Exclusive Interview: Arif Zahir On Taking Over For The Voice Of Cleveland Brown On “Family Guy”

As we’re writing this, Seth MacFarlane is lamenting the fact that Family Guy and FOX News’ Tucker Carlson are kind of on a cousin network known as FOX Entertainment. There’s a weird and time-consuming reason why FOX Network and FOX News are different heads of the same beast, but I don’t care enough to write anything of length about Tucker Carlson. Having said that, one person who is looking forward to the new season of Family Guy, is Arif Zahir. Arif is taking over as the voice of “Cleveland Brown” instead of Mike Henry who opted to exit the role in support of black lives matter. While most of the voice replacements for already established characters have ranged from mediocre to not even close, Arif’s take on Cleveland is looking rather strong. After you read our interview with the up and coming voice actor, check out a teaser for the upcoming season of Family Guy that is of Cleveland focus.

John Schwarz: How were you first introduced to Family Guy and what got you interested in the series?

Arif Zahir: Well, a classmate of mine would draw pictures of Family Guy characters back in 5th grade, I had no idea what he was drawing at the time until he kept referencing the characters, and I never watched [the show] until around 8th grade. The rest is history. 

 

John Schwarz: When did you start developing your interest in voice-acting and how did you fine-tune what would eventually be the voice of Cleveland?

Arif Zahir: Ever since elementary school I had an affinity for doing silly voices and impersonations. The earliest I can remember is attempting the British accents I heard in the Harry Potter movies. For Mike Henry’s Cleveland, I studied the character to a “T” by binging both Family Guy and The Cleveland Show so that my impression could sound as solid as possible for the YouTube videos I’d produce with it.  

 

John Schwarz: What are some of your other favorite animated series and which ones would you like to be a part of in the future?

Arif Zahir: Oh man, I would love to be a part of generally anything in the animation space but for the most part, if I had a first choice it’d be in shows like Rick and Morty, Bob’s Burgers, Invincible, Dragon Ball Super, and Close Enough just to name a few.

 

John Schwarz: My research tells me that you are also an aspiring musician, would you love to utilize your musical talents on Family Guy?

Arif Zahir: Haha, that would be fun. I could totally see a scene where Cleveland sings with Peter and the gang like in some of the older episodes.

 

John Schwarz: What are some fun things we can look forward to seeing from Cleveland Brown in the upcoming season?

Arif Zahir: I do my absolute best at emulating the character Mike Henry created and keeping the spirit of him alive. I can’t wait for the world to see and hear it!