For the seventh season of Rick and Morty, which began premiering on October 15th, new voice actors Ian Cardoni (Clear History, The Unwanted Gift) and Harry Belden (Christmas Again, Chicago Med) were cast for the roles of Rick and Morty respectively. Justin Roiland (Fish Hooks, Adventure Time), who was the co-creator of Rick and Morty, voiced Rick, Morty, and other characters in the previous seasons. However, due to alleged domestic violence charges, which have since been dismissed, Roiland was dropped from the show in January 2023. Cardoni and Belden spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about the audition process and hearing the news that they have been cast.

The Hollywood Reporter first asked Cardoni and Belden what their first thoughts were when they heard that the producers were looking for new actors to voice Rick and Morty. Belden stated, “‘I got to jump on this.’ I emailed my agent and said, ‘If you got any requests for this Rick and Morty thing, I do a decent Rick and Morty, so I’d love to be considered and to send them my stuff.'”

Both Cardon and Belden had practiced the voices way before the audition process. Belden explained, “I think like most fans, I had done impressions of Rick and Morty for fun with my friends. And over time, I guess I was doing it enough that it turned into something that I thought I could really do.”

Cardoni added, “Same. I already had an impression reel that I had given to my managers that included Rick and Morty voices. But as Harry mentioned, it was, ‘Wow, this could be a big opportunity, I think I could do these voices.'”

As The Hollywood Reporter notes, Cardoni has done voiceover work in the past while Belden has not. For Cardoni, he stated, “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.”

He continued, “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.

Belden spoke about his audition process, stating it was “very similar to what Ian described. It was easily the longest and most intense audition process I’ve ever been a part of, but it was also the most fun. The people running the auditions kept throwing curveballs at us — things you’d never hear these characters doing — just to see if we could stay in character.”

They also spoke about what it was like receiving the news that they had gotten the job. Cardoni described, “I remember getting the call from my agents, and my wife was there, thankfully, to make sure I didn’t fall over. It was a thrilling moment, a dream come true as an actor and as a fan.”

Belden explained, “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.'”

After getting the roles, they then had the chance to meet each other. Belden explained, “I was so excited. We’d been hearing each other’s names and producers kept joking that they were going to keep us separated for as long as possible on purpose just to drive each other crazy. So, when I first met Ian, I felt like I already knew him because I just heard so much about him, and I had eavesdropped on some of his lines. It was like like meeting someone I’ve known for a very long time.”