Voice acting is part and parcel of the entertainment industry these days. Just about anyone who's anyone has done it.
Another advantage is, that if you can find the right job the money is exceptionally good.
Take Meg Griffin off Family Guy for example, easily the most bullied character in the Griffin household.
Advert
According to Uproxx, Kunis bags a hefty $175,000 - $225,000 per episode though. Very tidy.
Credit: FOX
But Kunis wasn't always the voice of Meg, you no doubt know that. Originally she was voiced by Mean Girls star Lacey Chabert, but how Kunis landed the role is quite interesting.
This is what Chabert told GameSpy back in 2006:
Advert
GameSpy: Now this, of course, was not your first experience voice acting. You've done voices for a number of cartoons and video games over the years, including, if I'm not mistaken, Family Guy, where you were the original voice of Meg Griffin, right?
Lacey Chabert: I was. I did that for a season.
GameSpy: Does this mean you have a grudge against Mila Kunis, who does her voice now, and if so, can this be settled in a game of Sonic the Hedgehog?
Lacey Chabert: No, I actually left the show of my own accord. And only because I was in school and doing Party of Five at the time. But I think the show is hilarious, and don't have a grudge against her at all. I think she's a great actress. (via Uproxx)
Advert
What about Seth MacFarlane though, can he shine any more light on the situation?
Seth MacFarlane: You know, it was just purely a contractual thing. Lacey Chabert, I think there was a mistake in her contract, and I guess she had not intended to be involved for, like, the full run of the show. I don't even remember. To be honest, I don't really, to this day, know what it was. It was nothing - there was no tension or anything. She wanted to go, and she was very cool about it. We obviously don't want to keep anyone there who doesn't want to be there. So, you know, it was early on enough in the show that it wasn't a huge - that happens from time to time, you've got to replace a voice actor. Fortunately, what Mila brought to it, Mila Kunis, was in a lot of ways, I thought, almost more right for the character. I say that Lacey did a phenomenal job, but there was something about Mila - something very natural about Mila. She was 15 when she started, so you were listening to a 15-year-old. (Via IGN)
Oh and furthermore, Lacey Chabert was actually the second person to be Meg. She was first voiced (in the very early days) by Cree Summer. Here she is explaining why she got fired.
Ouch, so Mila Kunis' casting was a very turbulent one, even if it was one that is now vital to the show. I wonder if Chabert and Summer look at the fat pay checks that Kunis is raking in and lay awake at night muttering MacFarlane's name in anger...
Advert
Words by Matthew Cooper
Featured Image Credit:Topics: Family Guy