“Hoooomer! For the majority of Quebecers, Marge Simpson is her. More than the raspy voice: the intonations, the tone, the hesitation – “mmmh” – the mixture of authority and affection for her goofy husband and three children. After 33 seasons of breathing life into the most famous mother of the small screen, Béatrice Picard says goodbye.
Posted at 5:19 p.m
“It was time for me to leave the role before the role left me,” the actress said in an interview with La Presse after she’d just dubbed the final episode of next season. To mark the occasion, he was presented with a bouquet of flowers in the Difuze studio.
PHOTO FROM DIFUZE FACEBOOK PAGE
Béatrice Picard during her final session dubbing the voice of Marge Simpson
“I’ll be 94 years old,” stresses the doyenne of Quebec’s distribution. I think I’m getting a little old to play Marge. The head of the family with the dizzyingly blue bun, frozen in time, has not yet reached forty, according to various clues in Matt Groening’s series, of which Fox is airing its 34th season in the US.
Béatrice Picard has lent her vocal cords to Marjorie Jacqueline Simpson since the satirical series Camp in Springfield began in 1989. By comparison, her American counterpart, actress Julie Kavner, is 72, while French voice actress Véronique Augereau is in her mid-sixties.
The Quebec actress, who doesn’t tend to be nostalgic, affirms that Marge Simpson, née Bouvier, will have been “a character like no other” in her long career. However, it is evident, especially from the comments published on social networks on Wednesday, that his interpreter will not have been “a voice like any other” for a whole generation of supporters of the yellow-skinned family, according to the image of the laughter it causes.
PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, ARCHIVE LA PRESSE
Béatrice Picard recorded the voice of Marge Simpson at the Cinélume studio in 2007.
For example, Guy-Antoine St-Cyr, humorous author and “absolute fan” of The Simpsons, wrote on Facebook that “a page, even a chapter, of the history of the Quebec dubbing will be opened today.” “Thanks to Béatrice Picard, who rocked my whole life with her hoarse voice. It’s a well-deserved retirement. »
Let’s insist a little: Doesn’t the matriarch Simpson have some points in common with the one who gave her her voice for over 30 years? “She’s a woman who has a lot of influence over the rest of the family because she’s the main organizer and eventually dumps Béatrice Picard. Maybe it’s the small side that resembles me. »
A different context
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Béatrice Picard admits she’s lost a bit of joy in her once “very enjoyable” job as a voice actress. “It got a little more complicated. We used to work as a team, which I really liked, while now we’re all alone in the studio to say our lines. »
It’s worth remembering that the Quebec Simpsons team has lost a number of veterans in recent years. Hubert Gagnon, who played homer for 27 years, retired in 2017. He died of cancer three years later.
The despicable Mr Burns, meanwhile, was forced to redefine himself after his 1989-2019 actor Edgar Fruitier was prosecuted for indecently assaulting a minor. He was found guilty in July 2020.
In 2007, without drama, Marc Labrèche passed the clown Krusty’s torch to Gilbert Lachance.
Béatrice Picard reassures the nostalgic: Marge Simpson’s future is in good hands. “The person who will replace me is supposed to be wrong,” she said. You won’t even notice the difference. She works very, very, very well. »
PHOTO FROM FOX FACEBOOK PAGE
Marge Simpson in Season 33 of The Simpsons
It is the actress Chantal Baril, interpreter for Milhouse, appointed to succeed Béatrice Picard.
The 93-year-old actress is working on new projects. “It’s my departure from Marge, but not from Béatrice,” affirms the one who, like Marjorie Bouvier’s character, multiplies her snubs over time.