The wait is over for Rick and Morty fans who have been clamoring for new content and episodes. Last night, to conclude the Rick and Morty Day festivities, Adult Swim finally unveiled the premiere of Season 5.
Rick and Morty likely needs no introduction as the series is by far the most popular content that Adult Swim currently totes. The adult-animated sci-fi comedy is created by Justin Roiland (Solar Opposites, Gravity Falls) and Dan Harmon (Community).
While Roiland provides the voices of both of the titular characters, the rest of the cast is rounded out by popular and talented voice actors and actresses. Chris Parnell (SNL, Anchorman) voices Jerry, Sarah Chalke (Scrubs, How I Met Your Mother) voices Beth, and their daughter is voiced by Spencer Grammer (Greek), the real-life daughter of Frasier and X-Men star Kelsey Grammer.
To promote Rick and Morty Day and the premiere of Season 5, we set up exclusive interviews with the cast. When speaking with voice actress Spencer Grammer, we learned that her interpretation and portrayal of Summer has affected the way they write the character for the show.
For those who prefer audio, we've included the podcast version of our chat with Spencer below, along with a transcripted excerpt from our conversation. Those looking for a fully immersive experience will find our full video interview at the bottom.
Literary Joe: Do you feel your personality has bled into Summer to get her arc to where it is now? Or do you feel like it was written that she grew after certain events and experiences; and if it's the latter, what do you think it was that shaped Summer into where she is now?
Spencer Grammer: It's funny. I was gonna say 'no, they just write it.' And then apparently there had been an interview that Dan and Justin had done a long time ago, and they went off talking about how great Summer became because I had voiced her. And I was so touched. It was such a lovely thing to hear somebody say that part of your interpretation of a character and/or performance could influence the way that they were writing her.
And so they continued to give Summer more agency in different episodes. And so I think there's a combination of the two, I think, because I tend to be so strong and opinionated, and we've all gotten to know each other over these last 10 years and become friends. I think that also has influenced the character. But I also think that it makes sense also in society that she would grow this way and that she would be competitive with Rick and have a lot more in common with Beth; they seem to skew more towards the Rick side of the family than Jerry.
And in a lot of ways, Rick is the character we all love to hate. We all love him even though he does really horrible, terrible things. He's very selfish and a terrible father, but for whatever reason, he's trying to make a good go of it now. And he keeps showing up and we keep allowing it to happen. And so it builds on itself. And I think for whatever reason in society, we revere characters who live to the beat of their own drum, right? Like, he does his own thing and I'm jealous of the fact that Rick gets to do that. And I think Summer's like, (in-character) 'cool, but like, he's my grandpa. So technically I'm allowed to do that as well, so like, I am Rick and Rick is me, you know?'
What do you guys think of these comments from Spencer Grammer? Be sure to check out the full video interview below, and stay tuned for more exciting excerpts from our chat!
Spencer Grammer is in the house! The actress and voice performer behind Rick & Morty's Summer Smith stops by the show to talk about the character now that she's voiced her for a decade!
We dig deep into Summer's character arc and how a mixture of her own personality and the writing helped lend to that growth. Discussing which characters she'd like to see re-visit the show, we shared plenty of laughs about Bucket Head, Snowball, Summer's ex, and more.
We joke about a potential crossover where she finds her ex-boyfriend in the Solar Opposites wall and what dimension Summer would choose to visit with Rick's portal gun - The Neverending Story.
Talk turns to her father, Frasier and X-Men star Kelsey Grammer, and we discuss why he doesn't watch Rick and Morty, and we even cook up a jestful scheme that would see the actor play Summer's father from a different dimension, as Frasier.
Spencer shares tidbits about her decade of experience with the show and makes it clear that she has no plans to leave the character of Summer behind, as well as talking to us about a few of her other projects.
It was a ton of fun, and make sure to tune in next week when we chat with Beth and Jerry voices Sarah Chalke and Chris Parnell!
Rick and Morty Season 5 episodes drop every Sunday at midnight on Adult Swim.