The Simpsons has been on the air for decades and featured quite a few notable guest stars in that time. Now is the time to introduce another pair to that roster as it has been announced that both Cate Blanchett and David Harbour will feature in upcoming episodes.
Blanchett is an acclaimed actress known for her roles in
Carol,
Blue Jasmine, and
Thor Ragnarok. It's believed that the final episode of Season 31 will see Blanchett play a canine psychologist named Elaine and help Santa's Little Helper over some depression.
Harbour is best known for playing Chief Jim Hopper in
Stranger Things and will feature in the upcoming
Black Widow movie. The actor will supposedly be playing an alternate Mr. Burns who goes undercover to uncover the cause of unrest at his power plant. This episode will be the first of Season 32.
Producer Al Jean had this to say to
Entertainment Weekly about Blanchett's role — teasing an intense callback.
“She determines if there’s a trauma in his past that they have to go solve, which actually goes back to the first episode of the series. Fans will experience a callback that is older than the internet," Jean teased before continuing.
"She sleeps in the same room with him when she brings him in for treatment. She’s very loving. But with people she’s a lot more brusque. As expected, [Blanchett] was fantastic. We’re proud to say that we got a two-time Oscar winner to talk in dog gibberish, but it really sounded like Elvish to me.” The longtime producer then spoke about Harbour's role — which seems to be a play on Undercover Boss.
"Like Mission: Impossible, they give him a whole new body and face and voice so that this people in the plant won’t possibly recognize him,” Jean explained.
“He’s supposed to be a blue-collar guy from another part of the plant, but everything he says is like Mr. Burns. He wants to go to karaoke and sing songs from the 1890s, but the guys don’t see through it.”