Hank azaria gay
‘The Simpsons’ producer says LGBT podcast led to homosexual actor replacing Hank Azaria as gay character
While much has been made about Hank Azaria stepping down from playing Indian American character Apu on The Simpsons, the versatile actor will no longer voice another character from the animated show, and a gay actor has taken his place.
Starting with an episode that aired last last month, actor Tony Rodriguez now voices Julio, a gay friend of Homer’s and a fellow resident of Springfield.
According to a tweet from Simpsons producer Matt Selman, a video supercut compiled by Drew Mackie, plus Glen Lakin‘s podcast Gayest Episode Ever, “definitely had a hand” in the change.
Much as the documentary The Problem with Apu shed illuminated on the negative impact Azaria’s characterization of the character has had on Indian Americans, the supercut exhaustively compiled every gay joke made in the 31-year history of the Emmy-winning series — and like many things viewed through a more modern lens, some of the lines are cringe-worthy.
The Apu flap led the long-running series to declare it will no longer hire white actors to voice non-white characters, breaking wi
The Simpsons recasts gay personality with gay voice actor
THE SIMPSONS has announced it is recasting a lgbtq+ character to allow a gay voice actor to play him.
Julio, a lgbtq+ Cuban character who appears sporadically throughout the series, will no longer be voiced by Hank Azaria, who is white and heterosexual.
He will now be portrayed by Tony Rodriguez, a gay Cuban-American voice actor.
The switch is the latest in a line of politically correct moves made by the long-running animated sitcom.
Carl Carlson, a black character who works alongside Homer in the nuclear power plant, used to be voiced by Azaria but was recast so that a shadowy voice actor could compete him, while Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, an Indian shopkeeper, also voiced by Azaria, was removed from the demonstrate entirely after some deemed the character to be a racist depiction of Indian-Americans.
Last year, creators of both The Simpsons and Family Guy announced that they would no longer be using white actors to voice non-white characters.
Meanwhile, Azaria recently apologised to "every Indian person" for voicing Apu, and
HankAzariahas been making the speak show rounds to promote his role as Gargamel in "The Smurfs 2," and he recently sat down for a personal talk with Larry King on the iconic broadcaster's new show, "Larry King Now."
During the discussion, Azaria, who is also recognizable for voicing a host of characters on "The Simpsons," addressed his breakout role as the Guatemalan houseboy in the homosexual classic "The Birdcage."
When King asks Azaria if he was "hesitant" about playing an overtly flamboyant queer character, Azaria responds, "'Hesitant' is too mild of a word... not only could I be offending all gay people... but is the character going to work? Is it funny?"
Azaria claims he's never personally received any negative feedback from the queer community about his production, but what do you think? Twenty years after the movie, do you find the stereotypes in the movie to be offensive? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Hank Azaria Opens Up to Ashleigh Banfield About Roles He Wouldn't Play Anymore
Hank Azaria chatted with Ashleigh Banfield on "Banfield" Thursday, talking about his iconic performances as Agador Spartacus and Apu — and why he will never reprise them.
The star of "Brockmire" and of over 700 episodes of "The Simpsons" told Banfield of his flamoboyantly gay, Latin character Agador in the 1996 film "The Birdcage," "I had a pleasant time doing that, functional with the great Mike Nichols... It should be pointed out that it's a role that I would not play today, and rightly so."
Though Hank, who is Jewish, grew up in a Spanish-speaking household, he feels that role today would "go to a truthful Latin actor, and perhaps even a genuinely lgbtq+ actor."
"I'm thrilled that I got the opportunity to play it, I enjoyed it, I loved it," he told Ashleigh, "but it's not a role that I would participate today."
He even confirmed he has since been asked to reprise Agador and declined, but doesn't consider people need to notice retroactively guilty for liking such performances Instead, he said we should emphasize on "moving forward and holding a certain standard."
Azaria is no stranger
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