The Simpsons: Lisa Actress Recounts the Episode That Made Her Sob
Yeardley Smith recounts which episode of the longest running animated series in the U.S. made her shed some big tears.
The Simpsons has been running for decades and in that time, Lisa Simpsons has been brought to life by voice actor Yeardley Smith. Despite the animated series' long history on the small screen, there has been no hint that the story of Springfield will be ending any time soon. In a recent interview, Smith took the opportunity to talk about one of the most emotional scenes that took place in the early years of The Simpsons.
Smith recently spoke with the outlet Vulture about the recording of the second season episode of The Simpsons, "Lisa's Substitute", and how she found herself sobbing during one particular exchange, "I remember recording that scene with Dan Castellaneta and losing my shit in that recording and just, again, sobbing. I think even my castmates at the end were like, "Wow, Yeardley, what a great recording. I think it's going to be a terrific episode." People think you can do less behind the microphone because nobody sees my tears. But for me, I don't know how to separate being on camera and being in front of the microphone. Why would you somehow give less of your heart and soul and everything you know how to do just because nobody physically sees you? But I do think that day they were a little worried: "Okay, do we have any more Kleenex? Because it's a lot of snot here."
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Yeardley then spoke more about the particular scene, expressing how her own background influenced her performance, "I think what I was aware of was that I obviously really loved my father, but it was not an easy relationship. The whole theme of the episode is Homer doesn't understand or really even see Lisa for who she is, and that was very much a feeling I had in my life at that time with my own father. So it was incredibly serendipitous and cathartic to be able to express the enormous amount of grief that is tied to feeling like you're not seen. I knew that at the time when we were recording it, and I knew that all I needed to do was tap into that feeling of invisibility, and anything I needed in terms of emotion would be present."
What has been your favorite Lisa Simpson moment in the history of the long-running animated series? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and the world of The Simpsons.