In light of recent controversy with regard to white voice actors performing the voices for non-white characters, Alison Brie expressed regret for accepting the role of Diane Nguyen in Netflix's Bojack Horseman, a character that is depicted as being Vietnamese-American.
Brie shared her thoughts on social media. "In hindsight, I wish that I didn't voice the character of Diane Nguyen," she said. "I now understand that people of color, should always voice people of color. 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."
Brie's apology comes as part of a larger movement within the animation community of white actors voluntarily distancing themselves from voiceover roles that should have gone to actors of color. Jenny Slate has announced that she will no longer voice the biracial character, Missy, on Netflix's Big Mouth, while Kristen Bell has also stepped down from the role of Molly Tillerman on Apple TV+'s animated musical series Central Park. Meanwhile, Fox spokesman Les Eisner has stated that "Moving forward, The Simpsons will no longer have white actors voice non-white characters."
Diane Nguyen is depicted as an intelligent, third-wave feminist, who is sometimes shy and awkward at social gatherings, but becomes bold and assertive when the situation demands it. Diane shows a great deal of compassion towards her friends, particularly Bojack, but her belief that her way is the right way of doing things frequently gets in the way of her empathetic side. Brie played the character through all six seasons of the series.
Creator of the show, Raphael Bob-Waksberg, had already previously waded into the controversy surrounding the white-washing of Diane. In a series of messages on Twitter, Bob-Waksberg explained,"The intention behind the character is I wanted to write AWAY from stereotypes and create an Asian American character who wasn't defined solely by her race. But I went too far in the other direction. We are all defined SOMEWHAT by our race! Of course we are! It is part of us!" He concluded by saying, "We should have hired a Vietnamese writer, and a Vietnamese actress to play Diane - or if not that, changed the character to match who we did hire."
Created and executive produced by Raphael Bob-Waksberg, BoJack Horseman was designed by Hanawalt and is animated by ShadowMachine. Steven A. Cohen and Noel Bright also serve as executive producers. BoJack Horseman stars Will Arnett as the voice of BoJack, Aaron Paul as Todd, and Amy Sedaris as BoJack's agent, a cat named Princess Carolyn. All six seasons can be streamed on Netflix.
(via ComicBook.com)