Big Mouth dropped its fifth season on November 5th on Netflix. It is the story of two seventh-graders, Nick and Andrew, and all their friends (and enemies) at Bridgeton Middle School. The show has been nominated for many accolades and has won three Primetime Emmys. It is a groundbreaking coming-of-age comedy that explores topics such as sexuality, anxiety, depression, shame, and LGBTQ identities all within the eternal awkwardness that is puberty.
Here is a look at the characters and the voice cast behind them.
Nick Kroll as Nick Birch
Co-creator, executive producer, and writer Nick Kroll plays a semi-fictionalized younger version of himself as the series is based on his real-life experiences with his friend and co-creator Andrew Goldberg while growing up in a suburb of NYC. Nick Birch sometimes feels inferior to his best friend as Andrew seems to be maturing quicker than Nick is. Once Mona becomes his Hormone Monster, replacing Rick, he is able to learn to appreciate himself more.
A longtime comedy juggernaut with shows ranging from Kroll Show to Parks and Recreation to Childrens Hospital, Kroll's comedy resume is one of the most impressive currently in the business. Kroll also voices Maurice the Hormone Monster, Coach Steve, Rick the Hormone Monster, Lola Ugfulio Skumpy, and a variety of other small parts.
John Mulaney as Andrew Glouberman
Emmy-winning stand-up comedian John Mulaney portrays Andrew Glouberman, Nick’s best friend. Andrew and Nick are maturing at quite different rates. Andrew spends his days avoiding his parents and can be found constantly masturbating. In Season Four, Andrew and Nick had a big falling out, but were able to rekindle their friendship by the end of the season.
Mulaney was a writer on Saturday Night Live for many years, responsible for Bill Hader’s character Stefon. He is also known as the voice of Peter Porker/Spider-Ham in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and for his stint on Broadway in Oh, Hello! along with Kroll.
Jessi Klein as Jessi Glaser
Jessi Klein portrays Nick and Andrew’s closest friend, Jessi. Jessi has really been struggling through adolescence. With her parents' divorce and her mother beginning to date women, she has fallen into a depression and has pushed her friends away. Last season she tried attending a private school in NYC, but that was met with a whole other set of problems. She has since returned to Bridgeton.
Jessi Klein was the head writer and executive producer of Inside Amy Schumer. She was also a writer on Saturday Night Live and Michael and Michael Have Issues.
Jason Mantzoukas as Jay Blizerian
Jay Blizerian is one of Nick and Andrew’s best friends. He has a very dysfunctional family, including two older brothers Val (Mark Duplass) and Kurt (Paul Scheer) who constantly bully him. Jay is obsessed with sex and came to the conclusion in Season 3 that he is bisexual. His longest relationship was with Lola, but it ended badly at the end of Season Four.
Jason Mantzoukas is a UCB alum who has starred in The League and had memorable guest-starring roles on Brooklyn Nine-Nine and The Good Place. He currently hosts an enormously popular podcast, How Did This Get Made with June Diane Raphael and Scheer.
Ayo Edebiri as Missy Foreman-Greenwald
Ayo Edebiri took over voicing the role of Missy at the end of last season from Jenny Slate. Missy is socially awkward but extremely intelligent. She’s a "late bloomer" but has no problem having explicit fantasies about Nathan Fillion. In the middle of Season Four, Missy started embracing her Black heritage after spending time with her father’s family and getting to know her cousins Lena (Lena Waithe) and Quinta (Quinta Brunson).
Edebiri is a writer and stand-up comedian who also stars in the Apple+ show Dickinson.
Maya Rudolph as Connie the Hormone Monstress
Maya Rudolph’s voice performance is a verified show-stealer. Connie, the Hormone Monster for Jessi, Missy (for a short period), and Nick, is incredibly protective of her charges, and won’t shy away from a fight, especially with other hormone monsters.
Rudolph came up in the Groundlings and was a Saturday Night Live regular for seven years. She has won two Primetime Emmys for her voice work on Big Mouth, as well as two for SNL. On Big Mouth, she also voices Diane Birch, the ghosts of Elizabeth Taylor and Whitney Houston, and many other supporting parts.
Andrew Rannells as Matthew MacDell
Matthew MacDell is an out and proud friend of Nick and Andrew’s. Matthew is all about gossip and loves to provoke drama. His first relationship with his boyfriend, Aidan (Zachary Quinto) ended at the end of Season 4.
Rannells has been nominated for two Tony Awards for his performances in Book of Mormon and Falsettos. He has a long list of voice-over credits as well as starring roles in the TV show Girls and the films The Boys in the Band and The Prom.
Fred Armisen as Elliot Birch
Another SNL alum, Fred Armisen plays Elliot Birch, Nick’s overbearing but unbelievably sweet father. He can be a bit of an over-sharer which mortifies Nick but delights viewers. Armisen also voices other supporting parts in Big Mouth.
Armisen can currently be seen as the bandleader and intermittent drummer on Late Night with Seth Meyers.
Richard Kind and Paula Pell as Marty & Barbara Glouberman
As the parents of Andrew, Marty and Barbara can frequently be seen in shouting matches annoying the crap out of their children. Marty is often cranky unless you give him a plate of scallops which makes him happier than anything in the world. Barbara tries desperately to keep him happy, but it is a losing battle.
Paula Pell is one of the most underrated and hilarious comedians on the planet. For proof of concept, she can be seen stealing the scenes in Girls5Eva, A.P. Bio, and Wine Country, just to name a few. Richard Kind has been in television and film since the mid-1980s. Some of his most famous roles have been on Spin City, Mad About You, and Curb Your Enthusiasm.
Pamela Adlon as Sonya the Lovebug
Pamela Adlon is new to Big Mouth this season playing Sonya the Love Bug. Her character, along with Walter and Rochelle, will appear in the spinoff Human Resources.
Adlon made her film debut in 1982 in Grease 2. Since then she has acted in tons of film and television and won a Primetime Emmy for her voice acting in King of the Hill. She currently stars in Better Things, about to debut its final season.
Brandon Kyle Goodman as Walter the Lovebug
Also a writer on Big Mouth, Brandon Kyle Goodman takes on some voice work this season as Walter the Lovebug. Goodman has also appeared on TV shows such as Alive in Denver and Amazon Prime’s Modern Love. Walter will also be a character on the spinoff Human Resources.
Keke Palmer as Rochelle the Hate Worm
A former child actress, Keke Palmer made a name for herself as the star of the film Akeelah and the Bee and the titular True Jackson VP on Nickelodeon. She received a Primetime Emmy Award for her performance in the Short Form Series, Keke Palmer‘s Turnt Up With the Taylors. Palmer voices Rochelle, the Hate Worm, which will also be one of the stars on the Big Mouth spinoff Human Resources.
David Thewlis as the Shame Wizard
As the Shame Wizard, David Thewlis personifies all the kids’ deep remorse about themselves and the decisions they make. The Shame Wizard is prominent in all their lives, even if everyone is afraid to admit it.
Thewlis, a storied British actor in both film and television, is probably best known as Remus Lupin from the Harry Potter franchise, and was most recently nominated for an Emmy for his role in the third season of Fargo.
Thandiwe Newton as Mona the Hormone Monster
Known for her starring roles in such films as Crash and The Pursuit of Happyness, Thandiwe Newton’s biggest television role to date is as Maeve on Westworld which earned her a Primetime Emmy in 2018. As Mona, Newton plays Missy’s seductive hormone monster. Mona isn’t exactly a good influence on Missy and is regularly antagonistic with Connie and Maury, her fellow hormone monsters.
Also guest-starring in Season Five will be Jordan Peele, Adam Scott, Jemaine Clement, Kristen Schaal, Kumail Nanjiani, and Chloe Fineman.
All five seasons of Big Mouth are currently streaming on Netflix.