The actresses are ensuring Black voices are heard by vacating their roles on “Central Park” and “Big Mouth.”
As the Black Lives Matter protests continue to affect change in Hollywood and beyond, two white actresses have made the decision to step away from mixed-race characters they’ve been voicing to allow Black performers to step into those Black roles.
Jenny Slate was first to make the announcement on Wednesday, saying that she had decided to step down from her role as Missy, a mixed-race character on Netflix’s “Big Mouth,” because she could no longer justify playing the role.
The “Saturday Night Live” alum revealed that she had justified to herself taking on the role initially, but could no longer do so.
“I reasoned with myself that it was permissible for me to play ‘Missy’ because her mom is Jewish and white — as am I,” Slate wrote. “But ‘Missy’ is also Black and Black characters on an animated show should be played by Black people.”
She said that her original justification was not only “flawed” but “an example of white privilege and unjust allowances made within a system of societal white supremacy,” saying that her taking this role was “engaging in an act of erasure of Black people.”
She concluded by apologizing for the ways in which she is part of the problem, vowing to learn and “engage in meaningful anti-racist action” and insist, “Black voices must be heard.”
It was a similar sentiment to the one shared by Kristen Bell when she made effectively the same decision for her voice-over work for a mixed-race character on the Apple TV+ series “Central Park.”
“This is a time to acknowledge our acts of complicity. Here is one of mine,” Bell said in a statement acknowledging her decision. “Playing the character of Molly on Central Park shows a lack of awareness of my pervasive privilege.”
She went on to say that casting a white person to portray a mixed-race person “undermines the specificity of the mixed race and Black American experience.”
“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,” Bell concluded.
Her comments accompanied a statement from producers of the Netflix series, which just wrapped its first season. In it, producers said that Kristen would remain a part of the “Central Park” family, just in a different role.
They also promised to do more both with their performers and elsewhere in the production to ensure the greatest possible representation and diversity of voices and experiences.
“Our shop and our show will be better for respecting the nuances and complexity around the issue of representation and trying to get it right,” they said in their statement.
“Central Park” has not yet been renewed for a second season. Netflix has already picked up “Big Mouth” through a sixth season. It is preparing to begin production on its fifth (production has finished on Season 4, thought it has not yet aired).
