Alison Brie Regrets Voicing Vietnamese American ‘BoJack Horseman’ Character
Alison Brie has expressed regret supplying the voice for the Vietnamese American character Diane Nguyen in the Netflix series “BoJack Horseman,” which completed its series run earlier this year.
In a statement posted to Instagram on Friday, Brie said that, “in hindsight,” she wishes she did not voice the character and that Diane could’ve been reserved for a person of color.
“I now understand that people of color should always voice people of color,” Brie wrote. “We missed a great opportunity to represent the Vietnamese-American community accurately and respectfully, and for that I am truly sorry. I applaud all those who stepped away from their voiceover roles in recent days. I have learned a lot from them.”
Also Read: 'The Simpsons' Will No Longer Have White Actors Voice Nonwhite Characters
Brie’s statement comes after several other white voice actors stepped away from their roles as people of color in animated series. “Family Guy” star Mike Henry said on Friday that he would step away from the Fox sitcom as the longtime voice of the Black character Cleveland Brown. “The Simpsons” said that non-white actors would no longer voice any non-white characters, this after several years back Hank Azaria agreed to stop lending the voice to the Indian character Apu.
And earlier this week, it was announced that biracial characters voiced by Kristen Bell and Jenny Slate on “Central Park” and “Big Mouth,” respectively, would be recast with Black or biracial voice actors.
Brie voiced her character Diane Nguyen on the Netflix series “BoJack Horseman” for 77 episodes dating back to 2014. Though the show is populated with both human and animal characters, Diane is a Vietnamese American woman and writer, who, in one episode, returns to Vietnam to explore her heritage roots.
Read Brie’s full statement below:
A post shared by Alison Brie (@alisonbrie) on Jun 26, 2020 at 5:06pm PDT
Read original story Alison Brie Regrets Voicing Vietnamese American ‘BoJack Horseman’ Character At TheWrap