List of Family Guy cast members
Family Guy is an American animated sitcom that features five main voice actors, and numerous regular cast and recurring guest stars. The principal voice cast consists of show creator Seth MacFarlane, Alex Borstein, Mila Kunis, Seth Green, and Mike Henry. Recurring voice actors include Patrick Warburton, Adam West, John G. Brennan, Nicole Sullivan and Jennifer Tilly, and repeat guest stars include Phyllis Diller, Charles Durning, Rush Limbaugh, James Woods and Phil LaMarr.
Many cast members provide voices for multiple characters. The voice actors, in portraying the various character personalities on the show, draw inspiration from celebrities and pop culture. Family Guy characters have been played by more than one actor, after members of the show left the series or had conflicting obligations.
Kunis was nominated for an Annie Award for voicing Meg Griffin in the season 5 episode "Barely Legal" and MacFarlane has also won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance and an Annie Award for Best Voice Acting in an Animated Television Production, though no other cast member has won an award for their work on the series.
Current cast
From seasons 1 to 4, Family Guy had four main cast members. Since season 5, there have been five main cast members. The casting of Meg Griffin changed after season 1.Seth MacFarlane
voices three of the show's main characters: Peter Griffin, Brian Griffin, and Stewie Griffin. MacFarlane chose to voice these characters himself, believing it would be easier to portray the voices he had already envisioned than for someone else to attempt it. MacFarlane drew inspiration for the voice of Peter from a security guard he overheard talking while attending the Rhode Island School of Design. Stewie's voice was based on the voice of English actor Rex Harrison, especially his performance in the 1964 musical drama film My Fair Lady. MacFarlane uses his own voice while portraying Brian.MacFarlane also provides the voices for various other recurring and one-time only characters, most prominently those of neighbour Glenn Quagmire, news anchor Tom Tucker, Lois' father Carter Pewterschmidt and Dr. Hartman. He explained on the Graham Norton Show that the voice for Glenn Quagmire is based on 1940s and 1950s radio commercials. He is the only cast member to be in every episode.
Alex Borstein
voices Lois Griffin, Asian correspondent Tricia Takanawa, Loretta Brown and Lois' mother Barbara Pewterschmidt. Borstein was asked to provide a voice for the pilot while she was working on MADtv. She had not met MacFarlane or seen any of his artwork and said it was "really sight unseen". At the time, Borstein performed in a stage show in Los Angeles, in which she played a redhead mother whose voice she had based on one of her cousins. The voice was originally slower, but when MacFarlane heard it, he replied "Make it a little less fucking annoying... and speed it up, or every episode will last four hours."Mila Kunis
voices Meg Griffin. Kunis won the role after the auditions and a slight rewrite of the character, in part due to her performance on That '70s Show. MacFarlane called Kunis back after her first audition, instructing her to speak slower, and then told her to come back another time and enunciate more. Once she claimed that she had it under control, MacFarlane hired her. Kunis described her character as "the scapegoat". She further explained, "Meg gets picked on a lot. But it's funny. It's like the middle child. She is constantly in the state of being an awkward 14-year-old, when you're kind of going through puberty and what-not. She's just in a perpetual mode of humiliation. And it's fun."Seth Green
primarily plays Chris Griffin and Neil Goldman. Green stated that he did an impression of the "Buffalo Bill" character from the thriller film The Silence of the Lambs during his audition. His main inspiration for Chris' voice came from envisioning how "Buffalo Bill" would sound if he were speaking through a public address system at a McDonald's.Mike Henry
is the voice of Cleveland Brown, John Herbert “The Pervert”, Bruce, Consuela, and various other characters. A Family Guy writer and producer, he began acting on the show as part of the recurring cast repertory but was promoted to main cast member in 2005. Since the cancellation of The Cleveland Show, he also voices Cleveland's step-son Rallo Tubbs on Family Guy. In June 2020 he announced to quit his voice acting of Cleveland, because he thought people of color should speak characters of color.Recurring cast
In addition to both its main cast and guest stars, Family Guy utilizes a deep bench of regularly appearing supporting voice actors. Some appear in nearly every episode each season, while others appear less frequently. Some of these actors specifically play recurring characters, while others mainly play background citizens of Quahog or characters in cutaway gags.The current supporting cast repertory includes the following actors:
Actor | Character | No. of Episodes | Notes |
Carl | 21 | Since 2006. | |
Hal, Dr. Jewish, Himself, Bert | 6 | ||
, Horace the bartender | 88 | ||
Various | 37 | Also the current showrunner and executive producer of Family Guy and former showrunner/EP of American Dad!. | |
Various | 106 | ||
Various | 16 | Also a Family Guy writer. | |
Various | 200 | Since 2001. | |
Various | 20 | Since 2010. | |
and various others | 32 | Since 2010. | |
and Judge Dignified Q. Blackman | 65 | ||
Olivia and various women | 100 | Formerly one of the most frequent female voices. She reduced her number of appearances per season after joining American Dad! in 2005 but still appears several times per season. Seth MacFarlane's sister. | |
Opie and various others | 68 | Ex-producer. Also a Family Guy writer. | |
Sheila | 3 | Since 2018. | |
Jerome and Cleveland Jr. | 71 | Since 2009. | |
Various | 43 | Also a Family Guy writer. | |
Various, including Evil Monkey, Al Harrington and Ernie, the Giant Chicken | 241 | Also a Family Guy writer. | |
and various others | 192 | Since 2005. Also a Family Guy writer. | |
Various | 89 | ||
Various | 47 | Since 2011. | |
42 | Has recurred as the Griffin's neighbor since the first season. | ||
Various | 254 | Since 2005, he has been one of the most frequently heard male voices aside from Seth MacFarlane. Also a Family Guy writer. | |
163 | Has appeared as the Griffins' neighbor since the first season. Warburton is the most frequently appearing one-character actor in the supporting repertory. | ||
Principal Shepherd and various others | 56 | Since 2000. | |
Various | 35 | Since 2008. |
In addition to the above, the following actors were formerly regularly recurring voice actors in the series:
Actor | Character | No. of Episodes | Notes |
63 | Left the show in season nine when her character was killed off. Was replaced in the series' context by Christine Lakin's Joyce Kinney | ||
Various women | 64 | 2005-2018. Breckenridge left the show in season 17. | |
10 | Peter's first boss, Mr. Weed, was killed off early in the series' run. | ||
12 | Played Jillian, Brian's former girlfriend. The character still appears in background roles. | ||
Various | 8 | ||
Cleveland Brown, Herbert, Bruce, Consuela, and various others | Was promoted to main cast in 2005. Also a Family Guy writer. | ||
Angela | 19 | Recurring role as Peter's boss since 2005. Died in 2016. | |
Various, as well as Meg's singing voice | 24 | 2000–2018. | |
and various others | 31 | 2000–2017. Muriel was killed off in season nine. | |
and various others | 18 | 2000-2020 | |
Mayor | 118 | Played a warped version of himself as the mayor of Quahog. Died in 2017. | |
Various | 43 | 1999–2017. | |
Various | 14 | Ex-producer. |
Recurring guest voices
The recurring guest voices include Adam Carolla as Death, Patrick Stewart as Susie Swanson, Scott Grimes as Kevin Swanson, Sanaa Lathan as Donna Tubbs Brown and Emily Osment as Ruth Cochamer. Previous recurring guests included Phyllis Diller in three episodes as Peter's Mother, Thelma, and Charles Durning as Peter's father, Francis. Both characters have since died, but Durning returned once to play Francis as a ghost. Early in the show's run, Fred Willard and Jane Lynch had a recurring role as a family of nudists and James Woods as himself.Casting changes
- Lacey Chabert voiced Meg for the first production season, but, because of a contractual agreement, was never credited. Chabert left the series due to time constraints with her acting role in Party of Five, as well as schoolwork.
- Norm Macdonald voiced the character of Death in a second-season episode of Family Guy. He was subsequently replaced by Adam Carolla in all other appearances.
- Jon Cryer voiced Kevin Swanson in his first appearance before the role passed to Seth MacFarlane. The character was written out of the series for several years, with Scott Grimes taking over the voice when the character returned.
- Fairuza Balk was the original voice of high school bully Connie D'Amico until Lisa Wilhoit took over the character from the third to eighteenth seasons.
- Natasha Melnick was the original voice of Meg Griffin's Friend Ruth Cochamer until Emily Osment took over the character in the eleventh season.
Awards and nominations