Bikini Bottom's Leading Ladies Spilled The Tea On Their Incredible 25-Year Friendship, And I'm Literally Melting

Buzz Feed

18-03-2025

For over 25 years, Carolyn Lawrence, Jill Talley, Mary Jo Catlett, and Lori Alan have brought Sandy, Karen, Mrs. Puff, and Pearl to life through their humorous and authentic performances.
In celebration of Women's History Month and the release of Plankton: The Movie, I hopped on Zoom with the Gal Pals (the name for the friendship group of their characters). Here's everything I learned from this iconic group of actors!
Jon McKee / Via Nickelodeon
Left to Right: Lori Alan (Pearl), Carolyn Lawrence (Sandy), Mary Jo Catlett (Mrs. Puff), Jill Talley (Karen).
1. On their vibe together in the recording studio:
Carolyn (Sandy): It's almost like a sleepover!
Jill (Karen): We all love each other so much that when we get together, it's like friends at a sleepover. When we are all together, we're so happy to see each other. It's exciting!
Lori (Pearl): Every time we get together, it seems like we've never seen each other in months. We quickly get to all of our life stuff and daughters and pets, and, you know, we've aged. We've been through a lot of stuff together. Recently we were talking about how we've been a part of each other's lives for 25 years. So the vibe is also like being at an improv show, where we just make each other crack up. I still just love watching all of them work; I'm a fan geek of each and every one of you.
Mary Jo (Mrs. Puff): Me too! I love to be with the girls, and I remember fondly being rather older than everybody else. I also remember we had a wonderful luncheon at the Granville. I think we should go back!
Carolyn (Sandy): Definitely!
Jill (Karen): For sure we should, or I'll just have you guys over, and we can hang out the yard!
Carolyn (Sandy): Early on, when we all had more free time, right when we started, we certainly were able to spend more time together. Then kids and families and things happen — but that's why it's so fun. When we're in the studio and we're together, we try to make everything happen in those moments.
2. After 25 years, they think of each other as sisters.
Carolyn Lawrence
Jill (Karen): I said we were like friends, but really, I think more like sisters. Like you said, Lori, we've been working together for so long, and we've been through all this life stuff. We lost Steve Hillenburg, who was like a family member, and we all went through that together. We have lost parents, we've had babies born, we've had weddings. I mean Bill Fagerbakke's [voice of Patrick] daughter, who was a little kid at the beginning of SpongeBob, is now a mother. We've watched all these things happen, which makes us feel even more like family.
Mary Jo (Mrs. Puff): Jill also brought me the most magnificent pea soup. We just do things like that. Jill, I have your ramekins, by the way.
Jill (Karen): Oh, you can keep them! I have all kinds of containers, and they're the perfect little size for soups.
(We all laugh).
Lori (Pearl): Being females in the business, we hold each other up. This business is kind of crazy and can be competitive, and this and that, but we are always so genuinely excited to see each other. It's like we're family from another lifetime or something. We crack each other up, but we really do keep an eye on each other. I know if I had something non-related to SpongeBob, whether it was a sick dog, a sick parent, or something happened, and my husband wasn't home, I could call these three in the middle of the night, and I know you guys would be there. That's very special.
Carolyn (Sandy): Speaking of what you were saying about women in the industry — I can't remember what happened, but I do remember having a record that wasn't going well. I was taking a break and going to the restroom and sobbing. [Points to Mary Jo] I don't know if you remember, but you were in the restroom, and in that moment, you gave me a hug, and I regrouped and went back to work. I think that's pretty amazing.
Mary Jo (Mrs. Puff): We are sisters under the skin.
3. On the formation of the "Gal Pals" (aka the friendship group in the show of Sandy, Mrs. Puff, Pearl, and Karen):
Nickelodeon Animation Studios
Carolyn (Sandy): I want to give credit where credit's due. This was an idea from Lori and Sirena Irwin, who's also an ancillary gal pal. She is a part of the gal pals, 100%. Sirena and Lori had the idea about the gal pals and kind of casually pitched it out at an event, correct? That was the seed that was planted that became our first episode of gal pals.
Lori (Pearl): We were at the Annie Awards, which is like the Oscars but for animation, and Sirena and I always get the giggles. We're always dancing at our cast parties, and we're always making a scene in the team photo booth. All of a sudden, I thought, what would be so cute is like a sleepover episode, or where it's just the girls and we're being rowdy and being themselves. So I was just kind of joking. I was like, you should call it gal pals!
Little by little, we've really been able to have more female plotlines. We work really hard, and we could not be more grateful.
Jill (Karen): It's nice too for all the little girls out there to see representation on the show.
Huge shoutout to Emmy-nominee Sirena Irwin, who has voiced many iconic characters, like the magic conch shell, Mrs. SquarePants, and 'lazy' Mary ("They're selling chocolate!"). To learn more about Sirena's current projects and work on SpongeBob, check out our interview and her website.
Jason Smith / Via Everett Collection
Lori Alan, Sirena Irwin, and Jill Talley in attendance for the opening night of SpongeBob SquarePants on Broadway.
4. Mary Jo on Mrs. Puff and SpongeBob's relationship:
BuzzFeed: Mrs. Puff is one of my favorite characters, and I have to ask, in your opinion, how does Mrs. Puff really feel about SpongeBob? Does she have a soft spot?
Mary Jo (Mrs. Puff): You know, a long time ago, I had a fan letter saying, "I'm sorry you don't like SpongeBob," but I love SpongeBob. Mrs. Puff wants to make him better; she wants to make him a good driver. She tries her best for him, but he's frustrating. If she says, "Go left," then he goes right. She really has a very soft spot in her heart. I think she even loves it when he bothers her, and also when Patrick comes in. (Does Mrs. Puff's voice)"Oh, you two again?" In her heart, she's glad.
BuzzFeed: Do you have any favorite lines from Mrs. Puff?
Mary Jo (Mrs. Puff): I love when I can do a few vocal gymnastics. One of my favorites is just a little line (does Mrs. Puff's voice): "Extra Credit!!" I also love when Mrs. Puff goes to jail.
5. Mary Jo on the transition from live-action work to voice acting:
Everett Collection
BuzzFeed: Mary Jo, you've been in so many great live-action roles like in Diff'rent Strokes, M*A*S*H, and Serial Mom, which I saw on TV a few months ago and thought was an absolutely WILD film. How did working in live-action translate to voice acting?
Mary Jo (Mrs. Puff): I did a little voice acting when I lived in New York, and then when I moved to California, I wanted to do more. I just think it gives you a freedom. You're even much more free than when you have to bring your body along with you. It's just such a gift to be able to do.
Jill (Karen): I will tell you, when Tom [Kenny] directs Mary Jo, and he's in the house, I will hear him laughing so loud. And then afterward, I'll ask what was so funny, and he'll say, "Mary Jo, she just nails it. She's so good."
6. Lori Alan's favorite Pearl moments include "Whale of a Birthday," "The Chaperone," and "Mall Girl Pearl" with Betty White.
Nickelodeon Animation Studios
Lori (Pearl): I love "Whale of a Birthday." I got to sing with — I can't even say the late Andy Paley; it's still too fresh. [Andy Paley composed many of SpongeBob's songs and sadly passed away last November]. I got to sing with Tom [Kenny] and Andy and just have a whale of a birthday, and that was so fun.
Of course, when SpongeBob comes with me to the prom ["The Chaperone"], and also "Mall Girl Pearl," because Pearl's friends have all these incidental voices. We have Jill doing voices, Sirena [Irwin] doing voices, and also Carolyn. I never got to work with Betty White [Betty voiced Beatrice, seen in the picture above] in person, but just knowing that I was Betty-White-adjacent freaks me out.
I love that episode. Pearl, who wants to be loved and liked by everyone, at the end of that episode, is like, "I'm gonna do a job where I'm appreciated and respected." She's just being herself. So I love Pearl for that.
7. Carolyn on Sandy's iconic sayings:
Nickelodeon Animation Studios
8. Jill Talley on working with husband Tom Kenny:
Jill (Karen): Tom and I met on a comedy sketch show on Fox in 1992 called The Edge, with Jennifer Aniston, pre- Friends. So we started working on that and then did Mr. Show together. We've always worked together; we also wrote a two-person show that we put up in a theater. It was a show with comedy sketches, with just Tom and I. I gotta say, I recently stumbled on one of the old scripts in storage, and I was sitting there laughing out loud. I was like, "This was a funny show!" I really enjoyed it.
We're used to working with each other, and we have a kind of built-in respect for each other. I think he has a built-in respect for all the cast members. Tom has said, and we agree, that this show is pretty perfectly cast. Everyone seems to be perfect for their role and their job, and they're good at it. Everyone's good. There's no clunkers, and there's no jerks in the bunch. So that helps!
Lori (Pearl): We've had many, many, many awesome, cool, big-time legends and icons on the show. But I do love that we really just keep it all in the family for the most part.
A few weeks ago, I walked in, and my husband was watching maybe a season three episode — it was just a very early episode — and we sat and watched it. I don't watch SpongeBob as much as I would like to; it's not what I'm normally watching. I was just like, "Oh my God, our show is amazing. This is the smartest, sweetest, funniest show." We watched it for about three hours. I was in such profound gratitude. People say the nicest, sweetest things to us, like, "I got through chemotherapy watching SpongeBob," or "I raised my daughter to that as a single mom," and we just don't realize that.
Carolyn (Sandy): I was talking to Mary Jo right before this, that I see us like an orchestra. Every single piece matters, right? We all have our instruments, and it only works because we work together. If you take a piece out, that orchestra doesn't sound good anymore.
BuzzFeed: This was so much fun! Before I let you all go, Jill, can you say my favorite line for me?
Nickelodeon Animation Studios
Thank you so much to Carolyn, Lori, Jill, and Mary Jo for chatting — you have inspired me and so many others with your kindness, talent, and passion for your work.
Plankton: The Movie is available to stream on Netflix. Check out the "Gal Pals" in action in this clip!