New Rick and Morty Voice Actors Share Insights into the Most Challenging Aspects of their Roles

Summary

Rick and Morty Season 7 introduces new voice actors following the departure of Justin Roiland, the original voice actor and co-creator of the show.
The new voice actors, Ian Cardoni and Harry Belden, talk about the challenges they faced in doing justice to the writing and capturing the essence of their characters.
The latest season of Rick and Morty has received mixed reviews, with some fans attributing the perceived dip in quality to Justin Roiland’s departure, while Dan Harmon sees it as a fresh era for the series driven by new writers.

Rick and Morty Season 7 introduced new voice actors taking over the roles of Rick Sanchez and Morty Smith. This major shift came about following the departure of Justin Roiland, the original voice actor and co-creator of the show, due to felony charges becoming public earlier in the year. As a result of his absence, Adult Swim took action to recast the voices of Rick and Morty while retaining Dan Harmon as the sole showrunner. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the newly appointed voice actors, Ian Cardoni as Rick and Harry Belden as Morty, shared insights into the challenges they faced.

Cardoni revealed that, beyond the vocal aspects, their primary responsibility was to “do justice to the writing” in the show’s scripts. He emphasized the importance of capturing the essence of their characters, especially delving into the complex and abrasive side of Rick.

“I’m sure you mean vocally, but more than the voice itself, it’s doing justice to the writing we’re given,” Cardoni said. “Everything in the script is so deliberate and intentional. We’re not always privy to where the story is going to go, but there is a story that we’re responsible for telling, and each time I record that’s the chief responsibility in my mind. But vocally, during an early session, I got the note that I needed to be more of an asshole to the other characters. Having to open up that side of myself to access those parts of me that live in Rick and vice versa was my big challenge.”

Meanwhile, Belden found it challenging to maintain the tightness and precision of the show’s writing while exploring all possible nuances in his vocal performance.

“The writing on the show is so tight and so precise that I read the scripts and get lost in the story. It’s a challenge to remind myself, ‘You might want to do it this one way, but let’s make sure we explore all the possibilities.’ For me, vocally, it was the F-word. I had a little bit of a vocal dip going lower on the ‘u.’ So, I spent dozens of hours and dropped thousands of F-bombs, drilling the F-word over and over and over again.”

Rick and Morty’s Season 7 Receives a Mixed Reception Amid Creative Changes

Adult Swim

The latest season of Rick and Morty has received mixed reviews, with a critical score of 73% and an audience rating of just 44%. This is in stark contrast to the higher ratings of earlier seasons, leading to many questions over the continued quality of the series after such a huge shake-up. Some fans attribute this perceived dip in quality to the departure of Justin Roiland. However, Dan Harmon, the show’s co-creator, has described this transition as the dawning of a fresh era for the series, driven by the infusion of new writers who bring a refreshing perspective to the show.

This shift comes amid turbulence behind the scenes, as Harmon revealed that Season 6 represented a turning point where he had to approach the show more as a job and less as an obsessive endeavor.

“I think now it can be said that there’s been so much turbulence going on behind the scenes that Season 6 kind of represented me [unplugging] those wires from my heart and my obsessive brain. I had to look at the show as a job.”

Rick and Morty Season 7 airs its new episodes every Sunday at 11 p.m. ET on Adult Swim.

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