Editing Yeardley Smith (section)

===''The Simpsons''===
{{Quote box |width=30em | bgcolor=transparent |align=right |quote=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.|salign=right|source=—[[Matt Groening]] on Smith's vocal style<ref name=love/>}}
Smith's longest-running role is voicing [[Lisa Simpson]] on ''The Simpsons''. She has voiced Lisa since 1987, beginning with ''[[The Simpsons shorts]]'' on ''The Tracey Ullman Show''. Smith had initially been asked to audition for the role of Lisa's brother [[Bart Simpson|Bart]], but casting director [[Bonita Pietila]] thought her voice was too high. Smith later recalled "I always sounded too much like a girl, I read two lines as Bart and they said, 'Thanks for coming!'"<ref name=austele/><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.mtv.com/movies/news/articles/1565538/20070725/story.jhtml |title='Simpsons' Trivia, From Swearing Lisa To 'Burns-Sexual' Smithers |access-date=July 29, 2007 |date=October 26, 2008 |first=Larry |last=Carroll |publisher=MTV |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071220140402/http://www.mtv.com/movies/news/articles/1565538/20070725/story.jhtml |archive-date=December 20, 2007 }}</ref> Smith was given the role of Lisa, instead. She denies rumors that she almost turned down the role, though admits she had never planned a career in voice-over work.<ref>{{cite news| url= https://www.newshub.co.nz/entertainment/yeardley-smith-life-as-lisa-simpson-2013052413| work= 3 News NZ| title= Life as Lisa Simpson| date= May 24, 2013| access-date= September 24, 2020| archive-date= August 7, 2018| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180807185813/https://www.newshub.co.nz/entertainment/yeardley-smith-life-as-lisa-simpson-2013052413| url-status= dead}}</ref> Pietila stated that, having seen her in ''Living on Salvation Street'',<ref name=austele/> Smith was always her preferred choice.<ref name=love/> Smith lifts her voice up slightly to perform the role.<ref name=austele>{{cite news|title=She who laughs last| date= December 8, 2007| page=8E| work=[[The Daily Telegraph (Sydney)]]|first= Charles |last= Miranda}}</ref> Lisa is the only regular character voiced by Smith, although in some earlier episodes, she provided some of [[Maggie Simpson|Maggie]]'s squeaks and occasional speaking parts.<ref name=com>{{cite video | people=Smith, Yeardley|date=2007|title=Audio commentary for ''[[The Simpsons Movie]]''| medium= DVD| publisher=20th Century Fox}}</ref> Smith has only voiced characters other than Lisa on very rare occasions, with those characters usually being some derivative of Lisa, such as Lisa Bella in "[[Last Tap Dance in Springfield]]" and Lisa, Jr. in "[[Missionary: Impossible]]" (both from [[The Simpsons (season 11)|season 11]] in 2000).<ref name=name>Smith, Yeardley. (2005). Commentary for "[[Missionary: Impossible]]", in ''The Simpsons: The Complete Eleventh Season'' [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.</ref> Smith spends two days a week recording the show.<ref name=guard/>

Until 1998, Smith was paid $30,000 per episode. During a pay dispute in 1998, Fox threatened to replace the six main voice actors with new actors, going as far as preparing to cast new voices.<ref name=Glaister/> However, the dispute was soon resolved and she received $125,000 per episode until 2004, when the voice actors demanded that they be paid $360,000 per episode.<ref name=Glaister>{{cite news|url=http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/04/02/1080544690429.html|title=Simpsons actors demand bigger share|access-date=February 10, 2009|date=April 3, 2004|author=Glaister, Dan|newspaper=The Age|archive-date=November 16, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131116081914/http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/04/02/1080544690429.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The issue was resolved a month later,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/simpsons-cast-goes-back-to-work/|title='Simpsons' Cast Goes Back To Work|access-date=February 10, 2009|date=May 1, 2004|work=[[CBS News]]|archive-date=November 10, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131110113625/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/05/01/entertainment/main615066.shtml|url-status=live}}</ref> and Smith earned $250,000 per episode.<ref name="Sheridan"/> After salary renegotiations in 2008, the voice actors received about $400,000 per episode.<ref>{{cite news | title = Simpsons cast sign new pay deal | work = [[BBC News]] | date = June 3, 2008 | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7434296.stm | access-date = February 10, 2009 | archive-date = June 20, 2018 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180620154525/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7434296.stm | url-status = live }}</ref> Three years later, with Fox threatening to cancel the series unless production costs were cut, Smith and the other cast members accepted a 25% pay cut, down to just over $300,000 per episode.<ref>{{cite news|last=Block|first=Alex Ben|title='The Simpsons' Renewed for Two More Seasons|url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/simpsons-renewed-two-more-seasons-245748|work=[[The Hollywood Reporter]]|access-date=October 15, 2011|date=October 7, 2011|archive-date=January 25, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160125073424/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/simpsons-renewed-two-more-seasons-245748|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Yeardley Smith 2012.png|thumb|Smith at the [[At Long Last Leave#Promotion|''Simpsons'' 500th Episode Marathon]], February 2012]]
Despite her world-famous role, Smith is rarely recognized in public, which she does not mind, saying, "it's wonderful to be in the midst of all this hype about the show, and people enjoying the show so much, and to be totally a [[fly on the wall]]; people never recognise me solely from my voice."<ref name="Sheridan">{{cite news|title=Meet the Simpsons|date=May 6, 2004|newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph (Sydney)|Daily Express]]| first=Peter |last= Sheridan}}</ref> In a 2009 interview with ''[[The Guardian]]'', she commented: "It's the best job ever. I have nothing but gratitude for the amount of freedom ''The Simpsons'' has bought me in my life."<ref name=guard>{{cite news |url= https://www.theguardian.com/film/2009/jan/16/lisa-simpson-yeardley-smith-film |title= From Springfield to Tinseltown |date= January 16, 2009 |first= Lisa |last= Marks |work= [[The Guardian]] |access-date= February 16, 2009 |archive-date= October 13, 2013 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131013100608/http://www.theguardian.com/film/2009/jan/16/lisa-simpson-yeardley-smith-film |url-status= live }}</ref>

Smith received a [[Primetime Emmy Award]] in 1992, but felt it was not worth anything, saying "there's part of me that feels it wasn't even a real Emmy." The Emmy for [[Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance|Outstanding Voice-Over Performance]] is a [[Creative Arts Emmy Award|Creative Arts]] and not handed out during the primetime telecast and, prior to 2009, was a juried award without nominations.<ref name="Happy">{{cite news| title=She's happy as Lisa Simpson, although she'd like more d'oh |date=April 4, 2004|work=[[The Spokesman-Review]]|publisher=Associated Press|first=Heidi | last= Vogt}}</ref> However, Smith says "if I had to be associated with one character in fiction, I will always be thrilled that it was Lisa Simpson."<ref name="Happy"/> The show's creator [[Matt Groening]] has called Smith very similar to Lisa: "Yeardley has strong moral views about her character. There are lines that are written for Lisa that Yeardley reads and says, 'No, I wouldn't say that.{{'"}}<ref name=love/> Writer [[Jay Kogen]] praised her performance on the show, particularly in the episode "[[Lisa's Substitute]]", as able "to move past comedy to something really strong and serious and dramatic".<ref name=love/>