Hank Azaria says he decided to stop voicing Apu on The Simpsons after educating himself on racism

Hank Azaria says he decided to stop voicing Apu on The Simpsons after educating himself on racism: ‘It just didn’t feel right’

  • He announced last month he will no longer voice Kwik-E-Mart owner Apu on The Simpsons
  • Azaria spoke to The New York Times about his years-long process of examining the harmful impact of his depiction of an Indian immigrant
  •  The show has come under fire for its stereotypical portrayal of the character 
  • It is unclear as to what Apu’s fate might be, and if the role will be recast or written out 
  • The actor told Slashfilms that he will continue to voice other characters on the long running Fox show 

Hank Azaria says he educated himself on racism before deciding to quit voicing Indian immigrant Apu on The Simpsons.

The actor announced last month that he had asked producers of the long-running animation to step down from playing the heavily scrutinized character.

In an interview with The New York Times this week the 55-year-old explains he went through a years-long process, reading articles and essays about representation and attending seminars about racism and social consciousness. 

‘It just didn’t feel right.’ Hank Azaria says he came to the decision to stop voicing Indian immigrant Apu on The Simpsons after years of educating himself on racism

He also examined his own feelings and listened to those hurt by the stereotype he’d been portraying for 30 years.

The problem was, Hank says, that for many years Apu was the only depiction of an Indian person on television.

‘Once I realized that that was the way this character was thought of, I just didn’t want to participate in it anymore,’ Azaria told NYTimes. ‘It just didn’t feel right.’

The New York born actor says he was initially defensive about the issue when his character came under increased scrutiny over the last decade, thanks in part to comedian Hari Kondabolu who in the 2012 FX series Totally Biased With W. Kamau Bell, called out The Simpsons for its ‘obsolete portrayal’ of an Indian-American on television. 

Kondabolu then went on to write the documentary The Problem With Apu, released in 2017.

Stereotype: Azaria, 55, announced last month he would stop portraying Kwik-E-Mart owner Apu after 30 years

Stereotype: Azaria, 55, announced last month he would stop portraying Kwik-E-Mart owner Apu after 30 years

Hurtful: For many years Apu was the only depiction of an Indian person on television

Hurtful: For many years Apu was the only depiction of an Indian person on television

Azaria said he wasn’t sure how to approach the issue or whether to stubbornly keep playing the character, but knew he needed more time to figure it out.

As a white Jewish man, Azaria said he started asking himself how he would feel about a prominent TV character representing him on television in the same way.

‘But then I started thinking, if that character were the only representation of Jewish people in American culture for 20 years, which was the case with Apu, I might not love that,’ he said. 

Hank told NYTimes: 'I started thinking, if that character were the only representation of Jewish people in American culture for 20 years, which was the case with Apu, I might not love that,'

Hank told NYTimes: ‘I started thinking, if that character were the only representation of Jewish people in American culture for 20 years, which was the case with Apu, I might not love that,’

Azaria revealed last month that after 30 years, he will no longer voice Apu but told Slashfilms he would still continue to voice other characters on the long running Fox show.   

It is not known what the fate of Apu will be now but producers released a statement to say: ‘Apu is beloved worldwide. We love him too. Stay tuned.’  

Azaria said last month: ‘What they’re going to do with the character is their call. It’s up to them, and they haven’t sorted it out yet. All we’ve agreed on is I won’t do the voice anymore.’

Azaria first debuted as the character during season one in 1990.

Accusations against the show of perpetuating stereotypes heightened in 2017 with the release of documentary The Problem With Apu. 

The doc’s writer Hari Kondabolu told BBC ‘[Apu’s] funny, but that doesn’t mean this representation is accurate or right or righteous. It gets to the insidiousness of racism, though, because you don’t even notice it when it’s right in front of you.’  

Long running: Azaria has voiced Apu for 30 years, accusations against the show of perpetuating stereotypes heightened in 2017 with the release of documentary The Problem With Apu

Long running: Azaria has voiced Apu for 30 years, accusations against the show of perpetuating stereotypes heightened in 2017 with the release of documentary The Problem With Apu

 

 

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