Summary

• Lacey Chabert voiced Meg in season 1 of Family Guy but was replaced by Mila Kunis, who has since become synonymous with the character.
• Chabert left the show amicably to focus on other projects and was not credited for her work as the original Meg.
• Kunis's portrayal of Meg elevated the show and brought in new jokes, making her a standout voice for the character.

Though the Lacey Chabert Family Guy story is a short one, fans still have questions about it. She voiced Meg in season 1 but was replaced by Mila Kunis. While Family Guy had a cult following during its early seasons, lukewarm ratings led to it being canceled in 2002. Due to word of mouth, the show's popularity increased over time, leading to robust DVD sales. This led to its revival in 2005, and the series has been running ever since, so most people only know Kunis as the character's voice.

Interestingly, Kunis is technically the third actress to voice the hated-by-her-family Meg Griffin. Cree Summer (Voltron: Legendary Defender) was originally cast in season 1 and began recording work, but was later replaced, with Lacey Chabert (Mean Girls) taking over Meg for the first season. Following Chabert's departure from Family Guy, Kunis inherited the role as the Meg voice actor, starting from the third episode of season 2, "Da Boom." Still, that leaves open the question of what caused Chabert to depart what became a hugely successful series.

Why Mila Kunis Wasn't Meg In Family Guy Season 1

When it comes to the reasons for Lacey Chabert's departure from the series, there's no real drama involved. Chabert was still in school when she worked on Family Guy season 1, so between studying and shooting the TV series Party Of Five, she decided to drop Family Guy and focus her attention elsewhere. Seth MacFarlane has also confirmed there was no tension and her exit was completely amicable. Strangely, a contractual quirk meant she wasn't credited for the Meg Family Guy voice during its initial run, which may also have been a deciding factor.

Given the meta nature of Family Guy, the Lacey Chabert Family Guy replacement has been joked about more than once, such as when Brian and Stewie travel back in time to the very first episode in season 10's "Back To The Pilot," where Lacey Chabert's voice is still used for Meg. Kunis is so closely associated with Meg Griffin now that it's hard to imagine another actress in the role, though Chabert still did a great job with the character.

Did The Original Meg Griffin Quit Acting?

Contrary to popular belief, Lacey Chabert (the original Meg) did not quit acting after leaving the role of Meg from Family Guy. In fact, she's gone on to have a successful voice acting and live-action career after appearing as the Meg voice actor on the show in season 1. While she's not the most well-known name in the industry, most people may know her for playing Gretchen Weiners in the 2004 movie Mean Girls, costarring with Amanda Seyfried, Lindsay Lohan, and Rachel McAdams.

Outside of her Family Guy voice work, Chabert also voiced Eliza Thornberry on Nickelodeon's The Wild Thornberrys and Kaycee in the Bratz franchise. Chabert also starred as Dana in the 2006 Black Christmas remake. She provided her voice acting skills as Gwen Stacy in the animated series The Spectacular Spider-Man. Since then, Chabert has appeared in quite a few TV movies and continues to act on the small screen to this day, most notably on the Hallmark and Lifetime networks.

Replacing Lacey Chabert Made The Griffin Family Click

It's undeniable that actress Mila Kunis taking over the Meg Family Guy voice role elevated the show to new heights — and brought in a new slew of jokes. In Family Guy season 1, Meg is hardly recognizable as a character when compared to her iteration in later seasons. While she remains a very typical teenage girl through and through, as Family Guy evolved over its 21 seasons Meg became the butt of some of the show's darkest jokes, and that only works because of Kunis' voice acting.

While Chabert did a great job as the character, That 70s Show's Mila Kunis as the Meg voice actor brought the character to life and made the Griffin family unit click. In addition, it seems like Seth MacFarlane and Mila Kunis have a decent working relationship, as she also was in his live-action movie Ted alongside Mark Wahlberg. Adding Mila Kunis to the cast definitely made a big difference for Family Guy, and while Lacey Chabert is a talented actress in her own right, Kunis stands out for voicing the part.

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  Family Guy

  Release Date:

  1999-01-31

  Cast:

  Seth MacFarlane, Alex Borstein, Seth Green, Lacey Chabert, Mila Kunis, Mike Henry, Patrick Warburton

  Genres:

  Animation, Comedy

  Rating:

  TV-14

  Seasons:

  21

  Writers:

  Seth MacFarlane, David Zuckerman

  Network:

  FOX

  Streaming Service(s):

  Hulu

  Franchise(s):

  Family Guy

  Showrunner:

  Seth MacFarlane