“The Simpsons” Casts its First Deaf Voice Actor and Uses ASL in Upcoming Episode

The longest-running American primetime show, The Simpsons, is set to make history this weekend by featuring the series’ first-ever deaf voice actor John Autry II, as well as using American Sign Language on the show.

The upcoming episode titled “The Sound of Bleeding Gums” revolves around Lisa Simpson who traces the unknown deaf son of her favorite saxophone player Bleeding Gums Murphy. She is overly excited to help him get a cochlear implant as well. 

Throughout the episode, there will be sequences of American Sign Language performed by the characters, including the newly added deaf character Monk, played by John Autry II. Autry will go down in history as the first-ever deaf actor to have voiced any character in the show in its 33-year long runtime. 

In their casting and brainstorming of using ASL in the episode, one obstacle was that the show’s characters have four fingers. The writer of the show, Loni Steele Sosthand, shared, “That was a little tricky, especially because the one thing we’re translating is Shakespeare, But I think we pulled it off.”

Sosthand shares that the inspiration for the episode comes from her family “I’m mixed race; my father’s Black and jazz was big in our house. We grew up in the suburbs, and it was a way for my dad to bring in that aspect of our culture. But when I think about music, I also think about my brother, who was born deaf. When we were talking about this Bleeding Gums character in our initial brainstorms, we thought, wouldn’t it be cool if Lisa discovers this whole other side of his life. That led to him having a son, and then we based that character at least somewhat on my brother. And the story grew from there.”

Sosthand and her brother, Eli Steele, had developed a pilot based on their lives and featured deaf actor John Autry II. During the character casting for the deaf Monk, John’s name was brought up for the role.

Sosthand shared with the executive producers of the show James L. Brooks and Al Jean and got a delightful response. She shares, “Jim and Al very much got on board and saw what a gem he was, The character has little personal moments from my childhood with my brother but is also very much influenced by John.”

Al Jean was over the moon with this episode as he happily shared on Twitter:

.@TheSimpsons it’s very hard to do a “first” after 722 episodes. But I couldn’t be more excited about this one. Sunday @8 https://t.co/pWcl40E76H

— Al Jean (@AlJean) April 7, 2022

The deaf actor Autry expressed how this casting could pave the way for future voice-over roles in ASL and create equal inclusion. He shares, “It’s life-changing equality and participation. This can impact change for all of us. It’s about hard of hearing and hearing characters coming together. It’s a part of history.”

Do you love Simpsons as much as we do? Then share a story with us!

Jean also shares that the episode “The Sound of Bleeding Gums” was in production long before Apple’s production ‘CODA’ made headlines at the Academy Awards by crowning Troy Kotsur, the deaf actor, the first-ever Oscar for best-supporting actor. Still, the timing fits perfectly.

Sosthand said, “I was an early viewer of ‘CODA’ and really admire the movie, There are themes in it that are somewhat echoed here, coming out of a sibling relationship. And also ‘CODA’ has the tension between music and the deaf experience. I think it’s great, because the Deaf experience isn’t just one story, there are so many stories to be told.”

The Simpsons are set to make history this Sunday with this ‘first-ever’ that will pave the way for future deaf actors to be aligned in casting against other voice actors.

The show has surprised in the past, like in the episode “Lisa’s Belly” which cast its first-ever breast cancer survivor to be the voice actor Dr. Wendy Sage, a hypnotherapist who has one breast. Tune into The Simpsons this Sunday to witness the first-ever deaf performance in animation.

The Simpsons‘ “The Sound of Bleeding Gums” episode is scheduled to premiere on Sunday, April 10.