Pamela Hayden has her causes for leaving “The Simpsons.”
“How many actors can say they’ve worked on a show for 35 years straight?” the 70-year-old voice actress informed Selection on Sunday, the day her closing episode on the present aired. “That alone is amazing. But it was time for me to devote my time to other creative endeavors that I have, like filmmaking.”
“It was a tough decision,” she added, “but I feel like it was the right one.”
Hayden has voiced numerous characters, together with Bart’s finest buddy, Milhouse Van Houten, on the animated present since 1989.
She introduced her retirement 4 days earlier than final evening’s episode.
“It’s just not like anything I’ve ever worked on,” Hayden informed Selection. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime job on a once-in-a-lifetime show. But being an actor, I think you’re kind of used to taking risks. That’s the kind of person I am. I’m not about playing things safe. And there were other things I wanted to do. I think you throw it against the wall and see what sticks.”
Hayden mentioned that she’s discovered lots from enjoying Milhouse for over three a long time on tv.
“What I liked about Milhouse is even though he gets kicked around, he always feels like tomorrow’s going to be a better day. Whether it is or not. And I think that’s great. It’s a good analogy for life,” she shared.
“The Simpsons” producers shall be holding auditions to search out replacements for Milhouse and Hayden’s different characters, which embrace Springfield Elementary bully Jimbo Jones, Ned Flanders’ son Rod, Chief Wiggum’s spouse and Ralph Wiggum’s mother Sarah and Lisa Simpson’s buddy Janey Powell.
“I know they won’t kill them off because it’s a comedy,” she mentioned. “You don’t want to kill off a 10-year-old character!”
Hayden additionally shared her recommendation for the brand new voices of Milhouse and firm, saying, “It’s a sticky wicket in the sense that, I don’t think it’s ever good to just do an impression. It is a difficult task put your stamp on a character, but to still make it sound like the character that has already originated. You want them to bring their own gift to the party.”
Now that she’s left “The Simpsons,” Hayden is targeted on her documentary “Jailhouse to Milhouse,” which is about her troubled upbringing that concerned an abusive boarding college and juvenile jail.
Hayden mentioned that she hoped the challenge — which premiered on the Heartland Movie Competition final 12 months — would “inspire people who have fallen through the cracks to still have hope.”
“It’s about my life,” she informed Selection, “and there were a few really hanky years there when I was younger. When I speak to at-risk girls, I say, ‘If I can do it, you can do it.’ Because that’s true. I’m no different than them.”
“The Simpsons,” presently in its thirty sixth season, airs Sundays at 8 p.m. ET on Fox.
