Jenny Slate says she will no longer voice biracial animated character on Netflix's Big Mouth
Actress and comedian Jenny Slate will no longer provide the voice of Missy on the Netflix series Big Mouth, saying on Wednesday that as a white woman, she should not play a biracial character.
"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," she said in an Instagram post. "But Missy is also Black and Black characters on an animated show should be played by Black people." Slate added that by voicing Missy, she was "engaging in an act of erasure of Black people," and stepping away from the character is "one step in a lifelong process of uncovering the racism in my actions."
The show's co-creators — Nick Kroll, Andrew Goldberg, Mark Levin, and Jennifer Flackett — released a statement apologizing for "our original decision to cast a white actor to voice a biracial character," and said the role will be recast with a Black actor. Big Mouth has finished production on its fourth season, and the changes will be made in season five, a person with knowledge of the matter told Variety.
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Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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