And awaaaaay we go! The best Adult Swim’s ‘Rick and Morty’ celebrity cameos
Wubba lubba dub-dub! Let out an almighty burp, jump on the Space Cruiser, and get ready for some serious squanching, because Adult Swim ordered a whopping 70 more episodes of animated epic Rick and Morty. We’re still in for a wait until season four drops, but at least we wait in the knowledge we’ll be joining the misanthropic, alcoholic scientist and his nervously disposed grandson on many more mind-bending misadventures.
Rick and Morty’s grown from a gag-filled sci-fi comedy into an absolute cultural phenomenon, weaving in a profound mythos, semi-psychedelic animation, and Easter eggs all over the damn place that make it easy to distract from the many celebrity voice cameos featured on the show. That’s why we want to pay special attention to the stars who made guest appearances and the characters they helped bring to life. And awaaaaay we go!
Glootie: Taika Waititi
Waititi brings some cosmic hilarity to the scene by voicing Rick’s new intern Glootie in “The Old Man and the Seat”. Glootie and Jerry’s matching tracksuits have stolen our hearts about as much as much as Waititi’s Kiwi accent.
Susan Sarandon: Dr. Wong
Oscar-winning actress Susan Sarandon (The Rocky Horror Picture Show) popped up in (one of our faves) “Pickle Rick” as a therapist with a voice as soothing as silk.
Tony: Jeffrey Wright
Wright voices the depressed alien who manages to use Rick’s secret toilet in S4E2. His presence in the episode is an ostensible reminder of Rick’s stark loneliness.
Stephen Colbert: Zeep
The Late Show host popped up in season two as Zeep – a scientist that exists within the universe Rick created inside his spaceship battery. And he’s actually kinda an a-hole.
Matt Walsh: Sleepy Gary
In another of our all time fave episodes “Total Rickall”, Veep’s Matt Walsh voices Sleep Gary – a dude who stands in as Jerry’s lover in an alien-implanted memory.
Elon Tusk: Elon Musk
Elon Musk quite literally possesses walrus tusks in “One Crew Over the Crewcoo’s Morty”. Our dimension’s Tesla CEO also changed his Twitter handle in recent months to “Elon Tusk”. Life truly does imitate art!
Keith David: President
The legendary actor Keith David (They Live) plays the President (a character inspired by Barack Obama, apparently) in a number of Rick and Morty episodes and we love him for it.
Alien Running the HeistCon Badge Counter: Pamela Adlon
Adlon won an Emmy for voicing Bobby on King of the Hill, and her cameo in this week’s episode stole the scene for sure.
Christian Slater: Vance Maximus
Ya boy Christian Slater (Mr. Robot) made a cameo on the Adult Swim epic as one of the cosmic superhero team members, the Vindicators. He’s joined by . . .
Gillian Jacobs: Supernova
Yep, Love star Gillian Jacobs got involved in the cosmic superhero team too, as the purple haired hottie, Supernov. And she’s joined by . . .
Lance Reddick: Alan Rails
Third member to the Vindicators – Alan Rails – was voiced by The Wire’s Lance Reddick. Bonus fact: Hip-hop star Logic also appeared in the same episode (S3E4) as himself.
Miles: Justin Theroux
Theroux plays the arrogant master criminal Miles Knightly in S4E3, but soon meets a similar fate to Christian Slater’s Vance Maximus.
Alfred Molina: The Devil
The Spider-Man 2 actor Alfred Molina played the villainess satanic character in the Stephen King-inspired episode “Something Ricked This Way Comes”. Turns out his evil voice is on point!
Christina Hendricks: Unity
Yes, the seductive Hendricks (Mad Men) played the seductive hive-mind being capable of getting Rick to settle down . . . nearly.
Patton Oswalt – Beta 7
Ah Patton (Young Adult), forever in the friend zone. In Rick and Morty he plays Unity’s admirer – another hive-mind being called Beta 7. When you’re outnumbering an alcoholic scientist by an entire planet and you’re still not getting the girl, you know you’re doing something wrong.
Danny Trejo: Jaguar
The Machete star does what he does best and battles Pickle Rick as the beefcake assassin, Jaguar.
David Cross: Prince Nebulon
David Cross (Arrested Development) purples himself (doesn’t quite have the same ring to it, does it?) as Prince Nebulon, leader of the Zigerion in the episode “M. Night Shyam-Aliens!”
Nathan Fillion: Cornvelious Daniel
It was inevitable geek poster boy Fillion (Firefly) was going to have a cameo in Rick and Morty at some point, and what better way than to have him voicing a giant mutated fly? A fly that happened to bear witness to the birth of the infamous McDonald’s Szechuan sauce controversy.
Keegan-Michael Key: Testicle Monster #1
Yes he might’ve starred in comedy hits like Keanu and voiced shows like SuperMansion, but we think we can speak on behalf of Keegan-Michael Key and say his career didn’t really begin until he played a giant Testicle Monster on Rick and Morty – a true mark of success. Same goes for . . .
Jordan Peele: Testicle Monster #2
That’s right! Forget Get Out and Big Mouth – we’re here for the Testicle Monster duo.
Jemaine Clement: Fart
He was funny in Flight of the Conchords and he was funny for totally different reasons in Rick and Morty as a gaseous being with telepathic powers. Forget the Testicale Monsters – playing an actual fart is now the true mark of success. (As is the absolute badass David Bowie-esque song he serenaded Morty with.)
Werner Herzog: Old Reptile
Whatever Werner Herzog touches turns to gold, whether that be award-winning documentaries or playing a reptilian alien that makes a touching speech about penises.
