Rick and Morty Season 7 debuted on October 15th with a brand new set of voice actors for our titular characters. Now, the question is, who are Ian Cardoni and Harry Belden?
Fans are pretty much aware that Rick and Morty are getting new voice actors for Season 7. Since former creator and main voice talent Justin Roiland was kicked out by Adult Swim following his domestic abuse charges, it forced the show's creatives to rebrand the iconic duo.
READ MORE: Which Rick and Morty is the 'Original' Rick and Morty?
The Rick and Morty creator Dan Harmon and showrunner Scott Marder recently had a talk with The Hollywood Reporter in regards to their casting calls for the titular duos.
"We heard thousands. It went on for six months. It was really wide." Marder said, "We felt like we needed to go that far and wide. It was harder than we thought. I thought it'd have been easier. Rick was a lot harder than expected; everyone sounded like Macho Man Randy Savage or like a cousin of his. No one sounded exactly like Rick. It was tricky."
As for Harmon, though, while he considered the idea of hiring impressionists, "It's one thing to match an impression - but can you do it if you're not saying, 'Not gonna do it.'? It was trying to strike this crazy balance; this character has to be angry, sad, despondent, and all those things."
Well, eventually, they did strike lucky finding Ian Cardoni and Harry Belden, both of whom are relative newcomers, not just on the Rick and Morty show, but in the voicework industry, in general.
Who Voices Rick Sanchez in Rick and Morty Season 7?
Here's a little thing about Ian Cardoni. He now voices Rick Sanchez, the alcoholic genius running in the title of the show, and has put in the similar spunk the character is known for in the series.
But what about his previous works, though?
Cardoni grew up just outside Boston, Massachusetts, and has a Bachelor's degree in Fine Arts after graduating from Emerson College in 2012.
Currently living with his wife in Los Angeles, he is admittedly a history buff, a Sox fan, a goodie, and a lover of fantasy and sci-fi.
Cardoni's first ever acting role was playing Bilbo Baggins in their school production of The Hobbit and has since then starred in other Hollywood productions.
This includes Wrestlemania 37 (as a narrator) and being an extra on the set of Grown Ups.
There's no denying, though that Cardoni stood out amongst thousands of candidates to replace Roiland. In fact, Harmon himself quoted, "Mark [that guy], he's got major flashes of Rick."
ALSO READ: Will There Be a Rick and Morty Season 8? Release Date Predictions and All You Need To Know
Who Voices Morty Smith in Rick and Morty Season 7?
As for Morty, aka Rick's grandson, Harry Belden was hired for the role among thousands of candidates.
Pretty similar to Cardoni's case, Belden has barely been exposed to big Hollywood productions, so this serves as both actors' biggest breaks in their voice acting careers and at the nick of time, too!
Belden has previously starred in one-episode roles in a few TV shows such as Proven Innocent and Chicago Med. Once in a Disney holiday movie called Christmas Again.
What makes these two impressive is in spite of their lack of background experiences, the showrunners told in their interview that each actor did their own research of the episodes and have technically secured the show to possibly run for '30 seasons more'.
Ultimately, Harmon described these two as their best pick because "They sounded the most like the characters moving on and staying alive to me."
Marder added, "They just brought this show 30 more years. We just got these eager, young guys who are so excited to attack every episode."
READ NEXT: How Many Seasons Will Rick and Morty Have?
Explore new topics and discover content that's right for you!