Amid the nationwide protests calling for racial justice and equality amongst all industries, many companies have begun restructuring how they conduct business, including casting. Recently, The Simpsons, a long-running FOX series, announced that they will no longer allow white actors to portray characters outside of their race.
“Moving forward, The Simpsons will no longer have white actors voice non-white characters,” the show’s statement read.
This news didn’t sit well with one of their longtime actors, Harry Shearer, who plays the “unflappable” Black physician, Dr. Julius Hibbert, on the hit show.
During an interview with Times Radio, the voice-over actor mentioned that playing a character outside of his race is part of his job as an actor.
“I have a very simple belief about acting,” Shearer said. “The job of the actor is to play someone who they’re not.”
He added:
“That’s the gig. That’s the job description.”
Shearer has been a part of the award-winning show for 31 years. He is known for voicing several characters ranging from the elderly miser Mr. Burns to Principal Skinner.
“I think there’s a conflation between representation, which is important,” he said. “People from all backgrounds should be represented in the writing and producing ends of the business, so they help decide what stories to tell and with what knowledge,” he said, adding about the acting side, “The job is playing someone I’m not.”
When asked how the show’s decision could affect him financially, he replied:
“We don’t get paid by the voice.”
Shearer’s opposition to The Simpsons casting decisions comes one year after actor Hank Azaria announced that he would be stepping down from voicing Apu, the proprietor of the Kwik- E- Mart, on the show.
On an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Azaria stated:
“I think the most important thing is we have to listen to South Asian people, Indian people in this country when they talk about what they feel, how they think about this character, and what their American experience of it has been.”
He continued:
“In television terms, listening to voices means inclusion in the writers’ room. I really want to see Indians, South Asian writers in the room. Not in a token way, but genuinely informing whatever new direction this character may take. Including how it is voiced or not voiced. I’m perfectly happy and willing to step aside. Or help transition it into something new. I really hope that’s what The Simpsons does, it not only makes sense; it just feels like the right thing to do to me.”
The decision was reportedly influenced by US comedian Hari Kondabolu’s 2017 documentary The Problem with Apu, in which he dissected the controversies with the character and its portrayal of racial stereotypes.
To Slashfilm, Azaria said:
“All we know is I won’t be doing the voice anymore unless there’s some way to transition it or something. We all made the decision together – we all agreed on it. We all feel like it’s the right thing and good about it.”
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