The Simpsons: Gay Cuban Character Julio To Be Voiced By Gay Cuban Actor Tony Rodriguez

Tony Rodriguez as Julio: Adult animated sitcom The Simpsons, currently under the scanner for racial character representation, has chosen to recast the voice-over artist for Julio, a gay Cuban character. Actor Hank Azaria, who earlier voiced Julio, will now be replaced by actor Tony Rodriguez.

Rodriguez's identity as a gay Cuban man is commensurate with Julio's, who is Marge's hairdresser on the longest-running American sitcom. In March end, Rodriguez announced on Instagram he would be making his debut as Julio. "Tonight I make my debut on The Simpsons as gay, Cuban Julio. This is a dream come true for me and I was already a living cartoon," he wrote.

See his post below: 

Source: Tony Rodriguez / Instagram

"In the past two years, I have seen myself more in the show, and by that, I mean specifically the part of Julio, who is gay like me, he’s Cuban like me," Rodriguez had said in February on an IGTV Instagram video, putting forward an appeal to be cast in the show as Julio.

Simpsons Casts Tony Rodriguez As Julio After Questions Of Representation

This is not the first time Azaria has been replaced on The Simpsons. For 30 years, the actor voiced the Indian character of Apu Nahasapeemapetilon on the sitcom, between 1990 and 2020, which is when he decided to step down. There had long been criticism for Azaria's portrayal of Apu, owing to accent and mannerism that many claimed played into racial stereotypes.

A 2017 documentary by comedian Hari Kondabolu titled The Problem with Apu highlighted this issue in a big way. Azaria in a podcast recently expressed remorse over his role as Apu. "Part of me feels like I need to go to every single Indian person in this country and personally apologise," he said.

Azaria also stepped down from his Simpsons role as Carl Carlson, who will now be voiced by Black actor Alex Désert. Rodriguez, now, has replaced him as Julio too.