Family Guy has discovered its new Cleveland Brown. Voice actor Arif Zahir, also referred to as Azerrz, who does impressions of Cleveland on YouTube, has been tapped to switch Mike Henry, Cleveland’s unique portrayer. Henry stepped down from voicing the character after greater than 20 years in June to be able to permit a Black actor to take over the position.
Zahir will start voicing Cleveland in Season 19, which was introduced as a part of a two-season pickup earlier this week and is starting manufacturing now. Henry will nonetheless voice Cleveland in Season 18; episodes of that season had already been accomplished or have been in superior levels of animation when Henry exited the position. Season 18 premieres Sunday evening with the present’s 350th episode.
“It has been an honor to play Cleveland on Household Man for 20 years,” Henry tweeted in June. “I like this character, however individuals of colour ought to play characters of colour. Due to this fact, I shall be stepping down from the position.” He’ll proceed to supply different voices and write for the present.
“I welcome Arif to the Household Man crew,” Henry mentioned in an announcement asserting Zahir’s casting. “Arif’s vocal expertise is apparent, however his understanding of Cleveland and his respect for the character give me confidence that he’s in the fitting fingers. I sit up for attending to know Arif and dealing with him to verify Cleveland stays each bit as superior as he has at all times been.”
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“Firstly, I am eternally grateful to have acquired this as soon as in a lifetime alternative,” mentioned Zahir. “After I heard that Mike Henry was stepping down from the position of Cleveland Brown — my favourite cartoon character of all time — I used to be shocked and saddened, assuming we would by no means see him once more. After I discovered I might get to take over the position? Overabundant gratitude. To Mike, you created one thing really particular and I promise I’ll do my best possible to honor your legacy. To [executive producers] Wealthy Appel, Alec Sulkin and Seth MacFarlane, thanks for this unbelievable present. And to the hundreds of thousands of followers who love this present, I promise to not allow you to down.”
Henry has been a part of the Household Man solid for the reason that sequence first debuted in 1999, and in addition voiced Cleveland and Rallo Tubbs, Cleveland’s stepson, on the spin-off sequence The Cleveland Show. At the moment, Henry additionally voices a personality named Consuela, who’s a Latina maid, on Household Man. There’s been no phrase but whether or not he’ll proceed to play her or not.
The announcement comes the day after Fox’s different long-running animated sitcom, The Simpsons, introduced that Black actor Alex Désert would offer the voice for Black character Carl Carlson, who was beforehand voiced by Hank Azaria, within the Season 32 premiere. The Simpsons will no longer employ white actors to voice non-white characters. Different white actors who voice characters of colour in animated sequence who’ve exited their roles embrace Jenny Slate, whose character on Netflix’s Big Mouth will now be voiced by Black author Ayo Edebiri, and Kristen Bell, who left the position of Molly, a mixed-race character on Apple TV+’s animated sequence Central Park who will now be voiced by Emmy Raver-Lampman.
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