Almost from the moment the first episode aired on Adult Swim, Rick & Morty became a cultural phenomenon. Praised by critics and fans alike for its intelligent storytelling, endlessly funny gags, and shockingly human characters, the series—created by Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon—was a smashing success from day one.
All of the great stories, jokes, and characters would go to waste if the voices coming from the characters weren't perfect. While Roiland handles the challenge of voicing both Rick and Morty perfectly, without the other actors that take on the big and small roles, it's doubtful that the series would have had such a long-lasting impact.
10 Jerry Is Voiced By Saturday Night Live's Chris Parnell
The paterfamilias of the Smith family, Jerry, is perhaps the saddest character on Rick & Morty. Easily amused by an app that lets him pop balloons and wanting nothing more than for his wife to love him as much as he loves her, Jerry takes the sitcom dad to a depressing new level of pity, and none of it would work without Chris Parnell's excellent voice work.
Before becoming Jerry Smith, Parnell was best known for his eight years on Saturday Night Live, including his role in the classic "Lazy Sunday" sketch with Andy Samberg. Along with SNL, Parnell played Doctor Spaceman on 30 Rock and also voices Cyril Figgis on Archer.
9 Beth Is Voiced By Sarah Chalke From Scrubs
The wine-drinking, horse-operating mother of the family, Beth is constantly caught between her love for her father Rick—and her desperate need to keep him in her life—and her husband and kids. Without Beth, the Smith house would almost certainly have collapsed and at least one of the kids would be dead or in prison. Beth keeps things running, but she clearly worries that one day she won't have the energy to do it anymore.
Capturing the voice of every overworked mom with a useless partner is Sarah Chalke. Chalke is most remembered for her role as Elliot Reid on Scrubs as well as the second Becky on Roseanne and Stella Zinman on How I Met Your Mother.
8 Before She Was Summer, Spencer Grammer Was In A Sorority On Greek
The first child of the Smith family and Morty's older sister, Summer is smart, stubborn, and overly self-conscious, just like her mother.
While there is evidence that Summer would, in many ways, be a better match for Rick than Morty, her willingness to go to extremes would surely lead the grandfather and granddaughter to some very dark and deadly places that they may not be able to find a way out of. Summer is voiced by Spencer Grammer, who played Casey Cartwright on the college TV series Greek.
7 Keith David Put On The Sunglasses & Became The President
A recurring character who has a real hatred for Rick Sanchez, President Curtis has found himself having to put his feelings aside from time to time to work with the mad scientist in order to save the world. When he isn't being turned into a turkey or dealing with an alien in the "Kennedy Sex Tunnels," it can be assumed that President Curtis is busy with the day-to-day business of being the leader of the United States.
President Curtis is voiced by Keith David, best known for his work with director John Carpenter on The Thing and They Live as well as voicing Goliath on the Disney animated series Gargoyles. Before joining the cast of Rick & Morty, David worked with Dan Harmon on the sixth and final season of Community.
6 John Oliver Is Dr. Xenon Bloom
An amoeba who helped Rick build Anatomy Park, Dr. Xenon Bloom may have only lasted a single episode before sacrificing himself to save everyone else from a wild pack of E. coli, but his legend lives on.
The voice behind the amoeba was none other than John Oliver, these days best known for his HBO series Last Week Tonight. Before he gained his own political comedy series, Oliver was a regular contributor to The Daily Show and played Dr. Ian Duncan on Dan Harmon's cult classic sitcom, Community.
5 Tom Kenny Took Off His Square Pants To Play Squanchy
A wild-looking anthropomorphic cat with a penchant for booze and a love for using his own name as a verb, Squanchy has appeared in a few episodes of Rick & Morty, usually only for a moment or two before moving on.
Behind the microphone, Squanchy is voiced by one of the best-known voice actors in the business today, Tom Kenny. Along with being the Ice King in Adventure Time, Kenny's voice has been entertaining families for almost thirty years as SpongeBob SquarePants. When he isn't behind the mic recording lines for animated series, Kenny can be found behind the mic singing for his band, Tom Kenny & The Hi-Seas.
4 Alfred Molina Got His Mechanical Arms Around Mr. Needful
Appearing in the Season 1 episode "Something Ricked This Way Comes" Mr. Needful ran a second-hand shop filled with cursed items; a clear spoof on Stephen King's novel Needful Things. In the episode, Mr. Needful hires Summer as his assistant, but comes to regret it when Rick comes poking around and opens his own de-cursing shop across the street.
Mr. Needful was voiced by none other than Alfred Molina, who will soon be back on the big screen reprising his role as Doctor Octopus in Spider-Man: No Way Home.
3 Christina Hendricks Seduced Rick As Unity
One of the stranger and more shockingly touching episodes of Rick & Morty, Season 2's "Auto Erotic Assimilation" saw the duo, along with Summer, run into Rick's old lover, Unity, a being that can take over the minds of every living thing on a planet.
After a wild adventure that was anything but kid-friendly, Rick, Morty, and Summer return home to the Smith residence where Rick tries to take his own life. Unity was voiced by Christina Hendricks, who is best known for her iconic role as office manager Joan Holloway on Mad Men.
2 Jemaine Clement Sang A Beautiful Song As Fart
Appearing in the second season episode "Mortynight Run," Fart was a gaseous being that communicated through telepathy, and while he seemed friendly, Fart was actually looking to bring his race into the universe so they could kill every carbon-based lifeform, including Rick and Morty.
Fart was played by Jemaine Clement who, along with Bret McKenzie, is part of the musical duo Flight of the Conchords. The song Fart sings, "Moonmen," is a parody of David Bowie's song style, similar to the Flight of the Conchords "Bowie's In Space."
1 Christopher Meloni Took A Break From Solving Crimes To Be Jesus
Over the years, the people behind Rick & Morty have made it clear that no subject is too taboo for them to tackle, and that includes religion. In the Season 4 episode "Never Ricking Morty," Rick and Morty find themselves trapped on a train filled with people telling stories about Rick.
To break out of the neverending journey, Rick creates a story about himself that includes Jesus Christ. The voice of the Son of God was none other than Christopher Meloni, who is best known for his dramatic work on Law & Order: SVU, but has also been in cult-classic comedies like Wet Hot American Summer and Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle.