The Simpsons find new voice actor for fan-favorite character

Everything’s coming up Milhouse: The Simpsons have found a new voice actor to play the beloved nerd.

Pamela Hayden, who played the character for 35 years, announced her retirement from the long-running Fox sitcom last November.

Now, Entertainment Weekly reports that Kelly Macleod will voice Milhouse Van Houten in the season 36 finale "Estranger Things,” which is set to air this Sunday, May 18.

According to the episode's official description: "When Bart & Lisa stop watching Itchy & Scratchy together, Marge fears that they’ll start to drift apart... but she has no idea how bad things are about to get!"

Per Entertainment Weekly, Macleod’s Milhouse only delivers a single line in the episode, in a flash-forward sequence where he, Bart, and Lisa are all adults.

Hayden also voiced dozens of other Simpsons characters, including Jimbo Jones, Rod Flanders and Malibu Stacy. It has not been announced whether Macleod or another actor will play those roles.

Macleod has appeared on The Simpsons once before, singing the song “Two Badges, One Mind” in 2022 in the season 33 episode "Bart the Cool Kid." The episode also featured guest appearances from The Weeknd and Michael Rapaport.

Macleod made her name as the singer of rock band Private Life, best remembered for their 1990 single "Touch Me" which appeared in Wayne's World and Gremlins 2: The New Batch.

When Hayden retired, she said in a statement: “The time has come for me to hang up my microphone, but how do I say goodbye to The Simpsons? Not easily.

“It’s been an honor and a joy to have worked on such a funny, witty, and groundbreaking show. … I’ll always have a special place in my heart for that blue-haired 10-year-old boy with glasses.”

The Simpsons creator Matt Groening added: “Pamela gave us tons of laughs with Milhouse, the hapless kid with the biggest nose in Springfield. She made Milhouse hilarious and real, and we will miss her.”

Executive producer James L. Brooks praised Hayden as a “model for having a great spirit for every cast she has been a part of.”

Milhouse was first introduced to the world of The Simpsons in 1989 as part of a Butterfinger advertisement when the show was still just a series of segments on The Tracey Ullman Show.

He was named after former U.S. president Richard Milhous Nixon and has been a part of the cartoon series since its debut episode, “Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire.”