Why Hank Azaria Won’t Play Apu on ‘The Simpsons’ Anymore

In the three decades that he has been a voice actor on “The Simpsons,” Hank Azaria has played dozens of Springfield’s absurd denizens on that long-running animated Fox comedy, including the surly bartender Moe, the inept lawman Chief Wiggum and the adenoidal bookworm Professor Frink.

But in recent years, Azaria has become irrevocably associated with one “Simpsons” character in particular: Apu, the obliging Indian immigrant and proprietor of the town’s Kwik-E-Mart convenience store.

Azaria has played the character since his first appearance in 1990, but he and the show have faced increasing condemnation from audience members who feel that Apu is a bigoted caricature.

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

Azaria now says that he will no longer play Apu on “The Simpsons.” It is a choice he said he made for himself after a yearslong process of examining his own feelings and listening to others who explained how they had been hurt by Apu, who was for years the only depiction of an Indian person they saw on TV.

“Once I realized that that was the way this character was thought of, I just didn’t want to participate in it anymore,” Azaria told me in a recent interview. “It just didn’t feel right.”