Meg Griffin

Lore & Background

Meg was originally voiced by Lacey Chabert for the first season, then by Mila Kunis from the second season onward after Chabert became busy with school and her role on *Party of Five*. Kunis won the role after auditions where she was asked to speak more slowly and enunciate more; MacFarlane felt she invigorated the character. Tara Strong provided Meg's singing voice in "Don't Make Me Over". Archival recordings of Chabert were used in the tenth season episode "Back to the Pilot", and Chabert returned for the eleventh season episode "Yug Ylimaf" where time reversal reverts Meg's voice back to Chabert's. Meg is depicted as unpopular at James Woods Regional High School, often rebuffed by the cool crowd, particularly head cheerleader Connie D'Amico. She has a small group of unpopular friends named Beth, Patty, Collette, Esther, and Ruth. She is sought after by nerdy Jewish student Neil Goldman, to her dismay. In "The Hand That Rocks the Wheelchair", Joe Swanson rushes her to the hospital after she is accidentally run over by his vehicle, later telling her he is lucky to have her as a neighbor. In "Brian Sings and Swings", she unknowingly joins the Lesbian Alliance Club and pretends to be a lesbian to fit in, even kissing Sarah. She dated Joe's son Kevin Swanson in season 2, but it is mentioned in "Stew-Roids" that Kevin died in Iraq.

In Their Own Story

In "Seahorse Seashell Party", Meg reaches a breaking point and strongly insults and defames Peter, Lois, and Chris for their inconsiderate actions toward her. In "Road to Rupert", she assaults a man for insulting her after a fender-bender. In "The Chicken or the Meg", she decapitates Ernie the Giant Chicken's head after a heated argument. In "The Marrying Kind", she tells off Lois after Lois seeks validation for her jokes. In "Don't Make Me Over", Lois tries to find new clothes for Meg, but a saleswoman pours gasoline on herself, lights a match, catches fire, and jumps out a window after looking at Meg in a pair of jeans. In "8 Simple Rules for Buying My Teenage Daughter", Meg signs a contract to become Neil Goldman's girlfriend and slave, but gets him to tear it up after Lois seduces him. In "Meg and Quagmire", Glenn Quagmire takes Meg to his cabin, but Peter and Lois arrive before anything happens. In "Fifteen Minutes of Shame" and "Petarded", Cleveland allows Meg to stay at his house when she deals with family issues. In "Jerome is the New Black", Jerome admits to having sex with Meg, to which Peter replies indifferently. In "Movin' Out (Brian's Song)", Carl dislikes Meg and she reciprocates after being fired from his convenience store. She loses her virginity unknowingly on live television to Jimmy Fallon after a drastic makeover. For her Junior Prom, she accepts a pity date from Brian, the family dog, only after threatening suicide.

Reader's Guide

Meg is characterized by deep insecurity and a desperate need for acceptance, often leading to awkward social interactions. She is a pushover but can get angry when pushed too far, as seen in "Seahorse Seashell Party". In later seasons, she is shown to be very snarky and deliberately unpredictable. Despite persistent mistreatment, she has proven talented in bird calls, playing the saxophone, speaking and singing in foreign languages, and sports such as bowling, field hockey, basketball, roller derby, and Olympic sports. Her parents are often completely surprised at her apparent skills. Many storylines involve her trying to improve her life, finding a boyfriend, and reaching breaking points with her family. She often becomes obsessed with men who show any kindness to her, including Joe Swanson in "The Hand That Rocks the Wheelchair" and Brian in "Barely Legal". She has been shown to have suicidal tendencies, exacerbated by the abuse she suffers at the hands of her parents.

Did You Know?

• Meg was originally voiced by Lacey Chabert for the first season, but Mila Kunis took over from season two after Chabert became busy with school and her role on *Party of Five*.
• Tara Strong provided Meg's singing voice for the episode 'Don't Make Me Over'.
• Lacey Chabert returned to voice Meg in the eleventh season episode 'Yug Ylimaf' due to a time-reversal plot.
• Meg has shown talents in bird calls, playing the saxophone, speaking and singing in foreign languages, and sports including bowling, field hockey, basketball, roller derby, and Olympic sports.
• Meg loses her virginity unknowingly on live television to *Saturday Night Live* host Jimmy Fallon after a drastic makeover.

Character Origins and Evolution

Megan "Meg" Griffin is a fictional character from the American animated television series *Family Guy*. She first appeared in the show's pilot episode, "Death Has a Shadow", on January 31, 1999. Writer Seth MacFarlane created and designed Meg after his 1995 student film *The Life of Larry* was picked up by 20th Century Fox for a series order. Meg is the eldest child and only daughter of Peter and Lois Griffin and the sister of Chris and Stewie. A social outcast, Meg is typically depicted as being mistreated and neglected by her family, though this has been downplayed in later seasons. In early seasons, she was portrayed as a self-conscious and insecure adolescent. She is treated unfairly and abused by various people and has numerous insecurities that prompt her to try to be part of the "in-crowd". This only results in her getting rebuffed by bullies, particularly Connie D'Amico, the head cheerleader of James Woods Regional High School. In contrast, a nerdy Jewish student named Neil Goldman is attracted to her, to her dismay.

Talent Versus Perception

Despite her persistent mistreatment, Meg has proven a variety of times throughout the series that she is more talented and has greater potential than most people bother to realize. Her skills include bird calls, playing the saxophone, speaking and singing in foreign languages, and sports such as bowling, field hockey, basketball, roller derby, and even Olympic sports. However, her parents are unaware of her talents, oftentimes being completely surprised at her apparent skills. This disparity between her actual competence and the world's perception of her as a pushover forms a central tension in her character arc.

Vocal History and Casting

Meg was originally voiced by Lacey Chabert for the first season. She has been voiced by Mila Kunis since the show's second season. On the season 1 DVD commentary for the *Drawn Together* episode "Hot Tub", Cree Summer claims she was offered the role but was dismissed by the producers. Chabert became busy with school and her role on *Party of Five*, though some of her work became second season episodes due to production order. Mila Kunis won the role after a series of auditions and callbacks where she was asked to speak more slowly and enunciate more; she was ultimately hired despite being unsure she understood what was expected of her. MacFarlane felt that Kunis invigorated the character, and that her work on *That '70s Show* showed she could command a scene. MacFarlane stated that Kunis "had a very natural quality to Meg" and she's "in a lot of ways [...] almost more right for the character". Kunis' voice is first heard as Meg in Episode 3 of season two "Da Boom", and the voices switch back and forth in the broadcast order until settling on Kunis. Tara Strong provides Meg's singing voice in "Don't Make Me Over". Archival recordings of Lacey Chabert's voice are used in the tenth season episode "Back to the Pilot". Chabert returns for the eleventh season episode "Yug Ylimaf" as Stewie references that time has reversed so much that Meg's voice has reverted back from Kunis' to Chabert's.

Social Dynamics and Relationships

Meg is depicted as being unpopular in high school due to both her plain appearance and personality. She desperately tries to be part of the cool crowd, but is usually coldly rebuffed. Because of her eagerness for acceptance, she has been recruited unknowingly into a suicidal religious cult, and later recruited again unwittingly into her school's Lesbian Alliance (in "Brian Sings and Swings"). Meg does have a moderate number of friends, the best of whom being a group of girls named Beth, Patty, Collette, Esther, and Ruth, characterized as being highly unpopular and dateless. In some cases, she is so unpopular that a student fires a nail gun into his own abdomen twice to avoid a date with her, and another student shoots his own brother as an excuse not to go to a dance with her. In "Don't Make Me Over", a saleswoman pours gasoline on herself, lights a match, catches fire, and jumps out a window after looking at Meg in a pair of jeans. She is sought by nerd Neil Goldman. Perverted neighbor Glenn Quagmire has shown a repeated interest in her, asking if she has reached the age of consent, and comes close to succeeding in "Meg and Quagmire". Joe and Cleveland are generally more accepting of her, with Cleveland allowing her to stay at his house in "Fifteen Minutes of Shame" and "Petarded". In "The Hand That Rocks the Wheelchair", Joe rushes her to the hospital after she's accidentally run over by his vehicle, afterwards telling her he's lucky to have her as his neighbor. She dated Joe's son Kevin Swanson in season 2, but in "Stew-Roids" it is mentioned that Kevin died in Iraq. In "Jerome is the New Black", Jerome admits to having sex with Meg. She loses her virginity unknowingly on live television to Jimmy Fallon. For her Junior Prom she accepts a pity date from Brian, the family dog, only after threatening suicide.