Mike Myers famously cost the studio $4 million extra during the production of 'Shrek' because he demanded to do what?

Myers Re-recorded Shrek With a Scottish Accent

Mike Myers asked to redo Shrek’s dialogue in a Scottish accent after first recording the character in a different voice. The change became a costly late-stage adjustment: the studio had already built scenes around the original performance, so replacing it meant more than booking Myers for another recording session.

Why a Voice Change Reached the Animation

In an animated film, dialogue helps set the timing of a scene. Animators shape a character’s mouth movements and expressions to match the recorded performance; editors also fit pauses, reactions and cuts around its rhythm. A new recording can shift the length and emphasis of lines, requiring parts of that work to be revisited.

Myers’s Scottish voice gave Shrek a more particular comic personality, but the choice came with a production cost. The reported extra $4 million reflects the ripple effect of changing a central performance after the film was already underway—not simply the price of recording the lines twice.