Phil Hendrie Shares His Lessons from Playing Principal Vagina on ‘Rick and Morty’

Despite the fact that Morty is just 14 years old, he’s much more likely to travel to an alternate dimension on a typical episode of Rick and Morty than he is to go to school. In fact, this has become more and more the case as the show has progressed. It also means that we’ve begun to see less and less of some characters who were early staples of the show. Chief among them is Principal Vagina.

The hilariously named, put-upon authority figure hasn’t appeared much since Season Three, but the man who lends his voice to him, Radio Hall-of-Famer Phil Hendrie, still loves the guy and was happy to answer a few questions about him.

What made you want to audition for a character named Principal Vagina?

I didn’t know! My agent said, “There’s this animated show that’s being auditioned. Go to this address.” It wasn’t on the air yet. I had no idea about anything. I went to this address in North Hollywood, and it was this home that had overgrown weeds and an empty carport. I wandered up the driveway, looked inside and all the furniture was covered in sheets. I thought I had the wrong address, then I heard a voice say, “Phil! Over here!” I turn, and they’re all in this little cabana house behind the house. 

I’m there with all the producers in a booth, and they lay the script on me. That’s when I learned the name of the show and the character. I first did some voices that I’d been rehearsing, but the producer said “Just use your voice” so that essentially is my voice you hear for him. I always thought that was funny because Rick and Morty is one of the biggest hits in animation history, but I auditioned for it in a deserted, weed-strewn house. 

I tell you though, I get more people recognizing me for Principal Vagina than anything else I’ve ever done. I haven’t even been to record him in a while and that character still endures.

Do you have a favorite joke, moment or episode?

The one with the giant god head in the sky.

Do you ever have any embarrassment about the character’s name?

Not at all. Well, sometimes, when it comes to women. For example, I had eye surgery not long ago, and as I’m going under, the anesthesiologist, who’s a man, leans over me and says, “Are you Principal Vagina in Rick and Morty? Then five or six surgical nurses, all men, froze and looked at me, which was the last thing I remembered before I went under.

When I woke up, I went to my doctor, who’s a woman, and apologized to her. I tried to explain that I’m on this show, and she said, “I know, you were Mr. Vagina” — she got the name wrong. 

But I love it, though. “Gene Vagina” is just the perfect humorous name.