Yeardley Smith has been playing an eight-year-old for almost a quarter of a century, but the end is in sight – almost.
Smith, who is the voice of Lisa Simpson, reveals that The Simpsons won’t last forever. “I think we’re about half way done,” she jokes.
Smith says working on The Simpsons is “the best job in the world”.
“We record the episodes all together, like an old radio play. There are a lot of re- takes due to ‘unscripted laughter’,” she says.
The actress, who will headline Hamilton’s Armageddon expo at the weekend, says when the animated comedy first aired in 1989, as a segment on The Tracey Ullman Show, it was never aimed at children.
“The Simpsons was never meant for children,” she says. “It was a cartoon written for adults. The animation and Bart’s personality, in particular, just happen to be irresistible to children, as well.”
Smith has a reputation among fans for her singing voice but said she wouldn’t be exercising it in public anytime soon.
“I have good rhythm and good pitch, but I will not be guesting on American Idol any time soon.”
Smith will be joined at the expo by Sylvester McCoy, who played Radagast the Brown in The Hobbit but is best known for his role as the seventh Doctor in Doctor Who.
Other guests include actors Jason Momoa (Game of Thrones), Lance Henriksen (Aliens), Joe Flanigan (Stargate Atlantis), Mitch Pileggi (The X-Files) and Tony Amendola (Stargate SG1).
Various comic book writers and artists are also appearing at the event, which opens on Saturday.
Bill Geardts, organiser of the expo, says ticket sales for this year’s event were 10 per cent up on last year’s inaugural event.
“They are going extremely well, and we are already ahead of what we did last year when we had about 12,000 people come along. This year we are hoping for about 15,000 people, ” he says.
Follow Chris Gardner on Twitter @CHRISGARDNERNZ
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