In a 2021 interview with Comics Beat, legendary voice director Andrea Romano recounted her time on the animated Superman series for its 25th anniversary. During the conversation, she recalled how Farrell and Fabares auditioned individually, then separately landed the gigs. But when it turned out that they had a real-life relationship, she was excited about the authentic chemistry that they would bring to Ma and Pa Kent on their show. Here’s what she said:
“I don’t think anybody ever told us they were married. I don’t think they were represented by the same agent. I think we just auditioned both these talented actors to play these roles. I could be remembering this inaccurately but when the decision came down to who we were going to cast for those roles, they were the two top people. Then I remember going, ‘They’re a married couple!’ And then thinking, ‘How perfect is that?! We’re casting a married couple to play a married couple!’ Because there’s a comfort that two actors who know each other so well have playing kind of themselves. They were just so naturally good and I have to attribute some of that to the fact that they are actually married and comfortable with each other.”
Following the three-season run of the fan-favorite DC Animated Universe show, the couple would reprise their roles as the Kents in two more projects: “Justice League” and “Superman: Brainiac Attacks.” With their tenures being a part of Bruce Timm’s mythology that spanned “Batman: The Animated Series” from 1992 to 2006’s “Justice League Unlimited,” a whole generation grew up with these actors as the definitive versions of these characters. Call me a sap, but it’s nice that these two characters remain a monument to the love shared by their voice actors.