Netflix shows and movies with crazy casts are almost a gag or a trope these days. Personally, I tend to find it a bit worrisome, at least in Netflix's movies, as the ensemble of Don't Look Up reeked more of stunt casting than anything else. I almost developed a prejudice against impossibly large casts.
But then a tweet from actor, voice actor, comedian, writer and producer Nick Kroll crossed my timeline, and made me reconsider my stance on huge casts, and a certain show, as well. And that's where I should begin.
While Kroll's Netflix series Big Mouth is one of Tom's Guide's choices for the best shows on Netflix, it never really spoke to me. I needed a new animated take on puberty and gross-out humor as much as South Park needed to make Paramount Plus specials.
And then Kroll's tweet with a grid of photos for the cast for the upcoming Big Mouth spinoff Human Resources hit my timeline. But since the word Human Resources won't inspire any confidence in anyone, you need to see this grid of cast members for yourself:
While I found the cast grid for Oppenheimer to be a set of bland and all-too-similar faces, the Human Resources cast is a tapestry of amazing talent. Where else, I wonder, am I going to hear the voices of Rosie Perez, Hugh Jackman, Dame Helen Mirren, Thandiwe Newton, Bobby Carnevale and Pamela Adlon? And that's just the first row.
Moving down a row, I spy Janelle Monae, Jemaine Clement and Ali Wong. Beyond that, Randall Park, Aidy Bryant, Maya Rudolph, Kroll (obviously) and more and more of my favorites. But I'll be honest, it was Kayvan Novak — better known as the vampire Nandor the Relentless from What We Do in the Shadows — who really made me stop what I was doing. On the TV adaptation of Shadows, Novak is a favorite in a sea of favorites, where everything he says is funny. So, even though I kinda wish that the Human Resources cast was going to be in a live show? His voice will definitely be enough to bring me in.
If that's not enough, look around that grid more. Squint closely at the bottom row and you'll see Novak's Shadows co-star Harvey Guillén (who plays Guillermo). Look elsewhere, and you'll also spot Henry Winkler, Lupita Nyong'o, Chris O'Dowd and Keke Palmer. And that's when you realize that Kroll may have figured out the perfect format for a giant cast.
The trailer for Human Resources seems to understand the benefits:
Kroll has created a wide world of animated monsters who help and (sometimes torment) humans. And a giant cast for this huge world kinda makes sense. Even though I've only seen a mere few minutes of Big Mouth, I can already tell that I'm going to have fun with Human Resources. Its humor looks fun (moving beyond children helps, for me).
And much like the game of "who's that?" you can play with the cast grid, watching the above trailer feels like a rousing edition of "name that voice!"
If you're as curious as I am, Human Resources debuts on Netflix this Friday (March 18).
