There are lots of casting teams in Hollywood, but few are as successful as Ruth Lambert and Robert McGee.
The pair have cast the entire Transformers series, Wizards of Waverly Place, The Cleveland Show, the animated Addams Family movies, Star Trek: Lower Decks, and, of course, Rick and Morty — and those are just a few of the projects they have done together. Combined, there are close to 200 titles on their resumes, and they have become legends in the animation world.
The pair is once again nominated for an Artios award — the 34th nomination for Lambert and 22nd for McGee — for Rick and Morty, after doing what many thought impossible: replacing the show’s co-creator and voice of the two lead characters, Justin Roiland, after a scandal forced him off the show. The two spoke to us from their respective homes in LA.
Insights: Lessons from Ruth Lambert and Robert McGee
- Diversify your acting skills to appeal to a wide range of casting needs.
- Focus on delivering authentic and skilled performances in auditions.
- Leave a positive, lasting impression on industry professionals for future opportunities.
How did you both get started in casting?
Robert McGee: I studied film in college, and when I graduated, I pursued acting for a little bit, and then just through that process, I became more aware of the job of a casting director. I thought that would be something that I could work more consistently at and maybe be more successful at.
Over 30 years ago now, I got a job as an intern for this casting director, Pamela Basker, on a Steven Seagal movie called On Deadly Ground. From there, I got into working as an assistant for Ulrich/Dawson/Kritzer, which was at that time just Ulrich/Dawson, and I learned a lot about TV casting. I worked with other casting directors after that, in both film and television, then over 20 years ago, Ruth and I were on the board of the CSA, and that’s how we met.
Ruth? How about you?
RL: When I was in college, I worked as a stage manager. I worked with a director from New York who had a friend who was a casting director at Paramount, Gretchen Rennell. I was in Milwaukee. She came to Chicago, and he said, “you should come up to Milwaukee and meet these young actors in this Acting Program.” Gretchen flew from Chicago to Milwaukee. I picked her up. We auditioned all the actors in our program, and then I took her bowling, and she found it delightful. That was it.
I ended up in New York, worked on True West, then I was in Springfield, Massachusetts, and the director called me, and he said, “are you happy? Because I had dinner with Gretchen, and she needs an assistant, and she wants you.”
I took the train down to the city and she hired me. She was in the New York office for Paramount, but she could do an occasional movie outside. We did MacGyver. We put Kelsey Grammer on tape for Cheers. We did Children of a Lesser God and Agnes of God and Explorers and stuff like that. Then I came out here, and I just worked wherever I could. I worked at Disney for seven years, that’s how I got into animation casting and then Robert and I partnered up.
Do you take any credit for discovering people like Kelsey Grammer, Marlee Matlin or from Explorers, Ethan Hawke?
RL: And River Phoenix. When I was at Disney, Kelsey auditioned for Runaway Brain, which was weird, but I said, “I put you on tape for Frasier Crane,” and he said, “did you? What was I wearing?” I said, “you were wearing buttercup yellow pants a white shirt, and a green tie with horses on it.” He said, “oh, you did put me on tape!” We laughed about those pants for months.
You both kind of glossed over the partnership part. How did you two hook up?
RL: I was getting ready to be a mom. I had adopted a baby, and I got hired for a live-action, half-hour comedy, Greetings from Tucson. I didn’t know how to do it, and I didn’t want to be by myself, Robert had done stuff like that, and we liked each other. I said, “would you come?” And it was sort of perfect. Then the show got canceled and we split up, but then we came back together for … I can’t remember what. Robert, do you remember?
RM: I think we did some independent films together, but I think we really locked in and permanently partnered with Wizards of Waverly Place.
RL: And that was 100, 110 episodes, right? And then we were just really busy. We did The Cleveland Show, and all these pilots, and that’s when we started with the Transformers franchise. We’ve done all of them, except for the animated one, which is weird. (Laughs) Then we got Rick and Morty.
Regarding Rick and Morty, you had to replace the title characters after the originator left. That must have been a very complex challenge.
RM: Well, keep in mind, we are under NDAs, but we did audition a lot of people, and then they brought on another casting director, Sarah Sherman, to help out. She listened to a lot of people, and we did a country-wide search to find the people.
RL: It wasn’t just those two parts, because the originator did a lot of parts.
RM: But when we audition people, we’ve just had them audition for Rick and Morty. We are just really so grateful that the two gentlemen who ended up with those parts are so great. They’re perfect, such nice guys, and it’s just so exciting for them.
That’s one of the wonderful things about casting, is when you can help give somebody an opportunity like that. It just makes you feel so good that they were able to land these iconic parts, and they’re so happy.
RL: Just to have that enthusiasm is a real shot in the arm for the show, too. Considering how specific each of those voices was, it didn’t take us forever. Because if people were bad, and oh, they were so bad, that you only had to hear three words and you just moved on. It was a giant pool that had like three fish in it. We listened to hundreds of people.
RM: It’s not just finding the actors who sound like those characters, but also finding actors who have the acting chops. That was the more challenging thing.
RL: Because everyone has an imitation of Rick and Morty. My son has an imitation of Rick and Morty that is great for about three sentences, and then it’s very not great. I think we were fortunate with these two guys, and everyone loves them.
Is there a different sense of accomplishment pulling off a tougher job like this, or is it just one more in the string of the things that you’ve done that you’re proud of?
RM: I think for me, there’s a strong sense of satisfaction just because it’s a lot of work, but the opportunities to do that much work don’t come along that often. Again, the result makes so many people so happy, including the talent, that that just makes you feel good. For me, and I think for Ruth too, it’s the joy you get in casting the right actor in the right role.
RL: Yeah, also everyone thought it was impossible. There was this sort of feeling of, I don’t know if we’re ever going to get this. This being so specific, it was just nice to get it done and have everyone be happy.
It’s funny, because I work with kids in the summer, and they were like, “Ruth, those two voices are great!” I said, “well, I’m so glad you’re happy. Thank you.”
I know you’ve been nominated a bunch of times before, but how did you react when you heard it? Especially since this was the first season with the new voices?
RM: Have we ever not been nominated?
RL: Almost every year. We just stopped winning. It’s super nice, it’s super, super nice, but we’ve been nominated many times.
RM: And I’m not sure if the nomination is a reflection on the recast, because I think it is just a popular show. I think that’s why we got nominated,
RL: Also, we get good people for it, so that’s not nothing. It’s always lovely to be nominated, but it would be super nice to win this year. I would like that.
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