Who is the guy in real life Peter Griffin? Is the man the voice behind the iconic character from the show “Family Guy”? Learn all there is to know.
“Family Guy” is one of the most popular animated shows of all time, yet its premise — a dysfunctional family gets into crazy antics while living in Quahog, Rhode Island — is surprisingly simple.
The series has been airing for 21 seasons and counting, offending and entertaining countless viewers during its run. At the center of all the hilarity is Peter Griffin. He’s not the smartest guy in town, his parenting skills are questionable at best, and he’s prone to falling and hurting his knee, but that’s why he’s the man who positively can do all the things that make us laugh and cry — he’s our family guy.
Although we all know Peter as an animated character, Robert Franzese has found a way to bring him out of Quahog and into the real world. Not only does Franzese look just like Peter — he also does a spot-on impression of him, earning him the title of the Real-Life Peter Griffin.
Since going viral with his Peter impression in 2015, Franzese has gained a substantial online following, including 360,000 subscribers on YouTube and more than 811,000 followers on TikTok. If you want to know more about the Real-Life Peter Griffin, you’ve come to the right place. Keep reading to find out how Franzese got started with all of this, what the “Family Guy” team had to say about it, and more.
Who is the guy in real life Peter Griffin? Franzese cosplayed as Peter Griffin for the first time at New York Comic-Con in 2012, but he’d originally planned on dressing as Ghost Rider (the cowboy version, not the flaming skeleton).
After wearing the Ghost Rider costume for the first day of the convention, he realized that it was uncomfortably hot, and he couldn’t wear it again the next day. He decided to dress as Peter Griffin instead, and luckily for him, he already had everything he needed for it. He threw on a white button-down shirt, green pants from St. Patrick’s Day, and glasses from a Santa Claus costume, then he was ready to go.
He didn’t think anyone would recognize his cosplay, but people couldn’t get enough of it. “I was actually at the ATM getting money out and a Peter impression just slipped out,” he recalled in a conversation with Talker. “A group of people who heard burst out laughing and started following me around all afternoon. By the end of the day, the audience had tripled in size and people were crowding around me with their phones out — it was really bizarre.”
While Franzese enjoyed the unexpected fun he had with his Peter costume, he didn’t think anything would come of it. Then someone uploaded a video of him from that day and it got a ton of attention on Reddit. He was gaining traction as the Real-Life Peter Griffin, but his big break was still yet to come.
The overwhelming positive reaction to his Peter cosplay inspired Franzese to dress as the character again at the 2014 New York Comic-Con — this time, with a documentary crew in tow. In the video, he entertains “Family Guy” fans with his spot-on Peter impression, explains why he loves doing it, and how he put the costume together. It went viral after was uploaded to YouTube in 2015 and has amassed a whopping 17 million views since.
While his impeccable mimicry has led many to believe that he actually voices the character in Family Guy, the truth is that he does not voice the character.
The character is voiced by creator and showrunner Seth McFarlane himself.
McFarlene is the creator of the controversial animated show and is best known for voicing the protagonist himself. While Franzese is not Peter’s original voice actor, he has been a part of the show – much to many fans’ surprise. In 2019, Franzese achieved something most “Family Guy” fans can only dream of — he was referenced in an episode of the show. In Season 17, Episode 16 (“You Can’t Handle the Booth”), the Griffin family provides commentary as if someone is watching the episode on the special features section of a DVD.
During the commentary, MacFarlane says to the Griffins, “None of you are real; you are all TV characters voiced by me, Alex Borstein, Seth Green, and Mila Kunis.” Peter replies, “Wait, what? Hang on a second, if I’m not real, then why does a fat nerd pretend to be me at every Comic-Con?” MacFarlane responds, “Please don’t mention him. It’ll only encourage him.”
Who is the guy in real life Peter Griffin? In conclusion, Robert Franzese is the guy in real life Peter Griffin. He first went viral with the Family Guy character impression back in 2015.
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