Yeardley Smith's life before The Simpsons was a chequered one. After finishing school in 1982 she got lucky and landed a part on Broadway in The Real Thing with Glenn Glose and Jeremy Irons. Things continued to improve and she moved to New York and got an agent.
"Everything happened fast for the first couple of years," Yeardley says. "Then things ground to a halt quickly and I thought, 'Great, I'm 20 and I'm a Once Was already!'"
She was on stage when doing Living On Salvation Street when she was spotted by The Simpsons' casting director, Bonita Pietila, who noticed her unusual voice.
Matt Groening on Yeardley's unique voice box: "It's a happy fluke. When she was cast back in 1987, I just liked the sound of her voice. She's also a great actress. In general, people who make their living doing voices on cartoons aren't always great for us. Most cartoons want things peppy and cartoony. Yeardley is able to go through moments of great emotion and wring it for all she's worth."
After years of playing Lisa, Yeardley feels closer to
her than any other character she has portrayed. She is very protective of Lisa,
and is often critical of the words writers try to shove down her throat. "The
trouble with [the show's approach] to Lisa sometimes is that they make her take
a stand, but they forget that she's a kid... no matter how much of a genius she
may be, she has to be passionate in a way only a child can be."
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