With near seamlessness, Ian Cardoni and Harry Belden have taken over the voices of Rick and Morty. Justin Roiland, the co-creator of the show and the former voice actor for both characters, was fired last year after accusations of domestic abuse and engendering a toxic workplace. The two voice actors were kept a secret after a “nearly six month search,” says a new interview in The Hollywood Reporter.
The announcement comes after the premiere of the seventh season of the adult animated show. Roiland’s dismissal from the show would later echo the dismissal of the charges against him, but whatever the truth, the damage to Roiland’s reputation was too great and Rick and Morty co-creator Dan Harmon recently spoke candidly about the broken relationship with Roiland in the wake of the allegations.
THR’s interview with showrunner Scott Mander emphasized the need for the soundalike actors to be as clean as possible for the sake of the audience. “The high-class problem that Harmon and I had was that we were writing season nine—seasons beyond where we’re at right now,” explained Mander. “So it didn’t feel like the tone for the show could magically change. We wrote consistently the same show and we needed the voices to be the same.”
Marder went on to clarify, “ I felt like a lot of people didn’t necessarily know what went down this year so for all those people who are just tuning in to the show as if nothing has changed, I wanted them to have the maximum fan experience they could have without any distraction. The goal was always to try to preserve the viewing experience and give them the same show they’ve had every other season.”
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