Eric Bauza Talks Voicing Bugs Bunny As A Person Of Colour: ‘It’s So Nice To See Representation Not Just In Front Of The Camera’

etcanada.com:

Eric Bauza is proud to be a role model for the Filipino community. The prolific voice actor recently won an Emmy for his work voicing Bugs Bunny, which was the first time the character has ever received the honour.

Reflecting on the moment, Bauza admitted he was as surprised as anyone to ET Canada’s Carlos Bustamante. “It’s strange to know that in 83 years of Bugs Bunny’s existence, this is the first time anyone has ever received an individual achievement award for performing the character.

Not even Mel Blanc who created the character,” he shared. “Obviously, I’m pretty sure at that time maybe the Emmys weren’t around, but he never even received a post-mortem Emmy in memory of.” READ MORE: Canadian Voice Actor Eric Bauza Wins First Emmy For Bugs Bunny The star made sure to give credit where credit was due during his speech, hoping to honour the work of those before him. “So when I got that award, I definitely dedicated, you know, I said ‘if the first two words out of my mouth aren’t thank you or Mel Blanc, then I do not deserve this award’.

Yeah. So I definitely paid homage to Mel because he created these characters who 80 plus years later, we’re still talking about,” he continued. “But to know that I’m like the sixth person to voice this character in like 83 years and, you know, just just to be just to be up there with those great names is amazing.” The fact that Bauza was the first person of colour to voice the character wasn’t lost on him either. READ MORE: Canada’s Eric Bauza, Voice Of Bugs Bunny, Hopes New Series ‘Stay Tooned’ Helps Change The Way We Tell Stories To Kids “To represent our culture in a way to kind of put a stamp on such an iconic character is such a great honor.