Hank Azaria recently gave an interview about why he’s decided to stop voicing Apu, the controversial character from The Simpsons. I understand his reasoning and in the end it’s his decision and it was nice of the producers to honor his desire. Of course since he voices a good chunk of the characters they probably felt it wise not to lose him altogether if he was that insistent on not playing the role anymore. However, as I wrote about before, I think the protest is a bit harsh. As far as Azaria, a white man, playing an Indian man (as in man originally from India), it’s voice acting. A lot of people play alternate races and sometimes alternate genders. I’ve heard men play women, women play boys, black men play Japanese men (nobody complains that Uncle Phil is also the Shredder), and the list goes on. Still, if he’s not comfortable playing the role I’m sure he can give up one. The question is whether or not they can or want to find a replacement.
How about having an actor of South Asian background do the voice for Apu? There are plenty of actors of South Asian background out there. For instance, Kai Penn who was in the Van Wilder movie (a humorous classic!) and the Kumar and Harold Go To White Castle movies could do the voice for Apu.
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Kal Penn…the actor’s name is Kal Penn, not Kai Penn. My apologies for misspelling his name.
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