What The Cast Of Big Mouth Looks Like In Real Life
Is Netflix's animated series "Big Mouth" the raunchiest show in television history? It's difficult to say, though certainly no other show in recent memory has had so many anthropomorphic genitalia and monsters doused in bodily fluid. Creators Nick Kroll, Andrew Goldberg, and Jennifer Flackett have created a hilarious, heartfelt, and terribly frank depiction of the horrors of puberty, centered around 7th graders Nick (Kroll) and Andrew (John Mulaney), whose misadventures with their own and other people's bodies are a parade of nonstop humiliation. Luckily, they are not alone; nearly everyone at Bridgeton Middle School in the New York suburbs is wrestling with the changes happening inside them, represented as an entire alternate universe of hormone monsters, shame wizards, and pillows that have been made love to so much that they've gotten pregnant.
A show so sexually explicit about teenagers wouldn't be possible if it were not animated, and wouldn't be nearly so enjoyable if not for the massive talent behind the scenes. Kroll, Goldberg, and Flackett treat their characters with kindness and grace, no matter what level of depravity they may sink to, aided by a legion of comedy all-stars behind the microphone: "Saturday Night Live" stars and sitcom greats, a sketch comedy master turned horror auteur, and even a couple of national treasures. Let's take a look at what the cast of "Big Mouth" looks like in real life.
Fred Armisen
Though his hormones (and hormone monsters) can lead him down some dark alleys, at heart Nick is a sweet, sensitive kid. Much of that comes from the influence of his parents, particularly his father Elliott, voiced by Fred Armisen. Elliott is a nurturer, endlessly supportive of Nick and his sister Leah, and as comfortable with his sexuality as Nick is horrified.
Actor and musician Armisen first became a household name as a cast member on "Saturday Night Live" from 2002 to 2013, where he debuted fan-favorite characters like South American comic Fericito and, along with Kristen Wiig, the improvisational singing duo Garth and Kat. He also performed the show's first, somewhat problematic take on President Barack Obama. In 2011, he teamed up with fellow indie musician Carrie Brownstein to bring back the dream of the '90s in the IFC hipster-skewering sketch series "Portlandia." Since leaving "SNL," he has continued to collaborate with his old co-workers, most notably on "Big Mouth," the IFC parody series "Documentary Now!" and "Late Night with Seth Meyers," where he served as musical director from 2014 to 2020.
Ayo Edebiri
Missy Foreman-Greenwald is a special kid at Bridgeton Middle School. Brilliant and unbelievably nerdy, her sexual awakening comes not from her awkward short-lived relationship with Andrew, but from a deep emotional connection to her poster of Nathan Fillion (playing himself in ornate fantasy sequences). Missy is also one of the few Black kids at Bridgeton, and the show has used her to explore issues of code-switching and biracial dating.
For the first three seasons of the show, Missy was voiced by former "SNL" star and "Marcel the Shell With Shoes On" creator Jenny Slate. But in 2020, Slate stepped down from the role amidst ongoing controversies about white actors playing characters of color in animation and elsewhere. Actor and writer Ayo Edebiri stepped into the role in the middle of Season 4. Edebiri was a writer on the short-lived NBC dramedy "Sunnyside" and on the second season of the Apple TV+ historical comedy "Dickinson," where she also appeared in a supporting role. In 2022, she co-starred in the surprise hit FX series "The Bear."
Richard Kind
Where Nick's father Elliott is even-keeled and understanding, Andrew's father Marty is the complete opposite — apoplectic and forever on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Say what you will about Marty Glouberman, his disappointment in his son is unwavering, no matter the situation. When Andrew is discovered masturbating at his grandfather's funeral in Season 4, his mother (Paula Pell) cries, "Marty, have we raised a monster?" to which Marty replies, "Yes! I've been saying that for years!"
Marty is voiced by Richard Kind, an endlessly prolific star of stage and screen. A "hey, it's that guy!" character actor whose name we learned by sheer force of talent and repetition, Kind spent the first decade of his on-screen career in bit parts before booking a recurring role on the NBC sitcom "Mad About You" in 1992, and three years later becoming a series regular on ABC's political comedy "Spin City" with Michael J. Fox. Other notable roles in the last two decades include Larry David's cousin Andy on "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and landscaping enthusiast Rudy Giuliani in the 2019 Fox News exposé "Bombshell." Those of a younger generation will no doubt recognize his voice from his traumatizing turn as Bing Bong, the doomed imaginary friend in Pixar's "Inside Out."
Jessi Klein
Jessi Glaser forms a triad with Nick and Andrew that's inseparable as the series begins. At first, she seems like the cool one of the group — which, admittedly, isn't a difficult title to grab. But as the series continues, we learn that Jessi has other things going on, and she eventually grows distant from the boys. For one thing, she has a whole different set of hormonal challenges that neither Nick nor Andrew understands, but she also has trouble at home, with a deadbeat dad and a mother who left him for their rabbi. It's all enough to give Jessi her very own depression kitty voiced by Jean Smart.
Jessi Klein, the actor behind Jessi Glaser, is a comedian and writer. In the 2010s, she wrote for "SNL" and for Nick Kroll's Comedy Central sketch series "Kroll Show," among many others. Her career as a producer goes back to the early 2000s, and she's worked on "Insomniac with Dave Attell," "Strangers With Candy," "Inside Amy Schumer," and "Transparent." Her on-screen work is not as well known, with small roles on "Inside Amy Schumer," the Mike Birbiglia comedy "Sleepwalk With Me," and most recently, the long-awaited big screen adaptation of Jenny Slate's "Marcel the Shell With Shoes On."
Nick Kroll
One of the most relatable aspects of "Big Mouth" is how deeply unpleasant these 7th and 8th graders can be to each other — even the characters we're supposed to like. Nick Birch, voiced by creator Nick Kroll, is the show's main character; he is a sweet kid at heart, but his insecurities often cause him to lash out at those closest to him, especially Andrew and Jessi. But Kroll isn't just a one-voice wonder on his own show; he also voices Maury the Hormone Monster, the disgustingly confident Lola Skumpy, and the horrifyingly sad Coach Steve.
Kroll came up through the ranks of the New York City-based improv theatre Upright Citizens Brigade. In the 2000s, he wrote on "Chappelle's Show" and collaborated with his future "Big Mouth" co-star John Mulaney on projects like the internet short series "I Love the '30s" and "The Oh, Hello Show," which the pair later adapted into a successful Broadway run. Non-comedy nerds likely saw Kroll first on the long-running FX comedy "The League" or perhaps the extremely short-lived ABC sitcom "Cavemen," based on the popular Geico commercials. His self-titled 2013 Comedy Central sketch series "Kroll Show" served as an incubator of 2010s indie comedy stars, many of whom have wound up on "Big Mouth," including Jenny Slate, Jon Daly, Jason Mantzoukas, and Seth Morris.
Jason Mantzoukas
Other than a stray sperm or the ghost of Socrates, comedian Jason Mantoukas' main gig on "Big Mouth" is Jay Bilzerian, a 14-year-old whose overwhelming desire for sexual contact has led him from close-up magic to intense physical affairs with every pillow in his house, to finally his passionate, bizarre romance with Lola Skumpy. Though Jay is often in the running for the show's grossest character, his exploits are always rooted in a yearning for an emotional connection, the kind he doesn't get at home from his abusive older brothers or his disconcertingly muscular pit bull.
Mantoukas, like his frequent collaborator Kroll, got his start at Upright Citizens Brigade in the early 2000s. With his wild shock of dark hair, bulging eyes, and a voice that always seems a little too intense for the room, he is the rare actor who is as distinctive in live-action as he is in animation. Sitcom producer Mike Schur has long made use of Mantzoukas' talents: first as perfume magnate Dennis Feinstein on "Parks and Recreation," then cop on the edge Adrian Pimento on "Brooklyn Nine-Nine," as well as artificial boyfriend Derek on "The Good Place." He is also co-host, along with "Big Mouth" alums Paul Scheer and June Diane Raphael, of the popular movie podcast "How Did This Get Made?"
John Mulaney
Andrew Glouberman is a real piece of work. A backwards-Kangol-hat-wearing teenage jazz clarinetist who is absolutely shameless in his pursuit of self-pleasure, he is so riddled with anxiety that every experience in his life seems calibrated for maximum humiliation. He is a creature of perpetual self-defeat, whether it is being so constipated at summer camp that his insides come to monstrous life, or getting tricked into public exposure by the revenge-minded ghost of his own grandfather.
Andrew remains (mostly) likable despite his many terrible acts, in large part due to the fact that he is voiced by writer and actor John Mulaney. The Chicago-born comedian got his first big break as a writer on "SNL," working closely with star Bill Hader on his much-loved Stefon character. After a short-lived Fox sitcom co-starring Martin Short in 2014, Mulaney launched a comeback of sorts a year later with a stand-up special appropriately titled "The Comeback Kid." Since then, Mulaney has become one of the most respected comedians working today and a frequent "SNL" host, where his musical sketches like "Diner Lobster" have become viral hits. He has even gotten into the superhero game, voicing Peter Porker, AKA Spider-Ham, in 2018's "Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse."
Jordan Peele
Nick Birch is beset by hormone monsters trying to give him terrible advice and enable his worst impulses, but they are not the only supernatural force in his life. The series' first episode establishes that the Birch house is for some reason haunted by the ghost of jazz legend Duke Ellington. The spectral composer is voiced by actor/director Jordan Peele and presented in a ghostly smoking jacket and cravat, cigarette in hand and some sort of filthy, inappropriate remembrance on the tip of his tongue. Peele also provides the voice of Missy's father Cyrus, while his real-life partner, former "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" star Chelsea Peretti, plays Missy's mother.
Peele, an alum of both Sarah Lawrence College and Second City, joined the cast of Fox's "Mad TV" in 2003, alongside fellow Second City performer Keegan-Michael Key. Nearly a decade later, the duo debuted their landmark sketch series "Key & Peele" on Comedy Central. After years of playing Barack Obama, Mr. T, and second fiddle to a cat named Keanu, Peele pulled off one of the most amazing career pivots in recent memory, writing and directing the 2018 instant-classic horror film "Get Out." The Oscar-winning film put Peele on a shortlist of singular film artists, and he's followed it up with 2019's "Us" and the UFO thriller "Nope" in July 2022.
Paula Pell
Andrew Glouberman doesn't get all of his neuroses and debilitating anxieties from his overbearing father. He also has an overbearing mother, Barbara, voiced by Paula Pell, to contend with. Look no further than the aftermath of Andrew's public display of self-affection at his grandfather's funeral. When Andrew confesses that he killed Zayde by breaking his obsessive-compulsive masturbation routine, Barbara tries to comfort him. "That's not how death works," she begins in soothing tones. "Death is completely random and uncontrollable, and it lurks around every corner!"
"SNL" viewers knew Pell's face long before they learned her name. As a writer on the show starting in the late 1990s, she made dozens of uncredited appearances on-screen, often as members of the audience who ask the week's host a question during their monologue. Eventually, though, she made a name for herself as an ace comic actor with guest appearances on "30 Rock," "Parks and Recreation," and "A.P. Bio." In 2020, she wrote and starred in the short-lived (and just plain short) "Murder She Wrote" parody "Mapleworth Murders," one of the series that aired on the doomed Quibi streaming app. As of 2021, she can be seen as Gloria, a 2000s girl-group singer turned dentist turned girl-group singer once again, in the Peacock comedy "Girls5eva."
Andrew Rannells
Matthew MacDell, one of Bridgeton Middle's only openly gay students, has been on the show since its first episode; in fact, back then, he was the only openly gay student. Impeccably dressed and viciously catty, Matthew played into gay stereotypes in a way that felt intentional, like a kid wearing grown-up clothes that don't fit yet. As the show has gone on, we have seen more of Matthew's inner life beyond the barbs and commentary, as he grapples with his first relationship and laments via song the way being out has changed his friendship with his mother.
As Maury notes at the end of that song, as he cradles a weeping Matthew, the kid has "the voice of an angel." That's because he is played by Tony-nominated star Andrew Rannells, who has performed on Broadway in "Hairspray," "Hamilton," "The Book of Mormon," and many other acclaimed shows. His early screen career was actually off-screen, providing voiceover work for cartoons like "Street Sharks," "Sonic X," and English dubs of anime shows like "Yu-Gi-Oh!" and "Pokémon." In 2012, he co-starred in the Ryan Murphy sitcom "The New Normal" while also landing a recurring role on Lena Dunham's HBO series "Girls." When not voicing Matthew, Rannells has appeared alongside Paula Pell on "Girls5eva," on the Don Cheadle satire "Black Monday" for Showtime, and in Ryan Murphy's stage revival and Netflix adaptation of Matt Crowley's landmark 1968 play "The Boys in the Band."
Gina Rodriguez
Gina Rodriguez's Gina Alvarez is one of the few characters who can look at the kids from the outside and see the twisted knots of their often toxic friendships. Introduced as the subject of the Season 2 episode "What Is It About Boobs?" she faces intense scrutiny from the Bridgeton student body — both boys and girls — over her sudden change in breast size. Gina is smart and funny, and she and Nick hit it off surprisingly well; their relationship grows over the course of the season before flaming out spectacularly in the finale.
Rodriguez spent the first several years of her career bouncing around bit parts and small roles in things like "Army Wives" and "My Super Psycho Sweet 16: Part 2," but in 2014, she landed the title role on the CW network telenovela parody "Jane the Virgin." Since then, she has appeared on-screen in films like Miranda July's "Kajillionaire" and the Disney+ series "Diary of a Future President" (which she also produced), but much of her notable post-"Jane" work has been in voiceover. Along with "Big Mouth," she has revived the '90s kid show thief Carmen Sandiego for Netflix as well as Velma in the 2020 Scooby Doo prequel "Scoob!" As of July 2022, she is also attached to a Netflix revival of Robert Rodriguez's "Spy Kids" series.
Maya Rudolph
Comedian, singer, and national treasure Maya Rudolph has voiced a number of roles on "Big Mouth," including Nick's patient, understanding mom, but it's her turn as Connie the Hormone Monstress, and specifically Connie's pronunciation of "bubble bath," that set the internet on fire in 2020. Casual fans may have adored Rudolph's unique interpretation of those three syllables, but real fans (and Emmy voters) have been dazzled by the mustard she throws on every one of Connie's lines since the very beginning.
The daughter of composer Richard Rudolph and soul singer Minnie Riperton, Rudolph began acting in the late 1990s, playing a surprising number of nurses before joining the cast of "SNL" in 2000. With an arsenal of impersonations, including Beyoncé and Oprah Winfrey, along with original characters like Glenda Goodwin, Rudolph quickly became an indispensable member of the late-night show's ensemble — and in fact, she still is. More than a decade after leaving the cast, Rudolph returned to the show in 2020 to lampoon then-presidential candidate Kamala Harris. Her voice can be heard across the Disney empire, from the 2021 Pixar film "Luca" to the "Big Hero 6" franchise and "Star Wars" projects both authorized and not so much. In 2022, she took a rare leading role in the Apple TV+ series "Loot," where she proved once again that no one is funnier to watch eating hot wings.
Ali Wong
Despite the raunchy and visceral nature of its house style, "Big Mouth" has a reputation for sensitivity and inclusivity when approaching sexual matters involving teens — especially regarding its characters who are not straight, white, and/or male. One notable exception, however, occurred during Season 3, when a new student named Ali (voiced by comedian Ali Wong) announces to her Bridgeton classmates that she is pansexual. By this point, the show had already delved into issues of homosexuality and bisexuality through the characters of Matthew and Jay, respectively, but some critics took issue with the episode's clunky attempt to define pansexuality, leading co-creator Andrew Goldberg to release an apology statement via Twitter.
The controversy died down, and the character of Ali and her orientation have remained on the show ever since. Wong has made time to voice her character in between writing and starring in the hit Netflix romantic comedy "Always Be My Maybe" and voicing the title character Bertie in the cult animated series "Tuca and Bertie." Prior to "Big Mouth," Wong was likely best known either for her role on the ABC sitcom "American Housewife" or her two stand-up comedy specials, 2016's "Baby Cobra" and 2018's "Hard Knock Wife," both of which were filmed while she was pregnant.