Voice actor Rob Paulsen says he won’t play a character of color again
Rob Paulsen has voiced a number of iconic characters over his 40 years in Hollywood, from Animaniacs’ Yakko Warner to both Raphael and Donatello in various iterations of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. He’s also voiced some characters that, in the harsh and just light of 2020, viewers might question—both because they’re birthed from a stereotype, and because they’re of a different race than Paulsen, who is white. The animation practice of casting white actors in non-white roles is one that’s come under increased scrutiny in recent weeks: Kristen Bell and Jenny Slate announced they would no longer play biracial characters on Central Park and Big Mouth, respectively; Mike Henry relinquished the part of Family Guy’s Cleveland Brown (and Wendell Pierce began a campaign to succeed him); Carl and Bumblebee Man joined Apu among the ranks of Simpsons characters in need of new voices; and Alison Brie expressed regrets about her portrayal of Diane Nguyen on BoJack Horseman, a casting decision creator Raphael Bob-Waksberg re-evaluated throughout the show’s run.
And so the following excerpt from an upcoming and updated Random Roles interview with Paulsen felt particularly relevant. While discussing the topic of characters he’s inherited from other performers, The A.V. Club asked about José “Zé” Carioca, the dapper Brazilian parrot from Disney’s Saludos Amigos and The Three Caballeros originally voiced by Brazilian musician and actor José do Patrocínio Oliveira. What followed was a frank discussion about playing nationalities and ethnicities different than his own—something Paulsen says he no longer does “along with virtually everyone else I know who is a Caucasian actor.” In the video above and transcript below, Paulsen discusses his thinking about his past work and what the animation industry and its actors should do going forward.
AVC: Correct me if I’m wrong, but you’re not Brazilian. You don’t voice José anymore, but has your taking that role ever given you pause?
Rob Paulsen: I’m so glad you asked. In fact, you’re looking at somebody who has also played other characters of different national origin. The first regular gig I got in a cartoon show was on a reboot of Jonny Quest, in which I played Hadji. That was in 1985.
I think now, along with virtually everyone else I know who is a Caucasian actor—when a character comes across my desk that has a distinctive national origin, I take a pass.
In fact, the first time I remember it happening was probably in the early or mid-’90s. It was a Native American character, and I remember saying, “well, wait a minute, Michael Horse is in town and Wes Studi and all these Native American actors.”
I’ve been in Hollywood long enough to see that whole dynamic change. There were many times that I would see Black actors playing Asian folks or white actors playing Black characters when I was a kid, but the whole dynamic has changed. When I was a kid, the only show I recall that had a Black cast was The Cosby Kids or something like that.
I was working on a show called The Boondocks with Aaron McGruder, who created the comic strip. Every time I’d get hired it was usually be to be a redneck racist white guy, which was very difficult for me. It was the only time in my career where I’ve had to do things that were not comfortable for me. [I mentioned that, and] the producer said, “I don’t give a you-know-what if it’s not comfortable for you. This is what I’m paying you for.” And so I had to go to that place—you can imagine, that was very difficult. Because I’m not cut from that cloth to use that word [the N-word] in the context of a show.