Big Mouth Writer Ayo Edebiri Replaces Jenny Slate as Missy

Big Mouth has found its new Missy. Writer, comedian, actor, and producer Ayo Edebiri will take over the role originated by Jenny Slate, who stepped down from voicing the character in June.

While Slate will still play the character for most of the upcoming fourth season, Edebiri will make her debut as Missy in the penultimate episode of Season 4, in a moment that allows the show to move organically from one voice actor to the next. Edebiri told Variety, "The transition is a nice farewell to Jenny in that moment, too."

Co-creator Nick Kroll told Variety of the scene, "It's about Missy's continued evolution as a person -- that she has all of these different parts of who she is."

Before being cast as Missy, Edebiri had already joined the Big Mouth writers' room for Season 5. She was previously a writer on NBC's Sunnyside.

The news comes two months after Slate announced that she would no longer play Missy, 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," Slate said at the time. "But Missy is also Black, and Black characters on an animated show should be played by Black people."

Kroll told Variety that casting Edebiri will allow Big Mouth to "tell more nuanced stories about Missy's identity." 

Variety was first to report the news of Edebiri's casting.

Big Mouth Seasons 1-3 are available on Netflix. A premiere date for Season 4 has not yet been announced.