Hank Azaria reveals why he won’t play Apu on ‘The Simpsons’ anymore

The actor played Apu since 1990, but faced increasing condemnation from fans who found the character bigoted


Entertainment Desk February 28, 2020
Photo: File

In the 30 years that he has worked on The Simpsons, Hank Azaria has played dozens of its absurd denizens, including the surly bartender Moe, the inept lawman Chief Wiggum and the bookworm Professor Frink.

But recently, he has become more associated with one character in particular: Apu, the obliging Indian immigrant and proprietor of Springfield’s Kwik-E-Mart grocery store. The actor has played Apu since 1990, but he and the show have faced increasing condemnation from fans who feel that the character is a bigoted one.

To the critics, many of whom are of Indian descent, Apu is a stereotype. As voiced by Azaria, who is white, Apu’s ethnic accent and catchphrase, “Thank you! Come again!” have become grating slurs.

Photo: File Photo: File

Azaria no longer plays Apu - a choice he made after examining his own feelings and listening to others who explained how they had been hurt by the character, which was the only depiction of an Indian person on TV for years. “Once I realised the way this character was thought of, I just didn’t want to participate anymore,” Azaria told New York Times recently. “It just didn’t feel right.”

Questions about how Apu will be handled going forward on The Simpsons remain and the producers have been hesitant to address the controversy. But now that the fate of Apu is out of Azaria’s hands, the Friends star said he enjoyed engaging with viewers whose arguments he was initially reluctant to hear and coming to understand that reluctance. His experience, he said, could be instructive at a time when representation remains a fraught topic in popular culture.

Photo: File Photo: File

“What happened with Apu is a window into an important issue,” Azaria stated. “It’s a good way to start the conversation. I can be accountable and try to make up for it as best I can.”

The actor admitted he had based Apu’s voice on clerks he had heard growing up in New York, who tended to be Indian and Pakistani. He also drew inspiration from the 1968 Blake Edwards comedy The Party, in which Peter Sellers wore brown face to play a bumbling Indian. “That represents a real blind spot I had,” he said.

Apu appeared frequently on The Simpsons, sometimes in episodes that mocked xenophobia and anti-immigrant attitudes in America, and Azaria won multiple Emmy Awards for it. But the character and his performance came under increased scrutiny.

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