On the couch with Hank Azaria

By Kelly DiNardo

Hank Azaria is naked. He's standing in the middle of a city street, clutching a briefcase with surprisingly muscular arms and using it to shield his nether region. Azaria hasn't gone mad. The scene is an advertisement for his new Showtime series, "Huff" (Sundays, 10 p.m. ET), in which the actor plays a therapist who is starting to crack.

From his breakout role as a Guatemalan houseboy in the film "The Birdcage" to the more than 50 character voices he's done over the years on "The Simpsons," Azaria, 40, is known for hilarious comedic roles. Now he turns to darker material, starring as Craig "Huff" Huffstodt, a successful psychiatrist who gets a wake-up call when a patient commits suicide in "Huff's" office.

Azaria himself has been in and out of therapy for the past 15 years and says it helped him through some tough situations, including his divorce from actress Helen Hunt. The divorce was his wake-up call.

"I just never thought it would happen to me," he says. "I didn't think I was capable of feeling that much loss or that sad. It made my brain flip around in my head. It was a very hard, sad thing. I had to look at everything differently. I had to think about how I was responsible and then pick up the pieces."

Azaria's frankness about his therapy has shocked people, he says. In spite of a plethora of self-help books and the popularity of pop psychologists like Dr. Phil, Azaria has found there's still a stigma attached to therapy. While he knows it's not "Huff's" role, he does hope the show will help shake off the taint.

"Without sounding dramatic, I think the future of mankind depends on our ability to look at ourselves on an individual basis and take responsibility for our lives and our families," Azaria says. "People are starting to understand this. I think this is why Dr. Phil is exciting for everyone now. Besides, everyone relates to loving their family madly and being driven crazy by them at the same time."

But all this talk about therapy isn't shrinking Azaria's silly side -- or his love for his other TV family, the "Simpsons."

"They've been therapy-ized over the years," Azaria says with a laugh, referring to the dysfunctional 'toon family's attempts at therapy. "'Huff' would say they've got it all figured out. They're very screwed up, but they all love each other, and they do their best."