Voice actor and YouTube star Arif Zahir has revealed the process behind him securing the role of Cleveland Brown on Family Guy.

"I did an impression of Cleveland [on YouTube] and [producers] mentioned that they had seen that, and they said 'We’d love for you to have your shot at the role,'" Zahir told The New York Post. "It was a surreal moment. It was like a month or a month-and-a-half long process. It was over Zoom when they offered me the part. I wanted to scream as loud as I could. It felt unreal."

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"I was always an actor at heart as a kid," Zahir continued. "I made my first YouTube channel in 2006 [doing] magic tricks. Then in 2012, I was like, ‘Let me start doing some gaming stuff,’ and I’d be doing voices [while playing] games. And people were like, ‘You should make that into a channel.’ So I tried that out in like 2013, and it’s my prime bread and butter — and where my life has been."

Zahir also commented on the larger pop culture conversation surrounding white actors voicing characters of color by noting, "I feel honored to be part of the conversation. I do feel like representation is very important within Hollywood and I’m overwhelmed to…help shape an important topic like that, and open doors for future opportunities for people of color." Zahir also noted that Cleveland "is my first big role. It’s overwhelming and I’m really excited."

In June, amid the Black Lives Matter protests taking place across the globe, Mike Henry announced he was stepping down as Cleveland's voice actor after portraying the character for 20 years, saying, "I love this character, but persons of color should play characters of color." Henry will remain a series regular on Family Guy, voicing such recurring characters as Bruce and Herbert.

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Shortly after this news, Zahir posted a video to his YouTube channel entitled Cleveland Brown Plays Modern Warfare! that opens with Zahir commenting on Henry's departure. "As a huge fan of him and his characters and his voices, especially Cleveland, it was a blow to me, I won't lie," Zahir remarks in the video before going on to express his gratitude towards Henry and the producers of Family Guy.

At the 8:32 mark of the video, Zahir, while doing an impression of Cleveland, goes on to express his interest in voicing the character on Family Guy, as well as raising awareness for a fan-made petition to make that casting happen.

Family Guy stars Seth MacFarlane, Alex Bornstein, Seth Green, Mila Kunis, Arif Zahir, Patrick Warburton and Mike Henry. Season 19 of Family Guy airs Sundays at 9:30 p.m. ET/PT on Fox.

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Source: The New York Post, YouTube