{"id":659564,"date":"2026-10-19T18:10:11","date_gmt":"2026-10-19T18:10:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/659564\/"},"modified":"2026-10-19T18:10:11","modified_gmt":"2026-10-19T18:10:11","slug":"after-years-of-silence-apu-speaks-again-as-the-simpsons-casts-new-voice-actor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/659564\/","title":{"rendered":"After years of silence, Apu speaks again as The Simpsons casts new voice actor"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>APU HAS FOUND his voice again on The Simpsons, years after controversy over the character\u2019s portrayal left the Kwik-E-Mart owner largely confined to the background.<\/p>\n<p>Actor Sunil Malhotra, whose television credits include animated show The Legend of Korra and Grey\u2019s Anatomy, made his debut as Apu in Sunday night\u2019s US episode, \u2018The Revengening\u2019, <a href=\"https:\/\/variety.com\/2026\/tv\/news\/the-simpsons-apu-new-voice-sunil-malhotra-hank-azaria-1236915177\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Variety reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Janina Gavankar also debuted as Apu\u2019s wife, Manjula, with producers planning more appearances for the family.<\/p>\n<p>The Halloween-themed episode makes a pointed joke of Apu\u2019s long absence, with Springfield residents admitting they wanted to do the right thing but did not know how.<\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\" xml:lang=\"en\">EXCUSE ME!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!? https:\/\/t.co\/z6meUnEi4v<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Apu From The Simpsons \ud83c\udde8\ud83c\uddf1 (@Apu_Simpson25) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Apu_Simpson25\/status\/2111986821421019405?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow\">October 19, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe love this character, and wanted to bring him back in a smart, \u2018Simpsons\u2019-y way that allowed him to evolve,\u201d executive producer Matt Selman told Variety.<\/p>\n<p>Hank Azaria, who previously voiced Apu, announced in 2020 that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thejournal.ie\/apu-simpsons-voice-actor-4970607-Jan2020\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">he would no longer play the character<\/a> following criticism of his accent and the show\u2019s use of Indian stereotypes.<\/p>\n<p>Comedian Hari Kondabolu\u2019s 2017 documentary The Problem With Apu examined the character\u2019s impact on people of South Asian descent, bringing renewed attention to the portrayal.<\/p>\n<p>Later in 2020, producers announced that white actors <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thejournal.ie\/the-simpson-ends-white-actors-for-coloured-characters-5134814-Jun2020\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">would no longer voice non-white characters<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Apu continued to appear occasionally but without dialogue, according to Variety.<\/p>\n<p>Malhotra said he initially had reservations about taking the role and wanted to discuss the producers\u2019 plans before committing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhether the producers knew it or not, I was prepared to walk away,\u201d Malhotra said.<\/p>\n<p>He described the subsequent discussions as the beginning of a collaborative experience, saying he hoped the result would satisfy both longtime fans and South Asian viewers who had stopped watching.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"APU HAS FOUND his voice again on The Simpsons, years after controversy over the character\u2019s portrayal left the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":659565,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[126548,279321,93,279322,61,60,143349,279323,33492,191761],"class_list":["post-659564","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-apu","tag-apu-nahasapeemapetilon","tag-entertainment","tag-hank-azaria","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-sunil-malhotra","tag-thank-you-come-again","tag-the-simpsons","tag-voice-actor"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/659564","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=659564"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/659564\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/659565"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=659564"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=659564"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=659564"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}