Jennifer Tilly Says She Almost Played Marge Simpson
Jennifer Tilly might be best known for voicing Bonnie Swanson on Family Guy, starring as Tiffany Valentine in The Bride of Chucky and for awakening every ‘90s lesbian with her portrayal of Violet in 1995’s Bound, but her storied career almost took a detour through Springfield, with the actress alleging she was once a close contender for the role of Marge Simpson.
Weeks after getting candid about her connection to The Simpsons via her late ex-husband, series co-creator Sam Simon, a newly resurfaced interview has revealed that marriage was far from Tilly’s only tie to the long-running animated series, The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star explaining how she once read for Marge amid uncertainties of the show’s recording format.
“I remember the first episode, Sam had the idea that he wanted everyone to be in the room,” Tilly recalled of The Simpsons early days during her 2021 appearance on The Adam Carolla Show. “So it would be like a radio play, which is pretty unheard of for cartoons.”
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Because Julie Kavner, who obviously would go on to voice Marge throughout the show’s 36 seasons (and counting), was eyeing a move to New York, questions arose about her future on the series. “She he wanted to move to New York,” Tilly explained. “She didn’t want to be tied down to L.A.”
Uncertain of whether they could sweet talk Kavner to park it on Evergreen Terrace, Simon decided to see how his then wife would fare as the famous family’s blue-haired matriarch. “They were thinking they weren’t going to get Julie Kavner, so Sam gave me the script, and he goes, ‘Jennifer, I think you can do this,’” she said.
Script in hand, Tilly immediately got to work, crafting her take on Springfield’s most famous housewife.
“I was walking around all week and going, 'Homer, Homer, I don’t think that’s a good idea.' And I wasn’t an impersonator, but I thought I was fabulous!” Tilly said of her DIY Simpsons boot camp. Those reps of “Homer, Homer!” were ultimately for naught, though. Kavner, as we all know, ultimately made it work with the show’s overlords, taking her rightful place as Marge.
That said, Tilly still got a pretty sweet deal out of it. As a wise, animated woman once said while parodying herself on The Simpsons: “Start with your Simpsons money, use a little girl voice and take ‘em for everything they’ve got! Now, I’m needed on the set of Bride of Chucky 5.”
