NEW YORK (AP) – Brian d'Arcy James makes for a very unlikely ogre. And no one was more surprised than the actor himself when he was cast as the famous green hero of "Shrek the Musical", which opened on Broadway on Sunday.

The slim five-feet-nine-inches tall actor who comes to the door of his comfortable dressing room at the Broadway Theatre is far from Shrek-sized. He's friendly, thoughtful and almost soft-spoken, nearly the opposite of his stage persona.

The differences between James and his character make the actor's transformation into Shrek – the endearingly gruff star of the 2001 animated movie and its sequels – that much more dramatic.

"Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think that this would come up in my radar," James says. "When my agent called, he said, 'They want to see you for Shrek'. And I said, 'Wow, OK, well what role?' And he said, 'For Shrek'. And I said, 'I know they're doing "Shrek the Musical". What part?"'

Brian d'Arcy James is not a household name like Mike Myers, who voiced the green ogre on screen, but his long theatre resume has cemented his reputation as one of the most respected actors on the New York stage. His list of Broadway musical credits include a starring role in "The Apple Tree" opposite Kristin Chenoweth and a Tony-nominated performance in "Sweet Smell of Success".

Most recently, he won sterling reviews for his role as a hard-drinking Irishman in Conor McPherson's off-Broadway drama, "Port Authority".

Princess Fiona is played by Sutton Foster, who has a distinguished Broadway resume of her own, most recently starring as Inga in "Young Frankenstein". She counts herself among James' biggest fans.

"Every night, when he sings to me at the end of the show, I think, 'Brian D'Arcy James is singing to me!"' says Foster, who "squealed with delight" when director Jason Moore told her that James was up for the role.

"I think that what makes this ogre so charming is that Brian has found this kind of delicate balance between this grouch, who doesn't want any friends, and this core that is tender and vulnerable," says the play's Donkey, Daniel Breaker, a recent star of "Passing Strange".

In fact, James said his role in "Port Authority", which was still in performances when he began rehearsals for "Shrek", gave him some insight into Shrek.

"That character was so beautifully lost and inept and a bull in a china shop," James says about his "Port Authority" role. He even wore a small fat pad for the part, in a taste of what awaited him in "Shrek".

The padded white suits that lend James Shrek's protruding gut, broad shoulders and stocky legs hangs in a corner of his dressing room. The 40-year-old shows off the pieces of his costume with almost boyish enthusiasm – holding up Shrek's heavy pants, rustic tunic and tattered, ill-fitting vest.

There are Shrek's hands – two thick green gloves that look surprisingly lifelike from the stage. Also, Shrek's giant boots, which house smaller boots that fit James' feet. The platform soles add extra inches to his height. James' face goes through an even more dramatic transfiguration. Three prosthetics are used to give him Shrek's bulbous nose and prominent chin before the green makeup is applied.

"So you can see that this – around my eyes and around my mouth – is really the only thing that's visible," he says. The prosthetics are attached to a cowl, which he describes as "basically a football helmet and shoulder pads situation with the face cut out."

The result is unrecognisable, except for his brown eyes and thick black eyebrows.

To prevent overheating, the show's costumers tuck ice packets into pockets of the athletic long underwear James wears under his padded suit. Even so, he is soaked with sweat by the end of each performance.

Turning into Shrek takes James about an hour and a half. Getting out of costume after each show takes between 30 and 40 minutes.

To avoid parroting Myers' performance in the animated trilogy, James hasn't watched the "Shrek" movies since he first auditioned for the role. At the same time, he says he feels a responsibility to be true to the audience's memories of the character.

The show's most passionate fans and toughest critics may be the children who were raised on the movies, including his own seven-year-old daughter, Grace, with his wife, actress Jennifer Prescott. Grace, who hasn't seen the show since its out-of-town tryouts in Seattle, is going to be in the audience on opening night.

"Hopefully we'll pass muster with her," James says.