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Walt Dohrn Video Interview On 'Shrek,' Rumpelstiltskin
The actor and writer who plays Rumpelstiltskin in Shrek 3D, Walt Dohrn, takes questions from Uinterview users about playing uber-villain Rumpelstiltskin
Q: You got this role almost accidentally. How did that happen?
A: I was helping to develop the character, helping design him, understand who he was. Then I started boarding some scenes and helping write them. I started forming the voice. They took me down to editorial and I was doing the voice just for scratch, just for temporary. About a year into it people started falling in love with it and Jeffrey Katzenberg said, ‘Let’s use Walt! Walt Dohrn rocks!’
Q: Rumpelstiltskin is such a great villain. Were there any real world models for him?
A: The director and I had a little stew of characters we liked a lot. One was Patty McCormack in The Bad Seed. It was this old 50s B horror movie with this child murderess and she had this innocence with a level of danger behind her. We also really loved Betty Davis in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane. Again this juvenescence, this youthfulness with a level of danger and humor. Another big one was Sean Penn in The Falcon and the Snowman. Kind of like rapid fire, an amazing performance. So we took a lot of these inspirations and put them all into one little stew.
Q: You worked with so many great actors on the film. What was your most memorable experience Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, and Eddie Murphy on Shrek Forever After?
A: Eddie Murphy, a huge hero of mine, it didn’t matter what he said. Any tiny sentence he made funny. Cameron Diaz, I always tell this story. She’s such an incredible actress. We’d be having this fight with each other because I’d play Shrek for her, Fiona. She’d stare in my eyes and she almost made me cry a couple times, I felt kinda bad. She’s amazing. Mike Myers we’d be hanging out having sandwiches in between recording and he’d tell the most incredible stories and we’d be laughing so hard it would take us a long time to get back down and get back to business.
Q: You also worked on the story. Were there any elements that could have turned out differently that you can tell us about? Also, is Rumpelstiltskin going to get his own movie now that Shrek is done?
A: A big challenge is doing a part four and keeping it fresh. I think that was really important to us. Keeping it fresh but at the same time adhering to the sophistication and the level of greatness that the brand had. I really think approaching a number four with a freshness was really our big challenge. Yeah you should get four more.
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I was helping to develop the character, helping design him, understand who he was. Then I started boarding some scenes and helping write them. I started forming the voice. They took me down to editorial and I was doing the voice just for scratch, just for temporary. About a year into it people started falling in love with it and Jeffrey Katzenberg said, 'Let's use Walt! Walt Dohrn rocks!'
The director and I had a little stew of characters we liked a lot. One was Patty McCormack in The Bad Seed. It was this old 50s B horror movie with this child murderess and she had this innocence with a level of danger behind her. We also really loved Betty Davis in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane. Again this juvenescence, this youthfulness with a level of danger and humor. Another big one was Sean Penn in The Falcon and the Snowman. Kind of like rapid fire, an amazing performance. So we took a lot of these inspirations and put them all into one little stew.
Eddie Murphy, a huge hero of mine, it didn't matter what he said. Any tiny sentence he made funny. Cameron Diaz, I always tell this story. She's such an incredible actress. We'd be having this fight with each other because I'd play Shrek for her, Fiona. She'd stare in my eyes and she almost made me cry a couple times, I felt kinda bad. She's amazing. Mike Myers we'd be hanging out having sandwiches in between recording and he'd tell the most incredible stories and we'd be laughing so hard it would take us a long time to get back down and get back to business.
A big challenge is doing a part four and keeping it fresh. I think that was really important to us. Keeping it fresh but at the same time adhering to the sophistication and the level of greatness that the brand had. I really think approaching a number four with a freshness was really our big challenge. Yeah you should get four more.
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