# Cuban actor Tony Rodríguez brings to life Julio, the barber, in The Simpsons

**Date:** 05/03/2021

The Simpsons, one of the most famous animated series of all time, has a Cuban in its cast. When it premiered in the eighties, the writers and producers of the series have had to adapt it to the context of different eras. In such a way, it was recently decided that the actors behind the characters would be as similar to them as possible. This is where Cuban Tony Rodríguez comes in, the new "Homer."

Homer, the hairdresser for the women of Springfield, arrived in the fourteenth season of The Simpsons. Due to his acceptance, he became a regular character and until the beginning of last month his voice was performed by Hank Azaria, who also played other characters like Apu, Moe and Snake.

After the decision made by the program's production to bring the actors closer to their characters, it was decided that Azaria would no longer voice characters of different racial descent or homosexual characters, like Homer. And while one door closed, from another they rolled out a red carpet for Cuban Tony Rodríguez.

"Tonight I make my debut on The Simpsons as the Cuban gay, Homer. This is a dream come true for me and I was already a living caricature," he wrote announcing his incorporation into the cast.

In a post at the beginning of the year he had said: «In the last two years, I have seen myself more in the series, and by that I am specifically referring to the role of Homer, who is gay like me, is Cuban like me».

Tony Rodríguez is a veteran performer at the Upright Citizens Brigade theaters in New York and Los Angeles. He has written and acted in CBS's Sketch Diversity Showcase. In addition, his performances include series such as Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Eastsiders and Gentefied, from Netflix, among others.