“Big Mouth” co-creator Nick Kroll took to social media today to announce that moving forward one of the animated series’ main characters, Missy, would no longer be voiced by Jenny Slate. This was made at the request of Slate who decided that the bi-racial character should be voiced by a black actor. Kroll remarked, “We sincerely apologize for and regret our original decision to cast a white actor to voice a biracial character.”
Kroll continued, “We made a mistake, took our privilege for granted, and we’re working hard to do better moving forward.”
The entire statement is viewable in this post.
The Netflix series has earned two major Annie Award nominations and two Primetime Emmy Award nominations including Outstanding Animated Program last year. It was picked up for seasons four, five and six by Netflix almost a year ago. “Big Mouth” has been constantly lauded by critics for its depiction of young teens dealing with puberty in an age of social media and larger acceptance of the LGBTQ+ community. The series includes multiple characters that identify as gay, bisexual and pansexual or consider the possibility that they might be.
Besides Kroll and Slate, the regular vocal cast includes John Mulaney, Maya Rudolph, Jordan Peele, Jessi Klein, Fred Armisen, Andrew Rannells, and Jason Mantzoukas. Thandie Newton joined the ensemble in season three. Guest stars have included Richard Kind, Kristen Bell, Gina Rodriguez, Zachary Quinto, Kristen Wiig, Ali Wong, Jon Daley and Nathan Fillon.
According to Netflix, because of the long timeline of animation, season four has wrapped. Slate will voice Missy in the completed season four, but not thereafter. There is no word if Slate will voice a new character on the series, but she’s portrayed other minor characters over the show’s first three seasons.
“Big Mouth” is available on Netflix worldwide.