Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz)

Lore & Background

Fiona is loosely based on the unsightly princess in William Steig's children's book Shrek! (1990), from which her role and appearance were significantly modified. The screenwriters adapted the character into a princess under a shapeshifting enchantment, an idea initially greatly contested by other filmmakers. In early drafts of the script, Fiona is born an ogre to human parents, who lock her in a tower to conceal her true nature and lie about her appearance to their subjects.

One day, Fiona seeks help from a witch named Dama Fortuna, who offers her a choice between two potions, warning her that only one will turn her beautiful. Fiona selects the wrong potion, entitled 'Beauty', and only after drinking it learns that the elixir renders her human during the day before reverting every night. The writers had originally intended for Fiona's backstory to be the film's prologue, but discarded it after test audiences found the scene depressing.

Additionally, Shrek 2 reveals why Fiona was locked in a tower in the first place, with the filmmakers realizing they could use some of the first film's abandoned concepts to gradually unveil more details about Fiona's story throughout the series. For Shrek 2, they decided to reimagine Dama Fortuna as Fiona's conniving fairy godmother and the sequel's main villain, who uses magic against Fiona and Shrek's marriage.

Reader's Guide

The character is considered a parody of traditional princesses in both fairy tales and animated Disney films. Reception towards Fiona has been mostly positive, with critics commending her characterization, martial arts prowess and Diaz's performance. However, reviewers were divided over the character's human design, some of whom were impressed by her technological innovations, while others found her realism unsettling and too similar to Diaz. Several media publications consider Fiona a feminist icon, crediting her with subverting princess and gender stereotypes by embracing her flaws.

Fiona was one of the first human characters to have a lead role in a computer-animated film, thus the animators aspired to make her both beautiful and realistic in appearance. However, an early test screening resulted in children reacting negatively towards the character's uncanny realism, prompting the animators to re-design Fiona into a more stylized, cartoonish heroine. Several revolutionary achievements in computer animation were applied to the character to render convincing skin, hair, clothing and lighting.

Diaz also became one of Hollywood's highest-paid actresses due to her role in the Shrek franchise, earning $3 million for her performance in the first film and upwards of $10 million for each sequel.

Did You Know?

• Actress Janeane Garofalo was originally cast as Fiona until she was fired from the first film with little explanation.
• Cameron Diaz once burped during a recording session, which was written into a scene for Fiona.