Jenny Slate and Kirsten Bell step aside from their shows to give opportunity to voice actors of colour
According to co-creator of Netflix's Big Mouth Nick Kroll, the decision came after a thoughtful discussion between the show's creators and its black collaborators.
Missy from Netflix’s animated series Big Mouth and Molly from Apple+’s Central Park | Image: Twitter
American actresses Jenny Slate and Kirsten Bell have both announced their decisions to step aside from their respective roles as Missy from Netflix’s animated series Big Mouth and Molly from Apple+’s Central Park to give voice actors of colour an opportunity to voice the mixed-race characters.
Slate was the first to announce her decision after one of the creators, Nick Kroll, took to Twitter to share the team’s decision.
According to Kroll (who co-created the show and voices a number of the Big Mouth characters), the decision came after a thoughtful discussion between the show’s creators and its black collaborators.
“We sincerely apologise for and regret our original decision to cast a white actor to voice a biracial character. We made a mistake, took our privilege for granted, and we’re working hard to do better moving forward,” read part of the statement published by Kroll.
— nick kroll (@nickkroll) June 24, 2020
“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,” added Slate in her own statement.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CB1JlSqFXT8/
Bell wrote in the caption of her own statement announcing that she will no longer be voicing Molly: “This is a time to acknowledge our acts of complicity. Here is one of mine. Playing the character of Molly on Central Park shows a lack of awareness of my pervasive privilege. Casting a mixed-race character with a white actress undermines the specificity of the mixed-race and Black American experience. It was wrong and we, on the Central Park team, are pledging to make it right. I am happy to relinquish this role to someone who can give a much more accurate portrayal and I will commit to learning, growing and doing my part for equality and inclusion.”
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