The Rick And Morty cast talks character evolution, Space Beth, at-home-recording sessions

Sure, it’s called Rick And Morty, but the Adult Swim animated series long ago embraced the fact that its inter-dimensional adventures can be more fun when the whole family is involved—especially when you factor in said family’s clones and counterparts from alternate realities. Now heading into its fifth season, the cult comedy has gotten a lot of mileage out of its supporting players, giving Rick’s daughter Beth (Sarah Chalke), her husband Jerry (Chris Parnell), and their daughter Summer (Spencer Grammer) the space to learn, grow, and fight their own battles against the Galactic Federation. It’s been a treat for the voice cast to explore new shades of their characters, too, which, as they see it, is a reflection of how much the world has changed since the pilot was written nearly a decade ago. Here’s what Spencer Grammer has to say about the show’s evolution:

I think there’s something really lovely and unique about [the fact that] we’ve jumped time a lot—like, the world’s progressed a lot from 2011 to 2021, right?… I think that it’s been lovely to have only four seasons [thus far] because, in some ways, they were able to reflect so much of the change that happened; that now we have these really lovely, three-dimensional female characters that we haven’t necessarily seen before. I mean, there’s been a push for that, but they started off a little bit two-dimensional, in some way. [For example,] Beth’s character was focused on how to please her father so much, or that the dysfunction of that relationship, and that grew so much more throughout [to the point] that Beth now has two Beths! [Laughs.] Two totally different “life choice” Beths, and it’s awesome.

Speaking of Space Beth, the cast was mum about whether or not the hardened interstellar swashbuckler would make a return this year. What they could reveal, however, is that the season premiere sees Jerry and Beth (whatever version of her that is on Earth, anyway) making an effort to rekindle the romance in their relationship, while Summer once again proves she may be a more capable accomplice to Rick than Morty’s ever been. Considering Chalke, Parnell, and Grammer have already recorded their lines for season six (animation takes a long time!), they were hesitant to share too many more details, but the trio was happy to reflect on Rick & Morty’s seemingly limitless potential and discuss their best practices for setting up their at-home recording studios, which you can watch in full in the video above.

Rick & Morty returns for its fifth season on June 20.

Image Credit: Adult Swim