The Simpsons Recasts Julio Voice Actor, Originally Voiced By Hank Azaria

The Simpsons character Julio has been recast. The character is a gay Cuban man and was previously voiced by Hank Azaria. Julio will now be played by gay Cuban-American actor Tony Rodriguez.

As reported by Pride, Julio is the latest Simpsons character to be revoiced by a more representative actor. Rodriguez made his Simpsons debut last month in an episode of the current 32nd season titled "Uncut Femmes."

The recasting of Julio was commented on by Simpsons producer Matt Selman on Twitter. Selman made reference to the supercut video "Every LGBT Joke On the Simpsons Ever," which runs for 2 hours 20 minutes and was put together by Gayest Episode Ever podcast, on which Rodriguez has previously appeared. Selman stated that seeing the video "definitely had a hand in this magic coming together."

The recasting of Julio follows last year's decision by Simpsons producers to no longer use white actors for non-white characters. Azaria has stepped down from the role of Apu, which is yet to be recast, while Kevin Michael Richardson has replaced Harry Shearer as Dr Hibbert.

Earlier this month, Azaria stated that he wanted to apologize to "every single Indian person" for his portrayal of Apu. The actor appeared on the Armchair Expert podcast and admitted that he "really didn't know any better before."

In March, it was announced that The Simpsons had been renewed for Seasons 33 and 34. The show is the longest-running primetime scripted show in the history of TV, and the next two seasons will bring the total number of episodes to 757.