Why Didn’t ‘The Simpsons’ Hire This Former ‘SNL’ Cast Member to Play Milhouse?
Simpsons fans can all breathe a sigh of relief because the show finally announced that they have secured a new voice actor to play Milhouse. originated by Pamela Hayden, which was created purely so that Bart had someone to talk to while marketing candy bars to children.
We’ll all have to wait until Sunday night to find out how Macleod’s Milhouse sounds, but we just learned that a familiar name unsuccessfully tried out for the part: former Saturday Night Live cast member Melissa Villaseñor.
“I’ve been good guys, okay?” Villaseñor told the crowd at a recent stand-up set. “Maybe I’m not in a lot of movies and shows, but I’ve been doing a lot of cartoon work. You know what I did that was cool, I didn’t get it, but I auditioned for Milhouse from The Simpsons.”
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After the audience audibly gasped, she added, “But I still worked hard on it, can I share it with you?”
Villaseñor then launched into her Milhouse impression, which sounded incredibly authentic. She also did a little bit of Marge Simpson, presumably in case Julie Kavner decides to retire in the next few years. “I like doing cartoons, it’s so fun,” she went on to explain. “You know what’s beautiful about it? I don’t have a joke for this yet, but I like that I don’t have to worry about my face and getting old. You know? I could get ugly, you don’t know.”
Villaseñor has lent her talents to a number of animated shows in recent years, including Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight, Max and the Midnights and Rock, Paper, Scissors. Which does beg the question: Why didn’t the show hire her?
To be clear, this isn’t a knock against Macleod, who we haven’t heard yet and who, for all we know, will be great. But Villaseñor does a spot-on Milhouse voice, has experience working in animation and has proven that she has good comedic instincts as a performer. Plus, had The Simpsons cast her, “Dolly Parton” could have guest starred in every single episode.
On the SNL subreddit, one fan suggested that Milhouse’s voice should be “deeper and raspier.” Another argued that Villaseñor’s impression sounded more like Butters from South Park.
In any case, it’s too bad that Villaseñor didn’t secure the Milhouse role because it sure seems like The Simpsons pays its cast a lot more than Saturday Night Live does.