Everyone knows the punchline. Whether it’s Peter telling her to shut up or the rest of the Griffin family simply ignoring her existence, Meg Griffin is the ultimate animated punching bag. But if you look back at the earliest episodes of Family Guy, you’ll notice something weird. Her voice changes. It’s not just a subtle shift in tone; it’s a completely different person.
Honestly, the history of who voiced Meg Griffin is a lot more complicated than most fans realize. It wasn’t just a simple swap between two actresses. It was a game of musical chairs involving a legendary 90s star, a Hollywood A-lister, and even a family member of the show’s creator.
The Mystery of the Uncredited Original: Lacey Chabert
If you grew up in the late 90s, you knew Lacey Chabert as Claudia Salinger on Party of Five. She was everywhere. When Seth MacFarlane was getting Family Guy off the ground in 1999, he tapped Chabert to voice the eldest Griffin child.
She voiced Meg for the entire first season. If you pop in an old DVD or find the original airings of episodes like "Death Has a Shadow," that’s her. But here’s the kicker: her name never appeared in the credits. Because of some boring contractual technicalities—mostly related to her work on other projects—she remained uncredited for her time in Quahog.
People love to invent drama. You’ve probably heard rumors that she was fired or that she hated the show’s crude humor. That’s basically all nonsense. Chabert has been on the record multiple times saying she left on good terms. She was a teenager at the time, balancing school and a massive live-action TV show. She just didn't have the hours in the day to keep up with the demands of an animated series that, at the time, wasn't even a guaranteed hit.
Why Mila Kunis Still Matters to the Role
In 2000, a young Mila Kunis stepped into the recording booth. She was only 15. At the time, she was already becoming a household name on That '70s Show, but her take on Meg was different.
MacFarlane has said in interviews that Kunis brought a "natural" quality to the character. While the original version of Meg was a bit more of a standard, whiny teenager, Kunis’s Meg felt real. He actually made her audition multiple times, constantly telling her to "speak slower" and "enunciate" until she hit the exact vibe he wanted.
What’s crazy is that Kunis has now voiced Meg for over 25 years. Even as she became a massive movie star in films like Black Swan and Forgetting Sarah Marshall, she never left the show. She records her lines in about two hours, once a month, often from a booth in her own house. It’s arguably one of the best gigs in Hollywood history.
The Voices You Probably Missed
Before Lacey Chabert even stepped into the booth, there was the "Pilot Pitch." This was the rough version Seth MacFarlane used to sell the show to Fox. In that version, Meg was voiced by Rachael MacFarlane, Seth’s sister.
Rachael is a voice-acting powerhouse in her own right—you definitely know her as Hayley Smith on American Dad!—but she was never intended to be the permanent Meg. She was helping her brother out while he was trying to get his dream project greenlit.
Then there’s the singing. While Mila Kunis handles the dialogue, the show occasionally brings in ringers for the big musical numbers. For a long time, the legendary Tara Strong—the voice of Bubbles from The Powerpuff Girls—provided Meg’s singing voice. It creates this hilarious contrast where Meg can barely get a word in edgewise, but when she sings, she sounds like a Broadway pro.
The "Cree Summer" What-If
One of the most interesting "lost" pieces of Family Guy history involves Cree Summer. She’s a voice-acting icon (think Susie from Rugrats or Elmyra from Tiny Toon Adventures). According to Summer, she was actually the producers' first choice after the pilot.
She reportedly recorded lines, but things didn't work out. Seth MacFarlane later mentioned that he felt the character needed to sound more like a "typical" suburban girl, which led them back to the casting couch and eventually to Chabert. It’s one of those "alternate reality" moments in TV history. What would the show have looked like with a completely different energy for Meg? We'll never know.
The Meta-Jokes: When the Voices Collide
Family Guy loves breaking the fourth wall. They know that we know the voice changed. In the Season 10 episode "Back to the Pilot," Brian and Stewie literally travel back in time to the very first episode.
They use archival recordings of Lacey Chabert’s voice for Meg, and Stewie even makes a comment about how she sounds different. In another episode, "Yug Ylimaf," time starts moving backward, and Meg’s voice actually reverts from Kunis to Chabert as the clock rewinds. It’s a nice nod to the fans who have been there since the beginning.
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How to Tell the Difference
If you're watching a random rerun and aren't sure who you're hearing, look for these clues:
- The Squeak Factor: Chabert’s Meg is slightly higher-pitched and sounds more "earnest." She’s trying harder to fit in.
- The Deadpan: Kunis’s Meg has a deeper, more cynical tone. It fits the "sad sack" version of the character that the writers eventually leaned into.
- The Credits: Check the season. Season 1 (and the first few episodes of Season 2) is Chabert. Everything else is Kunis.
Final Insights for the Super-Fan
The casting of Meg Griffin wasn't a mistake or a sign of production trouble. It was the natural evolution of a show finding its feet. Lacey Chabert gave Meg her start, but Mila Kunis gave her a soul—even if that soul is constantly being crushed by her cartoon father.
If you're looking to dive deeper into the history of the show, your next step should be to check out the DVD commentary for Season 1. It's one of the few places where the producers talk candidly about the frantic pace of those early days and the stress of replacing a lead actress while the show was already on the air. You can also look for the "Pilot Pitch" on YouTube to hear Rachael MacFarlane’s original take; it’s a fascinating time capsule of what Family Guy almost was.