Family Guy's Seth Green Based His Chris Griffin Voice On A Notorious Hollywood Villain

"Family Guy" is one of the most popular animated comedies of the last three decades. While initially dismissed by some critics for being too derivative of the infinitely rewatchable juggernaut that was (and still is) "The Simpsons," the series developed an identity of its own as an absurd send-up of American sitcom tropes.

Much of the enduring success of "Family Guy" can be attributed to the dysfunctional family dynamic of the Griffins. Series creator Seth MacFarlane leads the cast as the voice of three of the shoe's primary characters: bumbling dad Peter, erudite family dog Brian, and diabolical baby Stewie. Comedic actress Alex Borstein plays Peter's wife, Lois, while Mila Kunis, best known as Jackie on Fox's "That '70s Show," plays daughter Meg. Seth Green rounds out the core cast middle child Chris. The unique voice performances of the four lead actors bring the Griffin family to life amidst the chaotic shenanigans that ensue in their hometown of Quahog, Rhode Island. 

But did you know that the vocal stylings of one of the Griffin clan is inspired by a notorious horror movie villain? In regard to Chris Griffin, Green's voice performance borrows heavily from Buffalo Bill, the antagonist of the Academy Award-winning film "The Silence of the Lambs."

In the 1991 film, to date the only horror movie to win an Oscar for best picture, Ted Levine portrays Jame Gumb (aka Buffalo Bill), an unsettling serial killer with a distinctive vocal pattern, who is known for skinning his female victims. "[Chris Griffin's voice] was originally sort of a play on Buffalo Bill ... the original pitch was just so weird, I guess everybody liked it," Green explained during a "Family Guy" Comic-Con at Home panel in 2020, adding, "And then over the years, it's kind of evolved." Early on, Chris Griffin's voice was a closer approximation of Buffalo Bill's, with a deeper timbre. Eventually, it became higher in pitch as the character developed.

The character's connection to Buffalo Bill is most directly referenced in the Season 7 episode, "Stew-Roids." In the episode, a private video featuring Chris dancing nude to Q Lazzarus' 1988 song, "Goodbye Horses," is played publicly at his high school to humiliate him, parodying an infamous sequence (set to the the same tune) from "The Silence of the Lambs."