Hank Azaria stepped down from voicing controversial “The Simpsons” character Apu Nahasapeemapetilon last year. The voice actor recently opened up about the lessons he learned about whitewashing and promoting stereotypes during a recent interview on the “Armchair Expert” podcast.
Per The Hollywood Reporter, Azaria, who is white, stated that he participated in several seminars to understand the controversy surrounding the character and offered several anecdotes that helped inform his decision to quit voicing the character.
“I was speaking at my son’s school, I was talking to the Indian kids there because I wanted to get their input,” Azaria said. “A 17-year-old […] he’s never even seen ‘The Simpsons’ but knows what Apu means. It’s practically a slur at this point. All he knows is that is how his people are thought of and represented to many people in this country.”
Apu, an Indian immigrant character in the show who runs a Kwik-e-Mart business,...
Per The Hollywood Reporter, Azaria, who is white, stated that he participated in several seminars to understand the controversy surrounding the character and offered several anecdotes that helped inform his decision to quit voicing the character.
“I was speaking at my son’s school, I was talking to the Indian kids there because I wanted to get their input,” Azaria said. “A 17-year-old […] he’s never even seen ‘The Simpsons’ but knows what Apu means. It’s practically a slur at this point. All he knows is that is how his people are thought of and represented to many people in this country.”
Apu, an Indian immigrant character in the show who runs a Kwik-e-Mart business,...
- 4/14/2021
- by Tyler Hersko
- Indiewire
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