Alison Brie Regrets Voicing Asian American Character in BoJack Horseman

Richiek · Jun 27, 2020

In light of the Simpsons announcing that white actors would stop voicing POC and Mike Henry no longer voicing Cleveland in Family Guy, now Alison Brie apologizes for voicing Vietnamese-American Diane Nguyen in BoJack Horseman.

I am a huge fan of the show, but yeah, having a white actor voice an Asian-American character was always problematic.

Bor Gullet · Jun 27, 2020

Well there it is

WrenchNinja · Jun 27, 2020

You start regretting it after 6 seasons, with the show being over, and other voice actors dropping out on other shows huh

Pai Pai Master · Jun 27, 2020

Was waiting for this. I like Bojack for many things but the commentary on Hollywood/showbusiness being out of touch always fell flat if Diane was involved.

This isn't something white actors and casting directors and showrunners should only just now be figuring out.

Diane Nguyen was an okay character that could have been a great character, but Vietnamese people got literally robbed out of representation and it'll always be a mark on the show and the people who let that happen.

MrRob · Jun 27, 2020

She's regretting that it's something people are paying attention to now, rather.

Lord Fanny · Jun 27, 2020

Woah, Henry is going to stop doing Cleveland? I had missed that news, that's kind of crazy.

But anyway, I don't know if it was the voice obviously being Brie, but I always kind of forgot that Diane was supposed to be Asian until they highlighted it in that season where she goes back to Vietnam to reconnect her roots which was like...season 5? Diane was always kind of in a weird spot in that show after like the second season. She was like the conscience of the show, but seemed to phase in and out of importance at various points.

JDSN · Jun 27, 2020

Whatever, you still got that money.

ZeoVGM · Jun 27, 2020

MrRob said:
She's regretting that it's something people are paying attention to now, rather.

Or she actually feels regretful of it now that a light is being shined on the topic.

Soda · Jun 28, 2020

ZeoVGM said:
Or she actually feels regretful of it now that a light is being shined on the topic.

Right? I don't understand why people don't think that it could be a change of heart given everything going on right now.

Heromanz · Jun 28, 2020

She regrets it?

zoggy · Jun 28, 2020

should donate the money she got paid from that gig to charity

Border · Jun 28, 2020

I'm kind of glad that Bojack Horseman is over, and that it finished out with Brie in the role. It would have been endlessly distracting to have the final seasons play out with a different voice actor. Diane was pretty much the second lead character, and replacing her would have been pretty rough. It's kind of a different situation than Simpsons or Family Guy where they're only replacing VAs for very tertiary second-banana characters.

That said, it was a misstep to cast her in the first place and future Netflix projects should be looking to cast appropriate VAs.

UltraMav · Jun 28, 2020

Soda said:
Right? I don't understand why people don't think that it could be a change of heart given everything going on right now.

I mean it was so commonplace for so long I never gave it a second thought, as I'm sure many didn't. With a large amount of people proclaiming it to he inappropriate, I would expect many people to be reconsidering the issue now.

Bor Gullet · Jun 28, 2020

Heromanz said:
She regrets it?

I'm sure she is regretful.

It's just a little too late.

mreddie · Jun 28, 2020

Is everyone realizing having white people play PoC wrong and the damage has already been done? Granted shows like Big Mouth and Central Park, the change will happen and will be good but this, Simpsons and Guy, the damage has already been done.

PhilosopherDirtBike · Jun 28, 2020

The creator of the show gave an interview between season 4 and 5 where he said he regretted casting Brie as a Vietnamese character and that he mandated the show cast POC for as many guest roles as they could for the last two seasons of the show. So this isn't totally a surprise I guess.

Saturday · Jun 28, 2020

Diana was a great character, and Allison Brie gave a lot towards voicing her.

But, well, yeah. I'm surprised Bojack didn't make a joke about PoC not voicing PoC in animation or something.

Cels · Jun 28, 2020

UltraMav said:
I mean it was so commonplace for so long I never gave it a second thought, as I'm sure many didn't.

you're totally right that many people didnt think about it at all. this is not an attack on you personally but this is simply an illustration of how omnipresent yet invisible white privilege can be, that a character named nguyen can be portrayed by a white woman and no one really makes a stir about it.

Jay Shadow · Jun 28, 2020

She should regret voicing Vincent Adultman cause she's clearly not 3 kids stacked on top of each other under a trench coat.

S-Wind · Jun 28, 2020

As a Canadian of Vietnamese descent I appreciate that she is speaking up about this.

UltraMav · Jun 28, 2020

Cels said:
you're totally right that many people didnt think about it at all. this is not an attack on you personally but this is simply an illustration of how omnipresent yet invisible white privilege can be, that a character named nguyen can be portrayed by a white woman and no one really makes a stir about it.

Yeah it was just the status quo. It takes people raising a stink about in mass to effect change.

wholahay · Jun 28, 2020

Obviously it's shit that this was a standard in animation for so long, but castigating individual actors for it is not that productive. If your reaction to this is "how cynical that she's apologizing now," what should have done have instead? Buried her head in the sand and hope that she didn't get called out?

JCLShay · Jun 28, 2020

Cool of her to use her platform to bring awareness.

Related - reminds me of the time Emma Stone yelled "I'm sorry!" when Sandra Oh called Hollywood out for casting her to play a mixed Asian:

Border · Jun 28, 2020

I wasn't really wanting or expecting any kind of followup after the final season of Bojack, but this probably ensures that it will never happen. If they can't get a prominent member of the original cast back, I doubt they will bother exploring further Bojack stories. Which is actually cool as far as I am concerned, because any attempt to append the story will probably just fall flat.

Not that I think it's necessary, but is Aaron Paul going to apologize for playing an asexual latino character, despite the fact that he is neither asexual nor latino? It always seemed strange to me that people seemed so focused on Diane's VA, when Todd's VA was arguably more of a mismatch.

Deleted member 12028 · Jun 28, 2020

wholahay said:
Obviously it's shit that this was a standard in animation for so long, but castigating individual actors for it is not that productive. If your reaction to this is "how cynical that she's apologizing now," what should have done have instead? Buried her head in the sand and hope that she didn't get called out?

Seriously, people dogpiling for this statement, but she easily could be doing a Scarlett Johansen here and it's a good thing she's not.

Buttchin-n-Bones · Jun 28, 2020

Saturday said:
Diana was a great character, and Allison Brie gave a lot towards voicing her.

But, well, yeah. I'm surprised Bojack didn't make a joke about PoC not voicing PoC in animation or something.

I think they did, I'm pretty sure Randall Park cameo'd as a white guy that Diane encountered in Vietnam. And Pickles is voiced by Hong Chau.

That doesn't take away from the shittiness of all this, though.

SRG01 · Jun 28, 2020

IIRC, she had regrets about it as far back as around season 4. There's an old interview somewhere, but there's no formal apology for it.

Tochtli79 · Jun 28, 2020

I don't get all the sassy/judgmental posts. She apologized, she flat out says she was wrong and ignorant on the subject, she acknowledges why it's important for POC to voice POC, and she vows to do better. But yeah let's just keep the nasty comments coming because people are incapable of changing for the better and any attempt to claim they have is just faking it for likes, apparently.

TheGreatDirector · Jun 28, 2020

Border said:
I wasn't really wanting or expecting any kind of followup after the final season of Bojack, but this probably ensures that it will never happen. If they can't get a prominent member of the original cast back, I doubt they will bother exploring further Bojack stories. Which is actually cool as far as I am concerned, because any attempt to append the story will probably just fall flat.

Not that I think it's necessary, but is Aaron Paul going to apologize for playing an asexual latino character, despite the fact that he is neither asexual nor latino? It always seemed strange to me that people seemed so focused on Diane's VA, when Todd's VA was arguably more of a mismatch.

Todd wasn't latino. His step dad was and he just took the last name.

Saturday · Jun 28, 2020

Buttchin-n-Bones said:
I think they did, I'm pretty sure Randall Park cameo'd as a white guy that Diane encountered in Vietnam

... wait, what-

He has trouble understanding Diane is also American like him and thinks she is from Vietnam—which frustrates Diane as she tries to clarify this. Not much else is known about his character.

Oh wow, that's meta on a odd number of levels.

Cels · Jun 28, 2020

Border said:
I wasn't really wanting or expecting any kind of followup after the final season of Bojack, but this probably ensures that it will never happen. If they can't get a prominent member of the original cast back, I doubt they will bother exploring further Bojack stories. Which is actually cool as far as I am concerned, because any attempt to append the story will probably just fall flat.

Not that I think it's necessary, but is Aaron Paul going to apologize for playing an asexual latino character, despite the fact that he is neither asexual nor latino? It always seemed strange to me that people seemed so focused on Diane's VA, when Todd's VA was arguably more of a mismatch.

did they even explore todd chavez's latino identity the same way they did with diane and her vietnamese identity? there was an episode about her going to vietnam and discovering that she doesn't really relate to what she thought was her homeland

Gustaf · Jun 28, 2020

Tochtli79 said:
I don't get all the sassy/judgmental posts. She apologized, she flat out says she was wrong and ignorant on the subject, she acknowledges why it's important for POC to voice POC, and she vows to do better. But yeah let's just keep the nasty comments coming because people are incapable of changing for the better and any attempt to claim they have is just faking it for likes, apparently.

there is no growing in Era just PR moves

Lotus · Jun 28, 2020

SRG01 said:
IIRC, she had regrets about it as far back as around season 4. There's an old interview somewhere, but there's no formal apology for it.

Yea I think I remember that. Or at the very least, the creator wished he had done things differently in hindsight.

UltraMav · Jun 28, 2020

Gustaf said:
there is no growing in Era just PR moves

I mean even with the cynical take of it being "performative wokeness" or whatever, she has now made herself accountable and if she did it again she would be blasted off the Internet, so it's still a net gain even if you don't believe her sincerity.

GYODX · Jun 28, 2020

Tochtli79 said:
I don't get all the sassy/judgmental posts. She apologized, she flat out says she was wrong and ignorant on the subject, she acknowledges why it's important for POC to voice POC, and she vows to do better. But yeah let's just keep the nasty comments coming because people are incapable of changing for the better and any attempt to claim they have is just faking it for likes, apparently.

People getting off on shaming someone for apologizing when she could have *easily* just kept her head down and not said anything. I'm glad I don't know anyone this miserable in real life.

lorddarkflare · Jun 28, 2020

I take bigger issue with hiring and the Hollywood at large than I do with individual actors themselves.

Feels unnecessary to pile on them. Even if they are not blameless.

And on performative wokeness as a whole: I mean, yeah we should call it out when it is particularly egregious, but can we be less nasty and smug about it?

Seductivpancakes · Jun 28, 2020

MrRob said:
She's regretting that it's something people are paying attention to now, rather.

Better late than never.

At least now it'll be hard for her to back track.

Rhaknar · Jun 28, 2020

GYODX said:
People getting off on shaming someone for apologizing when she could have *easily* just kept her head down and not said anything. I'm glad I don't know anyone this miserable in real life.

you must not read Era a lot then

Dongs Macabre · Jun 28, 2020

Tochtli79 said:
I don't get all the sassy/judgmental posts. She apologized, she flat out says she was wrong and ignorant on the subject, she acknowledges why it's important for POC to voice POC, and she vows to do better. But yeah let's just keep the nasty comments coming because people are incapable of changing for the better and any attempt to claim they have is just faking it for likes, apparently.

Lol she can handle some ribbing she won't see from nobodies on an Internet forum.

Border · Jun 28, 2020

TheGreatDirector said:
Todd wasn't latino. His step dad was and he just took the last name.

When he took the role he probably didn't know that. To be fair, he probably didn't know that Todd was asexual since that was a developed in later seasons.

Seductivpancakes · Jun 28, 2020

lorddarkflare said:
I take bigger issue with hiring and the Hollywood at large than I do with individual actors themselves.

Feels unnecessary to pile on them. Even if they are not blameless.

And on performative wokeness as a whole: I mean, yeah we should call it out when it is particularly egregious, but can we be less nasty and smug about it?

If only white actors think like Olivia Munn.

Atraveller · Jun 28, 2020

Jay Shadow said:
She should regret voicing Vincent Adultman cause she's clearly not 3 kids stacked on top of each other under a trench coat.

What is this?

S-Wind · Jun 28, 2020

Jay Shadow said:
She should regret voicing Vincent Adultman cause she's clearly not 3 kids stacked on top of each other under a trench coat.

You sure you want to go there?

timshundo · Jun 28, 2020

This is kinda late lolllll. I love Bojack but I couldn't believe Diane was voiced by a white woman, esp cuz they go into Diane's Vietnamese background. Just felt cringe and disrespectful.

StayMe7o · Jun 28, 2020

Here's hoping she actually tries to help out POC with getting roles instead of just apologizing and doing nothing.

roflwaffles · Jun 28, 2020

I'm Asian and the blame is more on the casting directors and the producers than the actresses.

Parthenios · Jun 28, 2020

There's two ways the producers could have "fixed" this; hire a Vietnamese voice actress, or made Diane white. The same with Kristen Bell's character in Central Park, the director said he envisioned her in the role, so in those instances where creators have specific voice talent in mind, will they overcome the temptation to whitewash their own characters?

I hope that this leads to more opportunities for minority voice talent, and not less representation in media.

Nawid · Jun 28, 2020

GYODX said:
People getting off on shaming someone for apologizing when she could have *easily* just kept her head down and not said anything. I'm glad I don't know anyone this miserable in real life.

I feel like this forum needs to take a deep look at why it's openly toxic.

Nelo Ice · Jun 28, 2020

Glad she's come to this realization. Always felt weird with the show going deep into Diane being Vietnamese yet she's voiced by a white girl.

Dice · Jun 28, 2020

timshundo said:
This is kinda late lolllll.

That's how regret typically works. ;p

Pretty sure they did comment on it during the shows run too, but since it's a bit of a hot button topic right now....

The show misfires with her (Alison did to a great job for what it's worth), BoJack did otherwise choose from a wonderfully wide group of guest stars otherwise. I think the creators were pretty aware they did a bad thing.

Alison Brie Regrets Voicing Asian American Character in BoJack Horseman

One Winged Slayer

User requested account closure

Actually knows the TOS

One Winged Slayer

One Winged Slayer

user requested ban

user requested ban

CANCEL YOUR AMAZON PRIME

Self-requested ban

One Winged Slayer