Lead voices of 'Shrek 2' to appear at Cannes

The well-known voices from "Shrek 2," who strolled down the green carpet at the recent premiere in Westwood, will be marching up the red carpet at the Cannes International Film Festival Saturday night.

The sequel to the Oscar-winning CGI blockbuster is an early competitor. And the lead voices -- Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, Eddie Murphy, Julie Andrews, Antonio Banderas, John Cleese and Rupert Everett -- will represent the animated characters. After all, being a voice is one of the best, and most lucrative, roles in Hollywood.

"A man my age definitely wants a job like this!" said Cleese (Princess Fiona's father). "You don't have to get up early, you don't have to shave and you don't have to learn your lines."

Not that there isn't work involved. "Being a voice is a lot more difficult than you think because you don't have any other performers to bounce off against," explained Andrews (Princess Fiona's mother).

"Voice work is a very creative process with lots of improvisation," echoed Banderas (Puss-in-Boots), who arrived with wife Melanie Griffith. "It's like playing jazz."

But, heck, even going to premieres can be tough.

"People think that doing voice work, and appearing at premieres in California and Cannes, is not a real job," added Rupert Everett (Prince Charming), not too convincingly. "We might try to have some fun in the south of France but let me assure you that all of this is really hard work."

Hard work maybe. But one of the celebs at the "Shrek 2" premiere in Westwood is getting into the voice biz.

"I'm going to be a voice on 'Father of the Pride' that will be broadcast next fall," confided Cheryl Hines of "Curb Your Enthusiasm."

The series is about a family of white lions who perform in the Las Vegas act of illusionists Siegfried & Roy.

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