Rick & Morty's Epic Search for the Perfect Justin Roiland Replacement: Dan Harmon & EP Spill the Details on Hearing Thousands!

Summary

The arduous undertaking of selecting a replacement for Justin Roiland in season 7 of Rick and Morty has been unveiled by its producers. This meticulous process spanned six months and entailed meticulously evaluating a staggering number of aspiring voice actors.

Finding someone who could perfectly capture Roiland's distinct voice while also embodying the required emotional depth of the characters of Rick and Morty proved to be an exceedingly difficult task. However, Ian Cardoni and Harry Belden proved themselves to be the ideal choices for the roles as they stood out during auditions and underwent a meticulous testing phase to guarantee their ability to consistently maintain the voices.

Rick and Morty producers, Dan Harmon and Scott Marder, provide insight into the meticulous process of replacing Justin Roiland for season 7. Following a personal controversy, Roiland was dismissed from the show, which led to the recasting of his characters. The roles were subsequently taken over by voice actors Ian Cardoni, who now voices Rick, and Harry Belden, the new voice of Morty. Rick and Morty season 7 premiered on Adult Swim on October 15 and will continue to air throughout the autumn season. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Harmon and Marder delve into the demanding undertaking of finding replacements for Roiland. Here are the complete statements from Harmon and Marder.

Marder: We received thousands of responses, spanning over a period of six months. The scale of it was remarkable, to the point where we even considered implementing a global hotline, although we were aware it would likely be misused for prank calls. We felt the need to reach out across a wide range. However, the task proved to be more challenging than anticipated. I had assumed it would be easier. Rick's voice was particularly difficult to replicate; everyone either sounded like Macho Man Randy Savage or some distant relative of his. No one quite captured Rick's exact tone. It was a bit of a puzzle. Some individuals could imitate Rick to some extent, but when it came to conversational delivery, they fell short, which was what we needed. It was a tiring process.

Harmon: Matching an impression is one thing — being able to mimic George W. Bush as well as Dana Carvey is one aspect, but can you do it without using the catchphrase, "Not gonna do it"? It was a delicate balancing act; this character needed to convey anger, sadness, and despair, among other emotions.

Marder: Ian was among the initial individuals I heard during the start of the search; he was in the first wave. He said, "Keep an eye on that guy, he strongly resembles Rick," which was impressive. We discovered Harry much later. Both of them simply stood out. Eventually, we realized that we couldn't expect the first wave to perfect it from beginning to end. If we noticed anyone who had genuine moments resembling either character, we brought them back and assessed their abilities on their feet. We repeatedly brought them back alongside a group of people, made them go through numerous challenging scenes, and asked them to perform in a way that deviated from the norm, just to gauge their endurance and ability to maintain their unique voice. We subjected them to a rather demanding process.

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Source: THR