Long before she became Hallmark Channel royalty, Lacey Chabert held one of animation’s most famous jobs: she was the original credited voice of Meg Griffin on Family Guy, a fact resurfacing widely online this week as fans rediscover the show’s Season 1 history.
Chabert, 43, voiced Meg throughout the animated sitcom’s first season in 1999 before Mila Kunis took over the role, a switch with no drama behind it, and one Family Guy itself has joked about on screen for decades.
Lacey Chabert’s Surprising Family Guy Role Explained
When Seth MacFarlane’s Family Guy premiered on Fox in 1999, Chabert, then best known as Claudia Salinger on the Fox drama Party of Five, provided the voice of the Griffin family’s perpetually mistreated teenage daughter.
There’s an extra twist: Kunis is technically the third actress attached to Meg. Cree Summer was originally cast and began recording before being replaced, with Chabert taking over the part for the first season. Chabert also voiced Jan Brady in the series premiere, “Death Has a Shadow.”
Due to a contractual restriction, Chabert was never credited for her Meg work during the show’s original run, though her name later appeared on compilations featuring her episodes.
Why Did Lacey Chabert Leave Family Guy?
The answer is refreshingly undramatic. Chabert said she left the show of her own accord because she was in school and filming Party of Five at the same time, adding that she found the show hilarious and held no grudge against Kunis.
MacFarlane has confirmed the exit was completely amicable, with no tension involved, though the crediting quirk may have factored into the decision. Balancing high school, a network drama, and a voice role simply proved too much for the teenage actress.
How Mila Kunis Took Over as Meg Griffin
Kunis, then a 15-year-old star of That ’70s Show, inherited the role beginning with the Season 2 episode “Da Boom.” MacFarlane praised her audition, saying she immediately captured the tone he wanted for the character.
More than 25 years later, Kunis’s deadpan delivery has made Meg synonymous with her voice, much as Yeardley Smith is inseparable from Lisa Simpson. Family Guy returns to Fox in 2026 for its 24th season.
The show has repeatedly winked at the switch. In “Back to the Pilot,” Brian and Stewie travel to 1999 and hear Chabert’s Meg. In “Griffin Winter Games,” Chabert voiced herself in an on-screen fight with Meg over who the “real” Meg is, and Peter once threatened to replace Lois’s voice actress with Chabert in “Business Guy.”
From Meg Griffin to Mean Girls and Hallmark Stardom
Leaving Family Guy hardly slowed Chabert down. In 2004, she delivered her most quoted role as Gretchen Wieners in Mean Girls, the girl who never did make “fetch” happen.
Her voice career flourished too: she was Eliza Thornberry in Nickelodeon’s The Wild Thornberrys and Zatanna in DC’s Young Justice. Today, she reigns as the face of the Hallmark Channel, headlining a steady stream of holiday romances and cozy mysteries that have made her one of the network’s most bankable stars.
Chabert has spoken warmly about her formative years on Party of Five, crediting the cast with shaping who she became as an adult between ages 11 and 17.
Why This Story Resurfaces Again and Again
The Chabert-to-Kunis handoff endures as one of TV’s favorite pieces of trivia because Family Guy‘s early history is unusual. Lukewarm ratings got the show canceled in 2002, but strong DVD sales and word of mouth fueled a 2005 revival, meaning most viewers only ever knew Kunis as Meg.
For a generation of Hallmark fans, discovering that Gretchen Wieners once voiced television’s most put-upon teenager remains a genuine surprise, proof, as Chabert’s career shows, that the best Hollywood journeys rarely travel in straight lines.
FAQ
Did Lacey Chabert voice Meg on Family Guy?
Yes. She voiced Meg Griffin throughout Season 1 in 1999, though a contractual issue meant she went uncredited during the original run.
Why did Lacey Chabert quit Family Guy?
She left voluntarily to focus on school and her role on Party of Five. Both she and Seth MacFarlane have said the exit was entirely amicable.
Who voiced Meg before Mila Kunis?
Lacey Chabert voiced Meg in Season 1. Cree Summer was cast even earlier and recorded some material before being replaced, making Kunis technically the third actress attached to the role.
When did Mila Kunis start voicing Meg?
From the Season 2 episode “Da Boom,” she has voiced Meg for more than 25 years.
What is Lacey Chabert known for now?
She is a Hallmark Channel mainstay and remains famous as Gretchen Wieners in Mean Girls and the voice of Eliza Thornberry.
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Last Updated on July 7, 2026 by 247 News Around The World
