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She loves her friends, science fiction, Nathan Fillion, and her trademark overalls.
She is Black and Jewish, but the question of her race rarely comes up.
Slate soon said she would be vacating her role.
Slates decision had a ripple effect.
We brought in a few of them, but we loved Ayo.
She reallywasMissy, says Kroll.
Edebiri also felt a connection to the character.
I was a weird Black girl, she says.
I had to learn how to own those sides of myself to whoever was questioning it.
While the showsrecasting was spurred by a national conversation, it wasnt exactly a knee-jerk reaction.
According to Kroll, this has been a gradual learning experience.
Our writers really have been engines pushing us to tell more nuanced stories about identity, he says.
We realized this is a show about different kids, all with their own personal journeys with puberty.
I came in and said from the beginning that race is a part of puberty, says Goodman.
Especially if youre like Missy and youre in predominantly white spaces where youre like,Oh, Im Black.
Im different from my white classmates.
Missys parents shied away from tough conversations around race.
And then, all of a sudden, shes beginning to figure out things for herself.
My moms white, my dads Black, Im voiced by a white actress whos 37 years old.
(I think there are misconceptions with people online being like, Why did you fire Jenny?
In A Very Special 9/11 Episode, for example, its Slates voice that first begins to practice code-switching.
Whether Edebiri arrives too late in the season narratively, Kroll says, is up for debate among viewers.
The switch happens when Missy has come to terms with who she is, Kroll says.
When the change happens, the differences are subtle.
Jenny and I have pretty similar speaking voices and inflections, Edebiri says.
I dont know if thats because were both anxious women from Massachusetts.
She keeps Missys original vocal cadence while adding an air of casual maturity.
Missy feels different, but not completely.
Edebiri points out that most of the other actors voices are closer to the characters they play.
She likens it to how a child actor might be recast on a long-running sitcom.
They would find somebody else if that kid started going through puberty.
I just think the context of this is whats a little bit … different, she says, laughing.
