Hank Azaria regrets 'offensive' Apu voice in 'The Simpsons', says he channelled hero Peter Sellers
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: ‘The Simpsons’ is arguably one of the greatest animated comedies to have graced the screen. Well into Season 34, ‘Simpsons’ has no plan of halting the stories of an eponymous family in the town of Springfield. The characters of Homer, Marge, Bart, and Lisa have all struck chords with the audience. The show also portrayed an element of diversity by bringing a character of Indian origin named Apu Nahasapeemapetilon who ran the Kwik-E-Mart in the show.
Actor Hank Azaria had voiced the character for over 25 years, making Apu one of the most interesting characters on the show. However, as a guest on NPR’s podcast ‘Code Switch’ recently, Hank opened up about his true feelings about voicing Apu on ‘The Simpsons.’
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What did Hank Azaria say about Apu?
When ‘The Simpsons’ started back in 1989, Hank was a young 20-something trying to find his way in Hollywood. So when he received an opportunity to voice characters in ‘The Simpsons,’ he couldn’t turn it down. He voiced Moe Szylak, Chief Wiggum, and Comic Book Guy in the show but was asked by the creators to do a mean Indian accent and make it as offensive as possible. Hank did as he was told. He had never done an Indian accent before but was willing to give it a shot. "The only really Indian accent that I had context for, apart from guys who worked at the 7-Eleven that I was near in LA, was Peter Sellers in ‘The Party,’ it was an homage to that, you know, one of my heroes,” Hank admitted in the podcast.
But later, Hank pointed out to the creators that the accent that he had been doing on the show was stereotypical but was asked to continue without any hindrance. It was only in 2017, Hank realized the extent of the harm his accent had done to the Indian community in the US.
Comedian Hari Kondabolu slams Hank for the accent
In 2017, a comedian named Hari Kondabolu came out with a documentary titled, ‘The Problem with Apu’, slamming the Indian accent that Hank had been voicing for Apu over the years. The documentary also focused on the marginalized stereotype that South Asian characters have faced in Hollywood so far. Hari even invited Hank to be a part of the documentary who declined at the time, not knowing that his accent was truly offensive. This angered Hari at the time who even stated that he would thrash Hank if he saw him at a party.
Hank commented, "All of that's in Hari's documentary and what he — and in his routine and what he talks about. And other things he talks about, too - I was like: 'Is that real?'' he said of the outrage over a White man playing an Indian character. "I wasn't sure." But Hank realized his mistake and after years of self-reflection, Hank admitted that he made a terrible casting choice of voicing Apu as he did. He feels embarrassed and acknowledged that his portrayal of Apu added to the already existing dehumanization of the subcontinent folks in the US.
In the recent NPR podcast, Hank expressed his disappointment before Hari and appreciated the comedian for dragging him into this conversation surrounding the stereotyping of Indian characters in the Hollywood. "I'm so grateful for having — for Hari, you pushing — dragging me and pushing me...into this conversation."
"It means a lot for you to say that," Hari responded with grace. For now, Hari has made peace with Hank but the battle to end the Indian stereotypical characters continues.