16-year-old Peppa Pig voice actress reportedly earns £1,000 an hour

Harley Bird has voiced the beloved children's character since she was five years old

There should probably be no surprise that the ubiquitous Peppa Pig would be something of a lucrative franchise.

The Daily Star is now reporting that the voice behind the beloved children's character, Harley Bird, could be making around £1,000 an hour for the role. She is the third and current voice of the animated character, following on from Lily Snowden-Fine and Cecily Bloom.

"Harley is the most successful teenage voiceover artist in Britain right now," a source stated. "She is hot property and easily earns £1,000 an hour. She’s also difficult to replace as she’s mature enough to be a great actress but still has the distinctive voice families around the world know as Peppa.”

16-year-old Bird has also had a successful career outside of her voice work: she starred across from Saoirse Ronan, George MacKay, and Tom Holland in 2013's post-apocalyptic teen drama How I Live Now. She also plays the lead role in Disney's web series So Sammy and had a guest spot in 2014 Doctor Who episode "In the Forest of the Night".

Bird was five years old when she was first cast as Peppa Pig, before she was even old enough to read the lines for herself. She told This Morning this week: "I’ve done Peppa for 11 years now. I really understand the character. I know how she speaks, how she would do things, how she would react."

The show, which is on its fifth season, was first created by Neville Astley and Mark Baker.

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