Alex Désert replaces Hank Azaria as voice of Carl Carlson in The Simpsons

The animated sitcom announced in June that they were no longer going to use white actors to voice characters of colour
Alex Desert will now voice Carl Carlson
Getty/Fox
Kimberley Bond25 September 2020

Producers behind The Simpsons have announced a new cast member who will voice one of the show’s longest-running black characters.

Alex Désert, who has previously starred in The Flash, Boy Meets World and High Fidelity, will now be voicing Carl Carlson, one of Homer Simpson’s close friends and long-time co-worker at the Springfield Nuclear Powerplant.

Carl was previously voiced by Hank Azaria, who also lends his voice to a number of other characters on the show.

It is not yet clear whether Désert, 52, will voice other characters of colour on the show, or whether he will become a full-time fixture in the cast.

The Simpsons TV Show - In pictures

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Désert will make his debut as Carl in a brand new episode of The Simpsons, with the long-running cartoon launching its 32nd season on Sunday 27th September.

This is not the first time an actor on The Simpsons has stopped voicing a character of colour. Azaria previously voiced Kwik-E-Mart owner Apu Nahasapeemapetilon – a role that has been subject to much derision due to its leaning on negative stereotypes.

Hank Azaria has stepped down from voicing characters of colour 
Getty Images

After 2017 documentary titled The Problem With Apu by comedian/filmmaker Hari Kondabolu, where other South Asian actors discussed the negative impact the character had on their life, Azaria announced in January that he would no longer voice Apu.

A replacement is yet to be announced.

The move comes after execs working on The Simpsons revealed that they were no longer going to use white actors to voice black and ethnic minority characters.

The announcement came as a response to the ongoing Black Lives Matter movement, with some comedy programmes getting considerable backlash for white actors and comedians relying on negative racial stereotypes and using blackface to mock people of colour.

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