‘The Simpsons’ actor Hank Azaria explains why he stopped voicing Apu

The Simpsons voice actor Hank Azaria has explained why he stepped away from voicing Apu Nahasapeemapetilon on the show.

The long-running animated series came under fire after the release of 2017 documentary The Problem With Apu by Hari Kondabolu, which claimed the character was an offensive stereotype of people of Indian and Asian descent.

Azaria, who had voiced the character since 1990, subsequently stepped away from the role in 2020, apologising and expressing regret that he didn’t leave the role earlier.

In a new interview about dropping the character, the actor explained that his decision “required a deep dive”, revealing that the voice was based on a Peter Sellers performance in a film called The Party in which Sellers uses brownface.

“What’s the difference between Inspector Clouseau, a silly French voice, or Doctor Strangelove, a silly German voice, and Hrundi V. Bakshi, a rather silly Indian voice?” Azaria said on the Pablo Torre Finds Out podcast.

“And it’s a question I still get asked. People will say comments still to this day, ‘Why can you do [Simpsons character] Luigi and that’s not offensive? Why can you talk like Cletus and that’s not a problem, but you can’t do Apu? Right?’

“Honestly, at first, I thought let me look into this, and then I’ll go back to doing the voice, and say I understand, but I’m going to keep doing this. And I was surprised myself that I came down on, ‘No, actually, I think I am participating in a harm here.’”

The actor went on to suggest he is “not a hero” and “got dragged into this”, adding he had a “professional public decision to make”.

“I’d say the main thing was, when hate crimes were perpetrated against Southern Asian people, a lot of times they were just called Apu,” he noted. “It became a slur when convenience store guys were stabbed or shot or robbed, you know.

“Especially when guys who were in more stereotypical professions, they were hated on physically and called Apu. That wasn’t great. That means it got away from us, something got away. Of course, we didn’t mean it that way. And we’re not to blame for people turning it into that kind of hate, but we did tee it up.”

The actor added: “There’s all this other stereotyping and things that have teeth in them that affect people of colour in this country. So, while Apu might not be the most important thing in the world, it’s a window into something quite important.”

Azaria previously revealed that he “didn’t want to participate in it anymore” when he realised how the character was perceived, adding to The New York Times: “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.”

In other news, the actor – who also voices characters such as Moe, Comic Book Guy and Chief Wiggum – admitted earlier this year that he fears that A.I. will replace him in his job.

Meanwhile, last year Azaria toured with his Bruce Springsteen tribute act, named Hank Azaria & The EZ Street Band.

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