I think it really came to our attention first via Jenny. When did this issue of representation in animation voicing come on your radar? That was something that I didn’t experience as my puberty, and that’s the whole reason why it makes sense to have a diverse writers room with people who had all these different experiences growing up. So for him, growing into his racial identity was very much a part of his puberty. You start with a little bit of innocence, but as you reach this age, it becomes a bigger part of your life. Brandon Kyle Goodman in particular talked about how part of puberty for him was recognizing his Blackness and what that means and how people perceived it. Something that I didn’t expect but as soon as I heard it, it made total sense, was that once the part was being played by Ayo, they felt like they had even more freedom to tell stories about Missy’s race and her racial identity. Was there anything that surprised you in that conversation? all agreed that they loved what Jenny had done and appreciated the character that she had created, but that the right thing to do was to make space for a Black actor to play the part. We supported her, and we had this big conversation with our Black writers and a few Black performers. But at the same time, we had this character who Jenny was playing so beautifully, and in a way that was making a lot of people feel seen in a way that they hadn’t before, because Missy is such a unique biracial character.Īnd then in the spring, when Black Lives Matter rose to greater prominence, Jenny came to the realization that it was past time for her to step down. It was something that Jenny initially brought up and we had this dilemma, which was that on the one hand, if we had known then what we know now, that’s not how we would have cast the part. Jenny playing Missy is something we had been talking about for a couple years. 'Big Mouth' Star Brandon Kyle Goodman on Embracing Authentic Self in New Book 'You Gotta Be You'īig Mouth co-creator Andrew Goldberg - the inspiration for Andrew (John Mulaney) on the show - talked with THR about the challenges of the midseason recasting, the serendipity of finding the perfect place to transition Missy’s voice from Slate to Edebiri and why it’s so important to make sure the girls can be just as gross as the guys.

Jenny slate big mouth