Kath Soucie Lola Bunny Now

She opened her eyes and read the line: “What’s up, Doc?”

She paused, then added her own ad-lib, channeling a little of her inner Phil DeVille’s mischief: “And if you can’t see that, you must be as blind as a mole rat in a coal mine.”

Today, she was trying out for a rabbit.

Not just any rabbit. Lola Bunny.

Kath had read the lines. She saw the sketches: a slender, athletic bunny with long lashes and a basketball jersey. And she felt a familiar, professional flicker of doubt. The role was thin on paper—mostly there to be rescued, to swoon, and to look good in shorts. kath soucie lola bunny

And in that moment, Kath Soucie knew she hadn’t just voiced a cartoon rabbit. She’d given a generation permission to be complicated. To be soft and strong. To be sweet as honey and sharp as a three-pointer at the buzzer.

The voice actress arrived at the Burbank studio with a slight knot in her stomach. It was 1996, and Kath Soucie was already a legend in the animation world. She’d been the plucky courage of Dexter’s mom, the sweet charm of Phil and Lil on Rugrats , and a dozen other characters who lived in the hearts of millions. But today felt different. She opened her eyes and read the line: “What’s up, Doc

Andrea said nothing. “Try the courtroom scene.”