Date: May 20, 1994
Finding His Own Voice: After doing "The Simpsons" and "Herman's " actor
Hank Azaria is stepping out with a new Robert Redford film.
By: Melinda
Greenberg
You might say I've followed Hank Azaria's acting career for a long time,
ever since I first saw him in the performance he calls his "crowning
achievement."
It was 14 years ago in a high school production of "Camelot," at the Kew
Forest School, the small private school in Forest Hills, N.Y., we both attended.
Mr. Azaria, who recently turned 30, starred as King Arthur, opposite my older
sister, Debbie, as Guinevere. (Lancelot, by the way, was played by a senior
named Freddy Trump, "The Donald's" nephew.)
Even in his purple tights, doing a bad Richard Burton imitation, it was easy
to see Mr. Azaria had charisma and talent. Watch this guy, many of us thought,
he's going places. He made his final mark on the school the following year
playing Sky Masterson in "Guys and Dolls."
The youngest of three children born to a Sephardic family living in Forest
Hills, he was raised in that tradition and grew up understanding Ladino,
or Spanish-Hebrew. Both sets of grandparents came from Salonika in northern
Greece, long a center of Sephardic life.
Fast forward to the present. Mr. Azaria has made it. He's currently a regular
cast member on two Fox Television series, "Herman's Head," on which he plays
Jay, Herman's philandering best friend, and "The Simpsons," on which he provides
the voices for several of the "regulars"on the critically acclaimed, animated
series.
And in September, he will be featured in the new Robert Redford film, "Quiz
Show," about the television quiz show scandals of the 1950s.
Mr. Azaria has been a regular on "The Simpsons" since the middle of its second
season. The show, which first appeared in a series of 30-second shorts on
"The Tracey Ullman Show," debuted as a half-hour sitcom in January 1990.
The series ended its sixth season (including one summer one) this week.
Mr. Azaria, who said he honed his comic voice techniques imitating teachers
in high school, provides the voices of Apu, the Kwik-E-Mart owner; Moe, the
bartender; Police Chief Wiggums, and various other male characters.
There are only three male regulars in the cast, so each week Mr. Azaria does
about 10 voices. Celebrity guest stars, including Dustin Hoffman, Michelle
Pfeiffer, Danny DeVito and James Earl Jones, have added their voices to
characters on the show.
Doing the voices comes easy to Mr. Azaria, he said.
"You can either do it or you can't," he said in a recent telephone interview
from his Hollywood home. "If you can, it's so easy it's like falling off
a log. If you can't, it's like the hardest thing in the world."
His work on "The Simpsons" landed him the job on "Herman's Head," a series
about a magazine employee whose various inner selves speak to him, which
is now in its third season. He's become accustomed to juggling his work schedule
between the two shows. For "The Simpsons," he and the other cast members
read through the script on Thursdays and the producers rewrite it until Monday
morning, when the actors return to record the episode.
"For the actors, it's fun," he said. "For the producers, it's a hellish job."
Mondays on "Herman's Head," he and the cast read their scripts and then film
later in the week. Between the two, he ends up spending a great deal of time
with Yeardley Smith, who co-stars with him on "Herman's Head," and who does
the voice of Lisa Simpson.
"I see Yeardley more than probably anybody else I know," he said with a laugh.
Mr. Azaria doubts "Herman's Head" will be returning to Fox's fall lineup,
but he hopes to remain with "The Simpsons," while focusing more on his film
career. A 1985 graduate of Tufts University, where he studied drama, he made
his film debut about five years ago in "Cool Blue" with Woody Harrelson,
although the feature never went into theatrical release.
He also appeared in "Pretty Woman," playing a nervous Hollywood cop investigating
a murder scene.
"Quiz Show" marks his graduation to the big time. The film stars Rob Morrow
from "Northern Exposure," David Paymer, an Academy Award nominee for best
supporting actor in "Mr. Saturday Night" -- in which Mr. Azaria's ex-fiancee,
Julie Warner, played Billy Crystal's long-suffering wife -- and Ralph Fiennes,
who received an Academy Award nomination for his supporting role in "Schindler's
List."
Getting the role of a television quiz show producer represents the "greatest
thrill" in Mr. Azaria's career. "The whole process of getting this movie
was so exciting," he said. "I had a real strong feeling about it even though
it was way against the odds. But it took several months from the time I first
read for the casting person's assistant to when I finally got it. By the
time I got the part, I was ill from all the stress."
Working with Mr. Redford proved to be a daunting experience. "Forget about
being directed by him," he said. "I had to get over just looking at him.
And you have to call him 'Bob.' It took a week for me to call him 'Bob.'
I ended up calling him 'Mr. Red Bob.'"
Although he is eager for the film to open this fall, Mr. Azaria is afraid
to place too much hope in one role.
"Nothing could come out of it, and I'm right back where I started from,"
he said. "Or people could enjoy the movie and for some reason don't remember
me. Or they could hate it. It's too unpredictable."
Getting to this point in his career has not been easy. Mr. Azaria has gone
the frustrated actor/bartender/waiter route. He knows he's in an insecure
business and that hustling from audition to audition is par for the course.
"I'm hoping the new film will bring me up to the next level," he said. "I
would like to get offers instead of having to scramble for everything. Or
at least be thought of and considered for roles instead of having to bang
the door down."