Question: Go back to the very first film, when you got the script and read it for the first time, had you any inkling that you were entering into a movie phenomenon?
Cameron Diaz: No, I mean - I never have ever actually read a script of Shrek. [LAUGHS] We don’t really get scripts. And if we do they always preface it with, ‘this is going to change. It’s not what it’s going to be.’ And it was the same when I first did it, I mean I had no idea. It was really just one of those jobs that was just for ... let’s say, um some… you know just to have fun with. And my agent Nick had said you know “There’s this book Shrek, which you probably don’t know but I read it to my children. It’s really a great story. Jeffrey Katzenberg’s doing it at Dreamworks. They want you to do the voice of the princess. It’s really easy. It’s only gonna be a few days of work. It’s not a big, you know, but it’s a great message and you really…” I had no idea. I think Jeffrey obviously must’ve had some idea of it because he created this whole world, you know, he created a whole technology to create it. He saw the vision of it and got the right people to help him do it, so obviously he had an idea of it but I had no idea how it was going to take hold of people.
You must thank your lucky stars that you didn’t have any misgivings and you agreed to do this movie because, if you did nothing else in your career you’ve made now a series of films that have touched almost every family on the planet.
CD: I know it’s wonderful. I’m so grateful for it I, I really am. I... I’m just … It’s one of those things I’m so proud to be a part of and it’s not because of its commercial success it’s really because of what it gives people. It’s, it’s a… it’s very rare that, you know, you – movies are for people to go and escape. You know they go there to feel different emotions; whether it’s happy or to be scared or to contemplate or whatever it is ... but rarely do you really take something home with you like you do with the Shrek films. You know there’s a message there, it’s undeniable and it lives within you.
So where did you go to find the voice that becomes Fiona?
CD: Well on the first Shrek we kind of created first off the first part of Fiona when she was a human princess, she kind of had this – little did I know that my parents were gonna actually have English accents – [LAUGHING] but we didn’t know it at the time that I was doing it but, um cos you don’t see the whole film, you don’t what everybody’s doing, but she had sort of this fake English accent that wasn’t really real; she was just sort of speaking sort of fairytale-esque. And as soon as she turns into an ogre she drops it. So we kind of played with that in the beginning of that first Shrek and then, she just kind of took form and the voice kind of just became very calm. With Shrek being so elevated and kind of anxious all the time, Fiona just sort of … I - I have adopted sort of this kind of calmness with her you, sort of grounded, trying to ground her a little bit more because I feel… she sort of grounds everybody around her, you know?
So when it came round to this third movie, and you go back to the studio and you go into that sound booth in your little solitary state, how quickly did you find the energies that are required to keep exactly the voice that we all instantly think of as Fiona?
CD: Um well it’s – the wonderful thing is Chris Miller, who’s the Director, heis in there with us, in the room and he does all the voices. The rhythm gets picked up right away cos he’s so in it; he lives this every single [LAUGHING] day so. He’s doing the voices and I find it pretty quickly. You know it takes a little while to sort of do a few Fionas and, and sometimes I have to go back and listen to previous recordings just to sort of get the tone. But it’s fairly easy. Fiona sort of … exists here until she has to go here to Shrek.
How do you think Shrek has altered and, and developed during the many years that have passed since you did the first movie? What differences have you seen?
CD: Well, with the technology... I mean, you just don’t think that they can actually keep bumping it up, you know? You can’t believe that they actually can step up the technology as they have from the first second and now to the third. It’s just amazing the depth and the texture and the flow, and how realistic everything is without it being too realistic, too human-like... you still feel like you’re in this fairytale, you still feel like you’re in an animated film.
And as far as the development of the characters, we’ve seen them through several phases of their lives now and the tribe, so to speak, is really sort of functioning at a very cosy level that you know everybody’s sort of found their place. And Shrek and Fiona have gone from their meeting one another and accepting themselves and each other for who they are to taking on challenges together, and now here they are taking on the ultimate challenge of starting a family together. But also keeping their independence and keeping their own growth of who they are as individuals, as well as building their relationship and it’s great. I mean, it’s such a wonderful message to put forward and you know Fiona with her sort of keeping in line with her you know empowerment of herself and – not just for women but for everyone, just to know that we are capable to create our own destiny and we shouldn’t expect other people to rescue us or make something happen for us but that we are, in fact, in charge of doing that ourselves.
So things are really looking good for Shrek Four aren’t they?
CD: Yes, I hope so. I’m sure... I mean Shrek, you know... I don’t know what they’ll call – they’ll come up with some clever you know title I’m sure.
Shrek Goes Fourth.
CD: Yes. That’s wonderful. I’m gonna mention that to Jeffrey Katzenberg.
Can I get money?
CD: [LAUGHS] I’ll give you credit. [LAUGHS]
Thank you. And finally, have you at home got a Fiona doll?
CD: I do have a Fiona doll. One really cool thing was after I think either the first or second Shrek, maybe the second Shrek, they gave us a big huge basket of all the sort of Shrek paraphernalia. You know, of all the dolls and everything that they had created at Dreamworks. And so it’s sort of like a collector’s basket, which is really cool.
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