Alison Brie says she regrets being cast to voice the Vietnamese Diane Nguyen for Netflix's popular series, BoJack Horseman. Brie explained her position in a lengthy Instagram post.
“In hindsight, I wish that I didn’t voice the character of Diane Nguyen. 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 wrote, Friday night.
BoJack Horseman creator Raphael Bob-Waksberg recently made a similar statement, expressing regret for the characters casting: “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,” Bob-Waksberg wrote.
Brie is among a series of voice actors who have apologized for voicing characters of different ethnic backgrounds than their own. Jenny Slate and Kristen Bell recently expressed regret for being cast in their respective roles for Big Mouth and Central Park. Mike Henry, the voice of Cleveland Brown on Family Guy, announced this week that he'd be stepping down from the role going forward.
[Via]