Me irl: Animated me: pic.twitter.com/tJDH1XN5Wg— Ayo Edebiri (@ayoedebiri) August 28, 2020
Aug. 28 (UPI) -- Ayo Edebiri will replace Jenny Slate as the character Missy at the end of Big Mouth Season 4.
The actress and writer confirmed Friday that she will voice Missy on the Netflix series.
Edebiri shared a childhood photo of herself on Twitter alongside an image of Missy from the animated series. She also re-tweeted an article about her casting.
Slate announced in June that she would no longer voice 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. But 'Missy' is also Black, and Black characters on an animated show should be played by Black people," she said on Instagram.
Big Mouth co-creator Nick Kroll confirmed the same month that Missy would be recast with a Black actress.
"We are proud of the representation that Missy has offered cerebral, sensitive women of color, and we plan to continue that representation and further grow Missy's character as we recast a new Black actor to play her," he said.
Variety said Edebiri will take over the role from Slate in the penultimate episode of Season 4. She will also serve as a writer in Season 5.
Edebiri told Variety she relates to Big Mouth and Missy as a character.
"I was definitely a very uncomfortable child, so I think the show speaks to that and a lot of those feelings, which still resonate with me as an adult," she said.
Big Mouth is co-created by Kroll, Andrew Goldberg, Mark Levin and Jennifer Flackett, and first premiered on Netflix in 2017. The series follows a group of seventh graders as they navigate puberty.
