NATIONWIDE — Netflix has announced a new cast member for the upcoming seasons of the hit animated show “Big Mouth”: Ayo Edebiri, a writer on the popular streaming series, will be the new voice of the character Missy. 

What You Need To Know

  • Ayo Edebiri will take over as the voice of Missy on Netflix's hit animated show "Big Mouth"

  • Actress Jenny Slate stepped down from the role in January after acknowledging it was innapropriate for a white actress to voice a biracial character

  • Edebiri previously joined the series in the writer's room for the upcoming fifth season

First reported by Variety, Netflix announced that Edebiri, who previously joined the show as a writer for the series’ upcoming fifth season, will take over the role beginning in season four’s penultimate episode. 

Soon after the announcement, Edebiri took to Twitter with a side-by-side photograph of her younger self next to Missy to show how similar they look.

 

The news comes several months after actress Jenny Slate, a white woman, announced she would be stepping down from the role in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. The character of Missy is biracial, and Slate acknowledged that it was inappropriate for a white actress to voice a character of color. 

“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,” Slate wrote in a message on Instagram in late June.

 

“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,” she continued

At the time, series creators Nick Kroll, Andrew Goldberg, Mark Levin and Jennifer Flackett apologized for their part in the casting decision, and promised viewers they would do better

"We sincerely apologize for and regret our original decision to cast a white actor to voice a biracial character," they said in a statement. "We made a mistake, took our privilege for granted, and we're working hard to do better moving forward."

Kroll also took to Twitter to congratulate Edebiri on her new role.

“Ayo is already part of the @bigmouth family as a writer, and I’ve seen firsthand how deeply connected she is to Missy. I know she’ll take the baton from Jenny while making it her own as we continue to tell Missy’s ever-evolving story,” he wrote

“Big Mouth” has already been renewed for seasons 4, 5, and 6. Edebiri will voice Missy beginning this fall for the end of season 4, as all earlier episodes had finished production with Slate voicing the character.