voice acting debut as the cheerful, snarky Gingerbread Man, a.k.a. Gingy, Conrad Vernon was a storyboard artist and writer who had previously worked on the movies Cool World (1992), Antz (1998), and The Road to El Dorado (2000).

Vernon spoke with TVGuide.com in 2007 about how he thinks Gingy always had an attitude, even before the events of Shrek. "If you remember the first scene with him in Shrek, he was being tough and spitting milk in the guy's eye even though his legs were being broken off. He's the proverbial tough cookie."

Following the success of Shrek, he made his directorial debut as one of the codirectors of Shrek 2 (2004), and has since directed Monsters vs. Aliens (2009), Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted (2012), Sausage Party (2016), and both Addams Family animated movies. He has also played Mason in the Madagascar films and games, and lent his voice to roles in Bee Movie (2007), Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011), The Boss Baby (2017), and reprised his role as Gingy in the Shrek sequels and Puss in Boots spinoffs.

Cody Cameron (Pinocchio/the Three Little Pigs)

Another member of the DreamWorks animation team, Cody Cameron worked on the stop-motion animated comedy Chicken Run before joining the crew of Shrek as a story artist and writer. Like Conrad Vernon, the fairy-tale comedy was his first credited voice acting role, and the newly minted thespian provided the personalities for not only Pinocchio, the puppet who dreams of being a real boy, but two of the German-accented Three Little Pigs.

Since his acting debut, Cameron has returned to the Shrek franchise numerous times and lent his talents to roles in Madagascar (2005), Open Season (2006), and Arthur Christmas (2011). In 2007, he directed the short The Chubbchubbs Save Xmas, and later directed the features Open Season 3 (2010) and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 (2013).

He left DreamWorks in 2004 for Sony Animation, eventually working as a story artist on 2018's Oscar-winning Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. After serving as a supervising director on the 2019 Netflix series Green Eggs and Ham, he returned to DreamWorks for 2022's Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, for which he contributed as a story artist and reprised his role as Pinocchio.

Chris Miller (Magic Mirror/Geppetto)

Like Vernon and Cameron, Chris Miller entered the world of Shrek as an animator and storyboard artist at DreamWorks. His work on the film's development led to him going behind the mic as both Geppetto, Pinocchio's miserly creator, and the all-knowing Magic Mirror.

Miller explained to MovieWeb in 2007 how doing voices aids in his work with other artists. "It does help, working with any performer. They have very little to work with in that room. So, they get me. I'm a bonus. I will feed them every other line in the movie. Unfortunately, I play Fiona to Mike's Shrek. I profess my love to him. Then he'll ignore me. And I have to do it again, and again."

Post-Shrek, Miller has continued to add to his résumé as an artist, actor, and director. As a performer, he voiced Kowalski in the Madagascar franchise, and has provided several additional voices for Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (2003), Monsters vs. Aliens (2009), Captain Underpants: The First Movie (2017), and the Shrek sequels. Additionally, he directed Shrek the Third (2007) and the first Puss in Boots spinoff, receiving Best Animated Feature nominations from the Oscars and Golden Globes for the latter.

Miller is slated to direct an animated Smurfs movie musical, scheduled for 2025.

Jennifer Saunders (Fairy Godmother)

The star of the hit British sitcom Absolutely Fabulous brought her bawdy brand of comic magic to Fiona's devious Fairy Godmother in Shrek 2, introducing Jennifer Saunders to a whole new generation of fans across the pond.

Her spirited performance of "Holding Out for a Hero" is iconic now, but she revealed in 2020 how nervous she was for Julie Andrews, who was on set that day, to watch her scene. "She went, 'You'll be fine,'" Saunders recalled on Sky TV's There's Something About Movies, "and she listened to it and after it had been on and she'd watched it, she turned to me and touched my hand and went, 'Well done, dear.'"

Aside from Ab Fab, Saunders was one-half of the popular BBC sketch comedy duo French and Saunders, and in the '90s guest starred on Friends as the stepmother of Emily (Helen Baxendale), Ross' (David Schwimmer) second wife.

After the enormous box office success of the Shrek sequel, she won a 2005 People's Choice Award for Favorite Movie Villain and has added a handful of voice-over credits to her résumé, including Miss April Spink in Coraline (2009) and the Queen in Minions (2015). She and Dawn French continued to film new seasons of their sketch show until 2017, and she has reteamed with Joanna Lumley several times for a series of Ab Fab specials and a movie, earning a BAFTA in the process. She and French also costarred in Kenneth Branagh's adaptation of Agatha Christie's Death on the Nile (2022). There was a mini Shrek reunion in 2022 when she joined the cast of Mike Myers' The Pentaverate. Saunders has appeared onstage several times since Shrek 2, including the London production of the Sister Act musical with Whoopi Goldberg, and even wrote the book for the Spice Girls jukebox musical, Viva Forever.

Outside the world of entertainment, Saunders is a breast cancer survivor and supporter of the charity Dress for Success. She has been married to fellow comic actor Ade Edmondson since 1985, and the couple has three children and five grandchildren.

Rupert Everett (Prince Charming)

Rupert Everett had a long and varied career before bringing his trademark dry wit to the role of the arrogant Prince Charming in Shrek 2 and Shrek the Third. In addition to his work as an actor on stage and screen, he authored two novels and recorded a pop album. The late-'90s was a particularly fruitful period for Everett thanks to his breakout performance in My Best Friend's Wedding alongside Julia Roberts and future Shrek costar Cameron Diaz. Other notable ‘90s credits include Cemetery Man (1994) and An Ideal Husband (1999).

"I think of Shrek as a golden handshake in a career," Everett told the Evening Standard in 2012. "There's nothing bad about the job. You don't do very much. You go in five or six times in the course of two years wherever you want to in the world and they just hook you up via satellite."

Since his time in the kingdom of Far Far Away, the actor has remained busy, writing two dishy memoirs, Red Carpets and Other Banana Skins and Vanished Years, and receiving an Olivier Award nomination for Best Actor for his portrayal of Oscar Wilde in a London West End production of The Judas Kiss. In 2018, he once again stepped into the shoes of the writer for The Happy Prince, a biopic he wrote, directed, and starred in, for which he won a London Film Critics' Circle award. He went on to costar in My Policeman (2022) and Napoleon (2023).

Everett was one of few out gay actors working in the '90s, having publicly come out in 1989. He lives with his partner, Henrique.

Julie Andrews (Queen Lillian)

A legend thanks to her Oscar-winning turn in Mary Poppins (1964), as well as movie musicals like The Sound of Music (1965), Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967), and Victor/Victoria (1982), it was only fitting that true Hollywood royalty like Julie Andrews should wear the crown of Princess Fiona's mother, Queen Lillian, for Shrek 2.

Andrews spoke with IGN in 2004 about taking on what was then a rare voice role for the legendary actress, recalling, "The very first day I met everybody I started to put some lines down, and I kept thinking, 'But how can I? I haven't worked on anything. I don't know what I'm saying?' But, you literally fly by the seat of your pants in a way. You just go for it and you trust that they know what they're doing and it seems they do."

Younger audiences might also recognize her as Queen Clarisse Renaldi opposite Anne Hathaway in the 2001 Disney hit The Princess Diaries. Along with her multiple Tony, Golden Globe, Emmy, and Grammy awards, she was bestowed the honor of Dame Commander by Queen Elizabeth II in 2000.

Following Shrek 2's box office dominance, Andrews reprised her royal roles in Shrek the Third, Shrek Forever After, and The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (2004). She released two memoirs, Home: A Memoir of My Early Years in 2008, and then a follow-up, Home Work: A Memoir of My Hollywood Years in 2019, the latter of which was co-written with her daughter, Emma Walton Hamilton, with whom the icon has authored more than 30 children's books.

Despite a botched 1997 vocal surgery that all but ended her singing career, she has continued to use her famous voice in new ways after Shrek: in the Minions franchise as Gru's disapproving mother; as the mythical sea creature Karathen in 2018's Aquaman; and as the narrator, Lady Whistledown, on Bridgerton and its spinoff, Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story. She was presented with the 48th AFI Life Achievement Award in celebration of her six decades in the arts in 2022.

Andrews has three children, two stepchildren, nine grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. She was married to her second husband, director Blake Edwards, for 41 years until his death in 2010.

John Cleese (King Harold)

Fiona's father, the frog-turned-ruler King Harold, was croaked into existence in Shrek 2 by Monty Python star John Cleese.

"I think it's funnier than the first one," Cleese told EW of Shrek 2 in 2004. "I’ve been doing it for a year, in a lot of different sessions. The filmmakers are completely obsessive. They'll sometimes re-record a scene two or three times, like this one scene I have with [Antonio] Banderas. One minute I'm talking to him through an open door, and the next time the door is closed and I'm trying to whisper through that. They play with tiny changes like that just to see what's best."

Cleese rose to fame as part of the beloved sketch troupe on television in Monty Python’s Flying Circus, and then in the classic comedy films Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Life of Brian, and The Meaning of Life. He also starred in, and co-wrote, the popular '70s British sitcom Fawlty Towers with his then-wife Connie Booth, and was nominated for an Oscar in the late-'80s for his screenplay for A Fish Called Wanda, in which he costarred with Jamie Lee Curtis. Harry Potter fans will recognize the actor as Nearly Headless Nick in the first two films of the popular Hogwarts saga.

In the decade-plus since he leapfrogged out of the Shrek universe, Cleese has amassed a long list of voice-over credits in both animation and video games, including King Gristle Sr. in Trolls (2016).

Cleese has written three books post-Shrek, and toured with his comedy shows John Cleese: His Life, Times and Current Medical Problems, John Cleese: The Alimony Tour, and John Cleese: The Last Time to See Me Before I Die. He faced backlash on Twitter in 2020 for transphobic tweets in support of controversial Potter author J.K. Rowling, stating he's "not that interested in trans folk" and voicing opposition to trans women competing in sports.

In 2023, it was announced that he and his daughter Camilla were planning a revival of Fawlty Towers. He has been married to jewelry designer Jennifer Wade since 2012.

Antonio Banderas (Puss in Boots)

Antonio Banderas was a regular player in the films of Spanish auteur Pedro Almodóvar long before slipping into the leather boots of Shrek 2's Puss in Boots. He made his screen debut in the filmmaker's feature Labyrinth of Passion (1982), then went on to star in four more films for Almodovar before transitioning to Hollywood with 1992's The Mambo Kings. A string of American successes followed in movies such as Philadelphia (1993), Interview With the Vampire (1994), Desperado (1995), Evita (1996), The Mask of Zorro (1998), and the Spy Kids trilogy. In 2003, he was nominated for a Tony for Best Actor in a Musical for the Broadway revival of Nine.

After his turn as the suave, swashbuckling tabby cat, Banderas reprised his role as another mythic outlaw hero in The Legend of Zorro (2005). He reunited with Almodóvar 21 years after their last collaboration for 2011's The Skin I Live In, and again for 2019’s Pain and Glory, for which he received his first Oscar nomination for Best Actor. The actor also received Emmy, SAG, and Golden Globe nominations for his portrayal of Pablo Picasso in the National Geographic limited series Genius: Picasso.

He returned to the world of Shrek for each of the sequels, and in 2011 the Stabby Tabby starred in his own spinoff, Puss in Boots, and its 2022 sequel, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, both of which were nominated for Oscars for Best Animated Feature Film.

"I've established a relationship with this character, giving my voice to him for almost 20 years," Banderas told EW in 2022. "I'm 62 now, so for one-third of my life he's been with me, and I feel very close to him. Almost like an alter ego. So to now establish a different kind of relationship to the character, one that's more sincere, has been fabulous."

Banderas has one daughter, Stella, with his ex-wife, Melanie Griffith.

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Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.