The Simpsons Creator Matt Groening Has Plans for Apu After Controversial Recasting

The Simpsons creator Matt Groening talked about his plans for Apu after the controversial recasting last year. It was a moment of reflection for the entire animation landscape during 2020. Groening spoke to USA Today about the upcoming changes. A large cultural conversation happened all over the medium as showrunners and networks tried to figure out how to address some disparities in their ranks. Hank Azaria had played Apu for a long time, and he stepped down from the role after increasing conversations about the character’s cultural legacy began to pop up. Now, they’re going to have to figure out how to move forward. The Simpsons is still a beloved franchise for so many people out there. How they choose to move forward will prompt some reactions no matter what course they decide to take.

“I think the Apu stories are fantastic, and he’s one of the most nuanced characters on a silly two-dimensional cartoon show. So, yeah, I’m proud of Apu,” Groening explained. “I’m trying not to open up another chasm of criticism, but it doesn’t matter what I say. I’ll get it anyway.”

He added, “Who can be against diversity? So it’s great. However, I will just say that the actors were not hired to play specific characters. They were hired to do whatever characters we thought of. To me, the amazing thing is seeing all our brilliant actors who can do multiple voices, do multiple voices. That’s part of the fun of animation, However, to be more inclusive and hire more people, I’m completely in favor of that.”

Hank Azaria also offered some perspective about the series before stepping away from playing Apu for good. It was hard to make the choice, but he did.

“I think it’s really important when people express themselves about racial issues, what they feel is unfair or upsetting or distressing or makes them angry, sad or hurt,” Azaria explained back in 2018. “The most important thing to do is listen, try to understand, try to sympathize, which is what I’m doing. I know that The Simpsons guys are doing that too; they’re giving it a lot of thought, and we’ve discussed a little bit. They will definitely address — maybe publicly, certainly creatively within the context of the show — what they want to do, if anything, with the character.”

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