John Lithgow has made a reputation for himself by taking part in memorable characters like Winston Churchill in The Crown, Dick Solomon in third Rock From the Solar, and Arthur Mitchell in Dexter. Whereas his face is immediately recognizable, his voice can be a singular a part of his identification, and the proof is in 2001’s animated movie Shrek
. When viewers noticed Shrek, many acknowledged Eddie Murphy because the voice of Donkey, and a few have been additionally fast to acknowledge Lithgow because the voice of the villainous tyrant Lord Farquaad. Though the character made fairly an impression within the film, the actor admits that he did not suppose the film was going to that huge a deal. He thought he was giving voice to a “Saturday morning cartoon.”
Lithgow is within the highlight these days due to his confirmed participation within the Harry Potter TV reboot. He is set to play Hogwarts’ headmaster Albus Dumbledore within the collection. In a single day, Lithgow grew to become probably the most talked-about performers on the web and an ideal topic for Selection‘s net collection Know Their Traces. Within the video, Lithgow solutions just a few questions on his profession and he additionally should guess the character behind among the traces he reads. When he learn Farquaad’s, the actor revealed that he had an enormous false impression about what he was doing:
“I assumed it was like a Saturday morning cartoon or one thing. Not an enormous deal. I learn my dialogue. They confirmed me a maquette of this little character, Lord Farquaad. They usually confirmed me a whole lot of storyboards, animated storyboards. And I assumed, properly, this seems like enjoyable. These writers have been all there, they usually form of pitched what was humorous about this character.
“The curious factor was that was, like, 4 years earlier than we ever noticed Shrek. And they’d convey me again in as soon as each eight months or so to document some new materials. And it was like, ‘Oh, I gotta do that Shrek factor once more? What is that this?'”

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John Lithgow’s 10 Biggest Movie Roles
An actor’s actor, Lithgow used his mid-Atlantic voice and towering peak to carve out distinct film roles as heroes and villains.
The explanation why Lithgow needed to document new materials was most likely as a consequence of some vital adjustments in the remainder of the forged, one thing he additionally addresses whereas speaking to Selection: “Chris Farley was the unique Shrek, and he handed away. That they had to usher in Mike Myers. Mike Myers recorded the entire thing. Then they determined he ought to use his Scottish accent from his nice SNL sketches. So there are all types of issues that extended the method.”
‘Shrek’ Is Returning in 2026 With ‘Shrek 5’
Greater than 15 years after we final noticed the ogre in Shrek Ceaselessly After and numerous shorts and spin-offs, the franchise is making a comeback in 2026 with Shrek 5. The DreamWorks Animation manufacturing is bringing again the unique forged, including Zendaya to the crew as Shrek and Fiona’s daughter, Felicia. The discharge date for Shrek 5 is December 23, 2026.
A brand new Shrek sounds thrilling. However we won’t think about the tone the movie can have, contemplating right this moment’s politically right local weather within the leisure business. Nonetheless, this sounds just like the least of our worries. After a teaser trailer confirmed the brand new animation model DreamWorks has adopted for the sequel, there was a loud outcry from viewers who expressed their disdain for the brand new design of their beloved characters.
Supply: Selection

Shrek
- Launch Date
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Could 18, 2001
- Runtime
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90 minutes
- Director
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Andrew Adamson, Vicky Jenson