Whatever Happened To The Cast?

Publish date: 2024-05-15

A gifted voice actor known for his 30-year-plus work on "The Simpsons," Hank Azaria nearly stole "The Birdcage" as Agador Spartacus, the scatterbrained Guatemalan houseboy who almost singlehandedly ruins a very important dinner party — and for which Azaria received a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination. During his appearance on "Larry King Now," he admitted to being a little hesitant about taking the role, admitting, "Not only could I be offending all gay people, not to mention all Guatemalan people, but is the character going to work? Is it funny?"

In 2017, Hari Kondabolu's "Simpsons" documentary, "The Problem with Apu," highlighted similar discussions regarding whether Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, a caricature of a South Asian man voiced by a white actor, was racist — and whether we've culturally moved beyond the need for such depictions. In 2020, Azaria stepped down from the voice role of Apu, explaining to The New York Times, "Once I realized that that was the way this character was thought of, I just didn't want to participate in it anymore. It just didn't feel right."

Azaria has won six Emmy Awards – four for "The Simpsons," one for the TV movie "Tuesdays With Morrie," and one for his guest role on "Ray Donovan." Meanwhile, he received a 2005 Tony Award nomination for his performance in the Broadway hit musical comedy, "Monty Python's Spamalot." While Azaria was briefly married to fellow actor, Helen Hunt from 1999 to 2000, nine years later, his future-wife, Katie Wright, gave birth to a son named Hal.

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