BoJack Horseman star Alison Brie has opened up about voicing Vietnamese-American character Diane Nguyen, and she has admitted that she regrets taking on the role.
Brie, who has also starred in the shows Community and Glow, took to social media with a statement.
“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,” she continued.
“I applaud all those who stepped away from their voiceover roles in recent days. I have learned a lot from them.”
BoJack Horseman creator Raphael Bob-Waksberg recently opened up about concerns of whitewashing on the Netflix series.
“This is something I am happy to talk about!” he said via Twitter, in response to a user who had asked why Diane Nguyen was voiced by a white woman.
“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.”
The news comes as several actors have stepped down from voicing people of color on animated TV shows.
Mike Henry, a white actor who voiced Black character Cleveland Brown on Family Guy, has announced he is stepping down after over 20 years.
Henry also voiced the character in a four-season spinoff titled The Cleveland Show.
That same day, it was announced that fellow FOX animated series The Simpsons would no longer be using white actors to play people of color on the series.
The Simpsons drew controversy for many years due to Hank Azaria’s portrayal of the Indian character Apu.
Earlier that week, Jenny Slate shared the news that she was exiting Big Mouth as biracial character Missy, and Kristen Bell revealed she was quitting her role of a mixed-race character on Central Park.
Bell will return to the series, but it will be in a new role, while her previous role will be recast.
Paul Dailly is the Associate Editor for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.