Now that the new season of Rick and Morty has showcased the new voices that replaced Justin Roiland, we hear from the actors about the experience.
Rick and Morty has returned for season 7, and although it seems like it’s back to the adventures of the scientist and his teenage friend, this season has had the hurdle of incorporating new voice talents to replace Justin Roiland after he faces legal issues that prevent him from returning. The new voice actors Ian Cardoni (Rick) and Harry Belden (Morty) beat thousands of hopefuls in filling the roles for the new season. Dan Harmon had recently broken his silence on the whole heartbreaking situation and is looking to the future, and now, The Hollywood Reporter has had the opportunity to speak with the new cast members for their perspectives on working on the show.
Cardoni and Belden would show their excitement as fans of the show who had been given this tremendous position. Belden explained, “It’s been super surreal waking up every day. For the first month [after landing the role], I genuinely kept asking my girlfriend if that had really happened, if I was indeed the new Morty. So, to keep having that realization that, ‘Yes, this is real, you are playing a character you’ve watched and loved for years and been a huge fan of,’ is indescribable and brings such joy.”
Cardoni would divulge that he, like many fans of the show, would do Rick and Morty impressions for fun with his friends, and it would serve as the foundation for him to throw his hat in the ring for the audition. “This audition process was certainly different from any other audition process I’ve been a part of in the past, even just for the sheer length of it. My first submission for this was in mid-February, and [I got the role] in early June. In between, there were many rounds of auditions. What’s typical for auditions is you do the work and then wait for response while you try to put it out of your mind and move on with your life. But this was many rounds of getting closer and closer and closer to the possibility of it, and it was harder to contain my excitement.”
As fans of the show, both actors express how unreal this experience has been. Belden stated, “This is a literal dream come true — like, I’m pretty sure I had this dream at one point in my life [to do this show]. My agents actually tricked me. They said, ‘We have this weird project, can you Zoom with us?’ I’ve been with them for six years, and they’ve never once wanted to Zoom with me. I told my girlfriend, and she kind of had an inkling of what was going on and was eavesdropping on the Zoom. As soon as they told me, my girlfriend was completely sobbing. Then seeing her crying was like, ‘Oh, this is real, I heard them correctly.’”
