“When they called me a couple of years ago and asked, ‘Do you want to voice Harley Quinn’ I was like, ‘That could be kind of a fun side gig,’” said Kaley Cuoco during an interview with David Spade for Interview magazine. Little did Kaley, 35, know that this role on HBO Max’s animated Harley Quinn series would come with a side of nerd drama – the worst kind! “When Harley became kind of a big deal and then when Birds of Prey came out, there were all these stories that me and Margot Robbie were feuding. But I’ve never even met her. I love her.”
Margot, 30, brought the DC Comics character to life on the big screen in 2016’s Suicide Squad, 2020’s Birds Of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn), and James Gunn‘s upcoming Suicide Squad. After HBO Max’s Harley Quinn became a certified hit (“This thing has become huge. People love it. We’re going into our third season,” said Kaley), there were reports that the former Big Bang Theory star and Margot were at odds over each other playing the same character.
This, Kaley pointed out, was absurd as one of The Joker’s clownish crimes. “There was an article that came out that said we would not show up together at Comic-Con,” she said. “We refused to be on the same stage together. Neither of us was even at Comic-Con, okay?” “I’m sure you would get along with her because she seems like a very light person, very fun, easy to deal with, and sort of treats showbiz like fun,” added David. “And that’s very rare,” responded Kaley.
Comics fans are used to multiple variations of the same character — Peter Parker and Miles Morales are both Spider-Man, for instance – so there really wasn’t a major issue in Margot and Kaley putting their own spin on the beloved anti-hero. Kaley isn’t even the first person to voice Harley — that would be Arleen Sorkin, who originated the role on Batman: The Animated Series. Tara Strong has been the most prominent Harley since then, with Hynden Walch also lending her voice to the character on a few projects.
“There have been so many Harley Quinns, and obviously with Suicide Squad Margot was playing her so incredibly well and so specific, that I didn’t want her to sound like anybody else,” Kaley told Entertainment Weekly in February. “[It] really just became mostly me screaming. It’s a lot of me, and I’ve kinda turned it into my own thing. The show is unique, it’s not Suicide Squad, it’s so different and obviously so insane, that we’re able to make it exactly what we wanted.”
