Alison Brie says she regrets voicing Diane Nguyen, an American Vietnamese character, on Netflix’s “BoJack Horseman”.
“In hindsight, I wish I didn’t express the character of Diane Nguyen. Now I understand that people of color should always express people of color. We missed a great opportunity to represent the Vietnamese American community with precision and respect, and I am very sorry. I applaud everyone who strayed from their voice-over roles in the past few days. I’ve learned a lot from them, “Brie posted on her Instagram account Friday night.
“BoJack Horseman” creator Raphael Bob-Waksberg also commented on Brie’s casting earlier this week on Twitter. He admitted that there was never a Vietnamese writer on the show, but he did hire a Vietnamese consultant for an episode in which Diane visits the country.
“We should have hired a Vietnamese writer and Vietnamese actress to play Diane, or else change the character to match the one we hired,” wrote Bob-Waksberg.
Brie’s comments about her character come after several actors have given up expressing people of color on animated shows.
On Wednesday, Jenny Slate and Kristen Bell announced that they would be leaving their voice roles as biracial characters in “Big Mouth” and “Central Park,” respectively. Mike Henry, who voiced Cleveland Brown on “Family Guy” since 1999, resigned his role on Friday. The producers of “The Simpsons” also released a statement saying they would no longer allow white actors to voice non-white characters in the series. For many years, the show generated controversy over Hank Azaria’s portrayal of the Indian character Apu.
