The Simpsons is the biggest cartoon comedy in the world, with suburban couple Homer and Marge at its heart. From their beginnings as high-school sweethearts to the travails of married life, they’re an unbreakable pair. Gag-heavy as it may be, it’s also a series with plenty of sentimental plots, from Homer giving up his beloved Duff beer for a month to prove his love to Marge, to Marge composing a heartfelt poem to a dying Homer (miraculously, he makes it through his sushi-induced food poisoning).
Not even the temptations of a brunch-loving bowling instructor called Jacques or a doughnut-guzzling redhead called Mindy could get between them. Plus, of course, they enjoy the occasional “snuggle” (even on a miniature golf course … ). Now in its 38th season, The Simpsons has also been a huge hit across the globe, meaning hundreds of international actors have voiced this much-loved couple.
Among them are Philippe Peythieu and Véronique Augereau, who – as well as playing Marge and Homer in the French dub of The Simpsons since 1990 – met through the show and ended up getting married. Meanwhile in Los Angeles, he said, everyone he worked with was getting divorced …” The pair record their scenes together with a director in a Paris dubbing studio over 10-12 days a year. But clearly The Simpsons is a 365-day-a-year commitment, from appearances at galas and conventions to the gifts they receive from adoring fans.
Both are adamant that they wouldn’t carry on without the other, which means a definite non to AI taking over in the future. There will always be roles that require a human soul, she adds, and – for Peythieu and Augereau – this role has given them each a soulmate to boot. Philippe Peythieu: We met at a casting call in 1989 – it was only six months after The Simpsons had debuted in the US, so it wasn’t a success there yet.
We auditioned, and then six months later – by fax – we found out we had got the roles. Véronique Augereau: Philippe and I didn’t know each other well at all. When we were trying out, we crossed paths in the hallway at the dubbing offices and greeted each other but we were just colleagues – we weren’t even friends at that stage.
There’s a video of us at a wrap party for the first series and we’re just walking right past each other, not even speaking, let alone stealing any glances! PP: Voilà, that’s how this beautiful story began. The recording process brought us closer together, since we were working in the darkness of the studio, and so we became more than friends … We had to be very discreet in the beginning, because this was a professional setting, but eventually word got out and we were inseparable from that point on.
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