
Ending my portrayal of 'Missy' is one step in a life-long process of uncovering the racism in my actions. I acknowledge how my original reasoning was flawed, that it existed as an example of white privilege and unjust allowances made within a system of societal white supremacy, and that in my playing 'Missy,' I was engaging in an act of erasure of Black people. But 'Missy' is also Black, and Black characters on an animated show should be played by Black people. In an Instagram post dated June 24, 2020, Slate stated:Īt 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 just a few months before the Season 4 premiere, the actress announced that she would no longer voice the biracial character because she thought that role should go to a person of color.
JENNY SLATE SNL SERIES
Jenny Slate has been a major fixture on the Netflix animated series Big Mouth since the show's beginning where she has voiced the character of Missy Foreman-Greenwald. Jenny Slate Left Big Mouth After Four Seasons Because She Thought A Biracial Character Should Be Voiced By A Person Of Color The special, which admittedly takes a few minutes to get going, is one of the most unique of its kind. Slate went on to explain that she wanted to show the world where she came from and the different storytellers that helped raise her and help her grow into the comedian she is today. I am very improvisational on stage and I thought there was no place for me, but then I thought there's a place for me to show where I came from and that's what my special should be like. I've been doing stand-up for 15 years and I've never done a special because I don't like the challenge of having to get it perfect, touring the country, and getting your material sort of bulletproof. Shortly after the special debuted, Slate sat down for an interview on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah to provide some insight into how it all came together:
JENNY SLATE SNL FULL
In fact, it's full of improvised bits, small stories, and most of all, fascinating documentary footage of the comedian at home with her parents and grandmothers, who honestly steal the show.

Jenny Slate Initially Felt Hesitant About Producing A Stand-Up Special, But Found A Way To Make It Her OwnĪnyone who was watched Jenny Slate's Netflix special Stage Fright knows that it's not a normal stand-up routine. You were that then and you can be that now if you just start to write down a picture of yourself.Ī lot of the topics Jenny Slate discusses in her non-fiction book also appear in her Netflix special Stage Fright, which dropped shortly before the release of Little Weirds in October 2019. I like my writing and I just started to expand that as a way of telling myself, 'Like, you're not just this person now who can't think of anything or who's afraid of anything. I love looking back at my tweets and thinking like I am into myself and I like that I did that. Shortly after the book was released, Slate sat down with Sam Jones on his Off Camera Show where she explained that she came up with the idea of writing the book after she stopped tweeting so much due to being attacked in random online encounters, stating: Not the traditional memoir, Slates' first go at a collection of essays and small musings included some pretty engaging material about the actress and comedian's hopes, fears, and lessons learned throughout her life up to that point.

In November 2019, Jenny Slate released her first book of non-Marcel material titled Little Weirds. Jenny Slate Wrote Her Book Little Weirds As A Way Of Getting Back To The Person She Once Was And I don't know that I'm really interested in being that voice.Īnd even though the Looney Tunes script didn't work out, Jenny Slate would go on to have roles in a number of different children's shows and movies like Zootopia, The Secret Life of Pets, Despicable Me 3, and Muppet Babies, where she is the voice of Miss Nanny. It's a very old, very important franchise, and if it's going to be done, I think it really has to be a more mainstream thing.
JENNY SLATE SNL MOVIE
It was very, very fun to write it, but in the end, I don't think I was able to be as formulaic and mainstream as that movie needs.

In a 2014 interview with Yahoo Movies, Slate explained why she thinks the movie will never get made: If that wasn't enough for one person to handle, she was even brought on to write a script for a Looney Tunes movie for Warner Bros. The Marcel The Shell With Shoes On Creator Once Wrote A Looney Tunes Scriptīetween her stint on Saturday Night Live and breakout with the 2014 romantic comedy Obvious Child, Jenny Slate was quite busy working on the Marcel the Shell with Shoes On viral videos and even two books, as well as appearances on shows like House of Lies and Parks and Recreation.
