Actress Emmy Raver-Lampman is heading to Apple to lend her voice to Apple’s Central Park animated series.
According to Deadline, The Umbrella Academy star Emmy Raver-Lampman has officially joined the cast of Apple’s animated series, Central Park.
Raver-Lampman (who some may also know for her role in the original Broadway production of Hamilton) won’t be voicing an all new character. Instead, she’s boarding the project to voice the character of Molly Tillerman— a role originally held by Frozen vet Kristen Bell.
Though Bell lent her voice to the mixed-race cartoon character for the series first season, both the actress and the creative team behind the series came to the mutual decision to have Bell part ways with the character.
In a statement announcing Bell’s departure, all parties involved revealed that they felt recasting, and riding a Black or mixed-race actor to voice the role of Molly Tillerman was the right move.
“After reflection, Kristen, along with the entire creative team, recognizes that the casting of the character of Molly is an opportunity to get representation right— to cast a Black or mixed race actress and give Molly a voice that resonates with all of the nuance and experiences of the character as we’ve drawn her,” said the creative team behind the series just last month.
“Kristen will continue to be a part of the heart of the show in a new role but we will find a new actress to lend her voice to Molly.”
Following the news that Emmy Raver-Lampman would now be lending her voice to Molly, the series creatives released a joint statement expressing their excitement over finding the perfect actress to voice the character.
“From the moment we heard her Molly, we knew she was the right choice,” they said of Raver-Lampman. “Her comedic chops, endearing spirit, and other-worldly singing prowess have us jumping with joy at the possibilities of this already wonderful character moving forward.”
Raver-Lampman joins a star-studded voice cast which includes Bell, Josh Gad, Kathryn Hahn, Tituss Burgess, Stanley Tucci, as well as her fellow Hamilton cohorts, Leslie Odom Jr., and David Diggs.
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