With the season finale of Bob's Burgers airing this Sunday, we got the voice of the youngest daughter Louise to chat about her work on the animated show.

What is your favorite aspect of working on the show as the voice on Louise? 

I think it's getting to yell a lot and being encouraged to continue yelling. That's unusual for a job so that's one of my favourite aspects. And also getting to work with my friends and peers that I've sort of come up with through the common scenes over the last 10 years and getting to meet new friends. It's just the yelling and the being social.

How did you get involved with Bob's Burgers?
Well, I kind of lucked out. Loren Bouchard was creating it and he was working with - he always works with Jon Benjamin and Eugene Mirman and this woman named Holly Schlesinger and they happen to be friends of mine as well. And so, Holly suggested that he come to this, like, hole-in-the-wall bar that we started turning into a comedy room on the lower east side, like three years ago or four years ago. And Loren came down and saw me before and then he wrote a character for me.

 

What's it like working with Jon Benjamin, because it seems like he's been in every major animated series over the last decade?
Well, you know, he's the master.  So I just stay very quiet when I'm around him and I just observe.  Sometimes I won't even say my lines because I'm still just absorbing how he performs his.  And also, he doesn't really like it when people talk to him or look him in the eyes.

Do you all record as a group or do you record your performances individually?
We record as a group. So, it just gives me one really long day and we're all in a circle, like circling wagons. Yes, so that's why it is such a pleasure to actually get to meet the people in the flesh.

One of the tasks and often pleasures of being a performer is undergoing hair and makeup.  And since you're doing voice work on Bob's Burgers, do you miss this and if so, how do you go about getting your fix? 

Well, I come in full hair and makeup. I just pay for it, just $400 every recording session. No, I don't miss it at all. I love having hair and makeup done. But, I still try to spruce up a little bit just because even though nobody can see you, there is something about looking professional that will help, at least helps me perform better. So I will put some mascara on. If anyone swings by the recording studio and wonders what that vision is behind the glass, it's me with some mascara and gloss. Then I also try to find an outfit, usually a dress that has pockets in it just to sort of jam my hands in the pockets instead of like flailing them around because you can make lots of noise if you fidget. That's my wardrobe.

What does voice work give you as a comedic actor since you can't convey any facial expressions or anything like that?
I still make a ton of faces, because whatever face you make, actually, you can kind of hear it in the inflections. So, I'm constantly making faces. Yes, it is limiting. You're right, in telling jokes, still it's in animating, and they get to make the face. But it's a collaborative effort.

Was there one thing in particular that really convinced you to do Bob's Burgers?
I wasn't sure if the show was real or not for a while because there was lots of workshop spots to test it out. So when it did get picked up, I was really surprised. And then as Louise started developing overtime, I started to just love her more and more and definitely became - there was a real feeling of nervousness about whether or not we were going to get picked up. I know there's no control in show business. There's nothing you can do about it.  But I was like, "Oh, I really hope I get to play her at least for a little bit longer because she's so much fun."

How much have you able to pitch your own ideas?
Oh, a lot. Like, not with the ideas of what the show's going to be, that's all the writers' genius. But I do get to look at the dialogue in the way that Louise reacts to what's going on and stuff. I'm allowed to improvise also, here and there. I don't want to take too much away from the writers though because they do write lots of incredibly funny jokes in the dialogues.  But I also get the freedom of piping up as well.

So in your opinion what would you say is the formula for a good comedy?
Tragedy and time and yelling.

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The finale of Bob's Burgers airs Sunday at 8.30 et/pt.