Movies - TV
Chris Parnell’s Biggest Challenge With Rick & Morty Is Remembering To Act
By TRAVIS YATES
While live-action actors can rely on facial expressions or physical movements to emphasize emotion during their performances, voice actors are utterly reliant on their voices to convey to audiences what a character is feeling. Voice acting can be a challenge for even experienced actors like “Rick and Morty” star Chris Parnell, who sometimes needs a nudge reminding him to act.
Parnell first found success in 1998 on “Saturday Night Live” before being featured in various films and shows like “30 Rock”; however, he might be most famous for his animated voice work as Cyril on “Archer” and Jerry on “Rick and Morty.” The actor described its challenges, saying, “The hardest thing I think is just remembering to really be present and try to act it well and not just kind of say the lines.”
He continued, “You’re really just taking all of this energy and funneling it through your voice without being able to see anything which you’re doing physically.” If Parnell sounds like a natural, it’s because he’s been doing voice work since he was a kid, providing his voice to his dad’s commercials and even working as his high school’s morning announcer.