Modified On June 29, 2007
Bill Muller of the Arizona Republic spoke to Janeane Garofalo who voices Colette in “Ratatouille.” It’s not the first time she’s done voiceover work for an animated feature.
She says she can only judge her performance on the basis that she wasn’t fired, as she was from Shrek. She did voice work over five months for Princess Fiona, a role that eventually went to Cameron Diaz.
“Luckily, Shrek didn’t do any business and nobody’s ever heard of it, so… ” she said with a laugh. “No one ever told me why. And it hurt my feelings so much.
“I never spoke to anyone again from the studio. There was a message left with my manager from somebody’s assistant that (said), ‘She’s fired.’ I don’t know why. I can only assume it was because I was not good. I accept that. But I don’t know, nobody ever . . . told me.
“I felt like a failure. It reminds me that I fail sometimes, so I never have been able to watch Shrek.”
Hooray for Hollywood! Where else can one be fired, via voicemail, with no explanation? (We suspect that the fat paycheck she received in return for her five months of V.O. was little consolation, especially after seeing Diaz on the red carpet. But, if initial reports on the cooking rat movie are any indication, Garofalo and Oswalt will be co-presenters at the next Oscars.)