Tara Strong’s ‘Rugrats’ Baby Cry Was So Realistic It Reportedly Made a New Mother Lactate

Voice acting is often described as an invisible art. Audiences hear a character laugh, scream, cry, whisper, or babble, but they rarely think about the performer behind the microphone. Unlike live-action acting, voice actors can create an entire character without costumes, makeup, sets, or even a visible face.

Sometimes, however, a performance can become so convincing that it produces an unexpectedly real reaction.

That is exactly what Tara Strong says happened when she was recording the voice of baby Dil Pickles for Rugrats.

According to Strong, she was performing one of Dil’s baby cries during an early recording session when the producers suddenly stopped the tape. She immediately assumed that something had gone wrong. Instead, the producers reportedly told her that there was a new mother in the studio who had begun lactating after hearing Strong’s remarkably realistic baby cry.

It sounds almost too strange to be true.

But Strong has told the story herself in multiple interviews, including a detailed appearance with Vanity Fair, where she recalled the moment and explained how it affected her chances of keeping the role.

And while the story makes for an amusing Hollywood anecdote, there is an interesting scientific explanation behind the reaction.

Hearing a baby cry really can trigger physiological responses in breastfeeding mothers. The sound can contribute to the release of oxytocin, a hormone involved in the milk-ejection, or “let-down,” reflex. Medical literature has documented that some breastfeeding mothers can experience milk release simply after hearing a baby cry or anticipating a feeding.

So the story of a fictional baby cry causing a real biological response is unusual—but the underlying physiology is very real.

The Unusual Origin of Dil Pickles

To understand why Strong’s story became such a memorable piece of Rugrats history, it helps to understand who Dil Pickles is and how the character came into the franchise.

Rugrats originally premiered on Nickelodeon in 1991 and became one of the network’s defining animated series. The show followed a group of toddlers—including Tommy Pickles, Chuckie Finster, Angelica Pickles, and twins Phil and Lil DeVille—as they explored the world from their imaginative childhood perspective.

Dil Pickles was introduced later as Tommy’s baby brother.

The character first became a major part of the franchise through The Rugrats Movie, released in 1998. The film introduced Dil as a new member of the Pickles family and placed him at the center of the story, particularly because Tommy and the other babies struggled to understand how their lives would change after his arrival.

Tara Strong became the voice of Dil, and she eventually continued voicing the character in the television series. Contemporary reporting from the Los Angeles Times noted that Strong supplied Dil’s cries in The Rugrats Movie and would continue with the character when Dil joined the television series.

But Strong was not initially guaranteed the role.

In fact, she has explained that she was originally brought in to “guide track” the character.

What Is Guide Tracking?

For audiences unfamiliar with animation production, guide tracking can be an important but relatively invisible part of the process.

When an animated production is being developed, filmmakers sometimes need temporary dialogue before the final voice performer has been selected. A professional voice actor can record the lines so that animators and filmmakers can begin working with timing, rhythm, character movement, and story structure.

The temporary performer may eventually be replaced by another actor—sometimes a celebrity whose name is expected to help promote the project.

That was reportedly the situation with Dil.

Strong has said that she had heard Madonna was being considered for the role of Baby Dil. Rather than being brought in with the assumption that she would permanently own the character, Strong was initially there to provide temporary or guide-track material.

That meant she had something to prove.

And she approached the character in a way that went far beyond simply reading lines.

Strong Didn’t Treat Dil Like a Normal Speaking Character

One of the unusual things about voicing a baby is that the character may not have conventional dialogue.

An adult character can be performed through words, sentence structure, accent, timing, and verbal personality.

A baby is different.

Babies communicate through cries, squeals, babbling, breathing, grunts, giggles, screams, burps, and other sounds.

Strong has described the early Dil material as being largely represented in the script through stage directions rather than traditional dialogue. Instead of receiving long speeches, she would encounter descriptions of what the baby was doing.

Dil grabs Tommy’s toy.

Dil hits Angelica.

Dil burps.

Dil cries.

Dil throws up.

Dil makes a strange noise.

For a voice actor, that can require a tremendous amount of imagination.

Strong has explained that she would essentially sit with the script and imagine what was happening physically and emotionally, improvising the sounds that might naturally accompany the action. She even joked that her scripts would become “wet” because she was performing so many baby-related sounds.

This is an important part of understanding why the crying anecdote matters.

She wasn't simply trying to make an exaggerated cartoon noise.

She was attempting to recreate the sound of an actual infant.

The Crying Scene That Stopped the Recording

Eventually, the session reached a moment when Dil needed to cry.

Strong has described the instruction as essentially requiring Baby Dil to wail.

So she did exactly that.

She began crying and screaming in character.