Tracee Ellis Ross to Voice Titular Character in ‘Daria’ Spinoff ‘Jodie’
Written by SOURCE on June 13, 2019
The Daria-Universe is delivering a new spinoff series with the help of Tracee Ellis Ross, centered around the intelligent, sharp-witted character Jodie Landon. As one of the only African American characters in the show, Jodie felt compelled to scholastically rise above the rest and helped shape a generation of women. As Ross aptly noted, “Jodie was woke before woke was a thing!”
Tracee Ellis Ross is set to executive produce and voice the lead in the upcoming show, which will explore Jodie’s character after she’s graduated college and enters the workforce with a new job in tech.
“I am thrilled to bring this project to life with MTV, both as executive producer and by voicing Jodie’s character,” Ross said in a statement. “Being able to give voice to fresh, feminist and unexplored stories of young women excites me. Jodie, will spin-off from the cult classic Daria, and with the brilliant, sweet and sarcastic black girl magic that is Jodie Landon, we will feature a diverse cast, comprised mainly of unapologetically smart and ambitious young female characters who are vulnerable and flawed and interesting and funny.”
Jodie was originally meant to be a supporting character, however as Ross noted in an exclusive interview with Vanity Fair, her wit, intelligence, and sense of humor allowed her to become as much of a cult figure as Daria.
With themes of empowerment across gender and racial lines and explorations of privilege, Jodie will be the first adult animated show in nearly 20 years with a black female lead. According to Ross, the show will be a “workplace comedy full of commentary about everything from gentrification to sex to tech to call-out culture.”
President of MTV, Chris McCarthy, said he couldn’t imagine anyone but Ross bringing Jodie back to the small screen. “Given the passion for these characters, there was only one person who could build upon the legacy to reimagine Jodie for a whole new generation, and that person is Tracee Ellis Ross,” he said in a statement. “This marks another exciting step forward for MTV Studios as we build out a wide new slate based on the rich characters from the history in MTV Animation.”
The spinoff was created and will be written by Grace Nkenge Edwards, currently a writer and co-producer on Issa Rae’s HBO comedy Insecure.
McCarthy has stated that Jodie should be released in early 2020.
