On Monday episode of the Armchair specialist podcast, The Simpsons actor Hank Azaria apologized for his participation in “structural racism”, through his long-standing portrayal of Apu Nahasapeemapetilon.
While the Emmy winner continues to voice other parts of the Fox comedy, including Moe Szyslak, and voice Apu from his first appearance on the show in 1990, he announced in February last year that he would no longer be playing the part. The decision emerged as part of a wide-ranging cultural shift in animation, as the industry came to believe that characters of color should not be voiced by white actors along with other Simpsons roles are also rearranged.
In the course of his conversation with Armchair experts hosts Dax Shephard and Monica Padman, Azaria said he wished he’d committed to leaving the Apu role many years before actually doing it. “I’ve had an appointment with destiny with this thing for about 31 years,” he said. “Part of me feels like I should go to every Indian person in this country and apologize, and sometimes I do when it comes to mind.”
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Of course, Azaria took a moment to specifically apologize to Padman, the Indian-American actor and podcaster, whose community had been done a disservice by his racially insensitive caricature of the supermarket owner. “I know you didn’t ask for that, but it’s important,” he said. “I apologize for my part in creating and participating in it.”
Azaria also called for other animated series to make changes, when it comes to representation between their voices. “If it’s an Indian character or a Latinx character or a black character, have that person speak the character,” he said. “It’s more authentic, they’ll add their experience, and let’s not take jobs away from people who don’t have enough.”
It was in 1988 that Azaria was asked if he could do an Indian accent, which led to his portrayal of Apu. Ultimately, the actor would mimic his performance as Peter Seller’s turn in the 1968 comedy, The party, which has also been criticized for its use of racial stereotypes along with salespeople’s use of ‘brownface’. The actor first saw that movie at the age of 15. “When I saw that, there was no difference between how funny Peter Sellers is as a Frenchman. [in The Pink Panther], or a German man in Dr. Strangelove, or as Hrundi V. Bakshi in The partyIt’s just funny, ”he recalled thinking. “I am an aspiring voter, and I can put the accent, so for me there is no difference either.
“What I don’t realize, of course,” he added, “is that I can feel like a white person because I don’t live with the consequences of those things at all.”
Azaria would acknowledge these consequences and come to the decision to step down from the role of Apu, after seeing Hari Kondabolu’s The problem with Apu. The 2017 documentary would lead many to call Azaria for his Simpsons role. “I was canceled however you want to say it,” he recalled, “and very intense.”
At some point in his career, Azaria noted, he would have responded to this anger with his own anger. However, thanks to his experiences with Alcoholics Anonymous, he knew he had to “shut up,” listen and learn, in the wake of criticism. “If I hadn’t gotten sober, I promise you it wouldn’t have taken a lot of wine to be in my feelings one night and fire off a Tweet that I felt I felt justified,” he admitted. “Boy, I was glad I had a system where I could look at this thing.”
From the actor’s perspective, Apu was a character created with good intentions. “We tried to make a funny, thoughtful character,” he said.[But] just because there were good intentions doesn’t mean there weren’t any real negative consequences for which I’m responsible. “
Film directed by James L. Brooks, Matt Groening and Sam Simon, The Simpsons follows the adventures of a working-class family of the same name, in the town of Springfield. The series is currently nearing the end of the 32nd season and has been renewed for two more.