Jennifer Tilly's Connection to The Simpsons Runs Deeper Than We Thought
Go inside The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills' Jennifer Tilly's personal, financial, and career connections to The Simpsons.
Throughout The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills Season 14, Jennifer Tilly has been open about her connection to another show, The Simpsons. The actress and RHOBH friend has previously opened up about her connection to the longstanding cartoon show due to her ex-husband, Sam Simon, who passed away in 2015.
But, Jennifer's association with The Simpsons runs much deeper than just her owning a piece of it and being attached to it through her ex-husband (more on that below). In fact, Jennifer almost played one of the lead characters on The Simpsons. Don't believe us? Well, we dug up all the details!
Jennifer Tilly explains divorce settlement from The Simpsons' Sam Simon
Jennifer has been very open about her divorce settlement from her ex and the money she receives from it due to Sam's huge role as a creator of the series.
"My ex-husband was Sam Simon, who created The Simpsons," she explained during Season 14, Episode 3. "I was married to him for about seven years and we were together about 10 years. And then when we got divorced, I got a piece from The Simpsons in the divorce settlement, and nobody knew that The Simpsons was going to go on for trillions of years. So, every day, honestly, every day I'm like, 'Thank you, Sam.'"
Jennifer Tilly explains how she almost played Marge Simpson
Jennifer appeared on an episode of The Adam Corolla Show on Nov. 11, 2021, where she revealed that Sam had wanted all of the voice actors to be in the same room while recording the show which is how she almost landed the part of Marge Simpson.
"I remember the first episode, Sam had the idea that he wanted everyone to be in the room," she said. "So it would be like a radio play, which is pretty unheard of for cartoons."
But, Julie Kavner, who ended up being the voice behind Marge Simpson on the show, was a little resistant to this idea. "I remember Julie Kavner didn't want to do it. She was like, she wanted to move to New York. She didn't want to be tied down to LA," Jennifer recalled. "She didn't know. So they were wondering, they were thinking they weren't going to get Julie Kavner, so Sam gave me the script, and he goes 'Jennifer, I think you can do this!'"
Jennifer went on to explain: "So I was supposed to come in on Monday and read for Marge. So I was walking around all week and going, 'Homer, Homer, I don't think that's a good idea.' And I wasn't an impersonator, but I thought I was fabulous!" she recalled. "I was like, 'Yeah! I'm gonna be on a cartoon show!' Because, you know, it's kinda hard getting a toehold in this business."
But, at the last minute, they struck a deal with Julie. "She's the only person that got this, as far as I know, where she could do it no matter where," Jennifer said. "I did go on as myself, as Jennifer Tilly, Chucky movie star, that had a gambling problem."
What episode of The Simpsons is Jennifer Tilly on?
As Jennifer explained, she has a cameo on The Simpsons Season 24, Episode 4, in the episode titled "Gone Abie Gone" which aired on Nov. 11, 2012.
In the episode, Lisa Simpson starts gambling away her college fund by playing poker. Jennifer (who plays herself and is a professional poker player in real life) appears as the host of Lisa's "How to Gamble" DVD, where she explains how to become a professional poker player.
"Start with your Simpsons money, use a little girl voice, and take 'em for everything they've got!" Jennifer says during her brief appearance on the episode, poking fun at herself. "Now, I'm needed on the set of Bride of Chucky 5."
