Hank Azaria makes supporting characters funny by taking their frustrations seriously. His work as Moe in The Simpsons is our clearest reason to rate him: an ordinary exchange can sound like another defeat in a thoroughly disappointing life.
Fi1m perspective
Moe Szyslak sounds as though a conversation has gone badly before it has properly begun. In The Simpsons (1989), Azaria gives him a pinched frustration that turns simple exchanges into personal setbacks. We laughed at Moe because Azaria makes the hurt audible without asking us to stop finding him ridiculous. Working alongside Harry Shearer, whose Mr Burns expects obedience and whose Ned Flanders hopes for agreement, he makes the supporting cast worth following in their own right. The pleasure is in hearing why these people fail to understand each other, not in ticking off voices we recognise.
Azaria draws many of his voices from observed speech patterns or other performers, and the precision is part of the pleasure. It does not make every characterisation soundly judged. His portrayal of Apu drew sustained criticism for perpetuating ethnic stereotypes, and he stepped away from the role in 2020. That belongs in any assessment of his work. We cannot judge the acting only by how precisely he repeats a voice.
His live-action film work became more prominent in the 1990s, with Albert Freedman in Robert Redford's Quiz Show (1994) among the early substantial roles. We recommend that film for its sharp writing and performances that complicate easy judgement, though it runs a little long. Agador Spartacus in The Birdcage (1996) brought wider recognition through the kind of eccentric comic supporting part that recurs in his live-action work.
Television subsequently gave him longer stretches at the centre, as Dr Craig Huffstodt in Huff (2004) and Jim Brockmire in Brockmire (2017). He also helped develop Brockmire. For a first encounter with his work, though, we would still choose The Simpsons. It lets us hear how much acting can happen inside an apparently small joke. Start with Moe, and listen for how much of a grievance Azaria can fit into a routine exchange.
Biography
Hank Azaria is an American actor and producer. He provides the voices for numerous characters on the animated series The Simpsons (1989–), including Moe Szyslak, Chief Wiggum, Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, Comic Book Guy, Carl Carlson and Superintendent Chalmers. He joined the show with limited prior voice-acting experience and became a regular cast member from its second season.
Azaria attended Tufts University and trained at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. He has also appeared in live-action films such as Pretty Woman (1990), Quiz Show (1994), Heat (1995), The Birdcage (1996) and Godzilla (1998), and in television series including Friends (1994) and Mad About You. His voice work extends to films such as Anastasia (1997). He has received multiple Primetime Emmy Awards for his performances on The Simpsons.
