Sarah Chalke Loves That Beth's Love Life Catches Rick And Morty Viewers 'Off-Guard'
While the focus of "Rick and Morty" — Adult Swim's hit animated comedy from Dan Harmon and the now-fired Justin Roiland — is on its titular scientist and grandson duo, the rest of the main cast has always remained just as interesting. Spencer Grammer brings a blast of sardonic chill to the teenage Summer Smith. Chris Parnell is delightfully wimpy as husband and father Jerry Smith. But of all the family members, it is Beth Smith, voiced by Sarah Chalke, who often goes to the most extreme emotional places during the storylines that center her.
Take, for instance, "The ABCs of Beth," a Season 3 entry that finds Beth reexamining her childhood and learning she abandoned a childhood friend in a fantasy dimension created for her by Rick. The episode manages to push the boundaries of good taste as Beth's childhood actions corrupt her whimsical fantasyland, while simultaneously creating a powerful narrative about repressed trauma, epistemic existentialism, and what it means to be a good person. The episode ends with Rick creating a clone of Beth so that one version of her can stay with the family, while the other fulfills her dream of having space adventures.
Space Beth has since returned in a handful of episodes, but Season 6 featured the most direct follow-up yet with the entry "Bethic Twinsinct." The episode follows Beth and her clone as they fall in love and have an affair, ultimately culminating in a three-way with Jerry that the rest of the household is hilariously forced to overhear. Chalke loved the episode as soon as she saw the script for its willingness to take bold leaps and draw audiences out of their comfort zones, she explained in an interview.
Fun recording a romance between two clones
Speaking to ScreenRant, "Rick and Morty" star Sarah Chalke opened up about the process of making Season 6. In it, she discussed her memories of recording the episode, "Bethic Twinstinct," which featured Beth engaging in a spicy love affair with her own clone, Space Beth. Chalke said she was blindsided by the concept when she got the script, but that she loved how audacious the idea was. "I had no idea," she said, "and I read the script, and it's like, as the viewer, I'm sure when you're watching it, you're like, 'Oh, wait, this is going there. Oh my god, this is going there.'"
Beyond the sheer novelty of the premise, Chalke appreciated that the emotional core of the Beth-on-Beth romance remained compelling. "I just loved how they wrote it," Chalke said, "and I loved how it kind of becomes a love story between these two characters and kind of catches you off guard [...] I like that you get to see this whole new side of both Beths."
At the same time, there's a funny side to the behind-the-scenes process; Chalke noted the difficulties of recording such a hot and heavy script while at home with her children. "Rick and Morty" records each actor separately — Chalke even records the multiple versions of her character separately — and at-home recording is commonplace these days. More so in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. While recording "Bethic Twinstinct," Chalke hoped the sound booth was keeping sound in as well as out. "Because, otherwise, the young children running around might have thought it was a little bit strange," Chalke remarked with a chuckle.