After a strenuous hunt that spanned over six months and witnessed thousands of auditions, Adult Swim's cult favorite animated series, Rick and Morty, welcomes its new voice actors. As of Season 7, Ian Cardoni and Harry Belden will be stepping into the vocal roles of Rick and Morty respectively. Notably, they replace Justin Roiland who was handed a pink slip from the series following charges related to felony domestic battery and false imprisonment disclosed earlier this year. Although the charges were eventually dropped citing 'insufficient evidence,' unsettling allegations against Roiland in an NBC News report stirred further controversy, all strongly refuted as 'false and defamatory' by his legal team.
In sharing the challenging casting process experiences, showrunner Scott Marder revealed in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, "We heard from thousands. It went on for a continuous six months span. The search reached such expansive proportions that we even contemplated setting up a global hotline, fully aware it would potentially transform into a prank line. But we felt the necessity to broaden our search to that extent."
Handpicking the replacement for Roiland was mentioned as a particularly challenging task by Marder, who also humorously shed light on some off-beam performances during auditions. "It was tricky to find Rick's voice," he shared, adding, "Everyone sounded like Macho Man Randy Savage or some variant of him. No one sounded precisely like Rick. Candidates had a hint of Rick's voice, but fell short in maintaining it conversationally. It was indeed an exhaustive process."
Speaking of the eventual choices, Marder revealed, "Both Ian and Harry emerged victorious through rigorous casting calls. Ian was one of our early picks, while Harry was chosen after we had run the gamut of every available resource. We had to conduct multiple rounds of narrowing down our options."
Fans will now have the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the new voices on fresh episodes of Rick and Morty Season 7, set to air weekly on Adult Swim. Meanwhile, the upcoming episodes carry the promise of enticing content. For those wishing to take a stroll down memory lane, a visit to our rankings of the best Rick and Morty episodes from the animated series' past seasons is recommended.
You must be logged in to post a comment!
