‘The Simpsons’ is speechless
The actors who provide the voices for the cartoon characters on the long-running TV show “The Simpsons” have stopped work in a bid to force a settlement of lengthy contract renewal talks, Daily Variety reported Thursday.
The Hollywood trade paper said Dan Castellaneta, Hank Azaria, Harry Shearer, Yeardley Smith, Julie Kavner and Nancy Cartwright have not shown up for two script readings in the past few weeks, holding up production on the hit satire’s upcoming 16th season.
It quoted insiders as saying each cast member is asking for about $360,000 an episode, or $8 million for a 22-episode season. Each member currently earns $125,000 an episode.
The last “Simpsons” work dispute was in 1998, when the actors were making $30,000 per episode.
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