In June 2020, Jenny Slate announced she was leaving the Netflix animated TV series Big Mouth and would no longer be voicing one of the lead characters, “Missy.” The Emmy-nominated series just announced Ayo Edebiri has signed on to take over the character and will do so beginning with season four’s penultimate episode.
Jenny Slate posted an explanation behind her departure from the series in June on Instagram. In the post, she stated, “I have come to the decision today that I can no longer play the characters of ‘Missy’ on the animated TV show Big Mouth. At the start of the show, I reasoned with myself that it was permissible for me to play ‘Missy’ because her mom is Jewish and white — as am I. But ‘Missy’ is also Black, and Black characters on an animated show should be played by Black people. I acknowledge how my original reasoning was flawed, that it existed as an example of white privilege and unjust allowances made within a system of societal white supremacy, and that in me playing ‘Missy,’ I was engaging in an act of erasure of Black people. Ending my portrayal of ‘Missy’ is one step in a life-long process of uncovering the racism in my actions.”
Per Netflix’s official casting announcement, Ayo Edebiri has joined the show’s writer’s room for season five. Season four is expected to arrive this fall, and Netflix has already renewed the critically acclaimed adult comedy through season six.
Ayo Edebiri’s credits include a role on the upcoming second season of Dickinson, voicing the lead in Netflix’s We Lost Our Human, and as co-host of the Iconography podcast. She’s also a co-producer on Tina Fey and Robert Carlock’s Mulligan, a new Netflix animated series.
A Look Back at Season 3, Courtesy of Netflix:
In Season 3, Big Mouth focuses on what’s like to be going through puberty now. The show continues exploring human sexuality and everything around it, tackling issues such as cell phone addiction, female anger, the vast spectrum of sexuality, Adderall abuse, dick pics, toxic masculinity, and of course “how to have an orgasm.”
As the end of seventh grade rapidly approaches, Thandie Newton shakes things up as Missy’s new Hormone Monstress, and Ali Wong joins the cast as a new student who makes everyone at Bridgeton Middle question their sexuality. The season culminates with a superhero showdown that brings long-simmering tensions to a head and tests even the strongest friendships.
