Seth Green

Biography:

Seth Benjamin Gesshel-Green was born in Overbrook Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Barbara (née Gesshel) and Herbert Green. He has one sister, Kaela. Later in life, he legally changed his name to Seth Benjamin Green. Raised in a Jewish household, he celebrated his bar mitzvah, and his family roots trace back to Russia, Poland, and Scotland. Green began acting when he was just seven years old, drawing early comedic inspiration from Monty Python, Blackadder, Saturday Night Live, and performers such as Richard Pryor and Bill Cosby, as well as films like Porky’s and Caddyshack.

Green made his film debut in 1984 with Billions for Boris and The Hotel New Hampshire, acting alongside Jodie Foster and Rob Lowe in the latter. He went on to appear in Can’t Buy Me Love (1987) as Chuckie Miller, Patrick Dempsey’s on-screen brother, and in Woody Allen’s Radio Days (1987), playing the young version of Allen’s character. He followed with roles in Big Business and My Stepmother Is an Alien (both 1988), which also featured Alyson Hannigan, his future Buffy the Vampire Slayer co-star.

In 1984, he appeared in a series of Jell-O Gelatin Pops commercials as Carl “Alfalfa” Switzer, and by 1991, his popularity grew through a Rally’s “Cha Ching” advertisement that made him a minor celebrity and even earned him the key to the city of New Orleans.

During the 1990s and 2000s, Green built a versatile career with appearances in films such as It (as a young Richie Tozier), Ticks, and the Austin Powers trilogy, where he portrayed Dr. Evil’s son, Scott. His filmography also includes Enemy of the State, The Italian Job, Can’t Hardly Wait, Rat Race, Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, Without a Paddle, Idle Hands, Party Monster, Airborne, and Old Dogs.

In television, Green starred with Jennifer Love Hewitt in The Byrds of Paradise (1994), and they reunited in Can’t Hardly Wait (1998). His breakout TV role came as Daniel “Oz” Osbourne in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, where he played a mild-mannered musician who turns into a werewolf. The role became a fan favorite. Green was often mistakenly credited as a director on the show due to confusion with Bruce Seth Green, who actually directed several episodes.

Beyond Buffy, he appeared in numerous popular series, including Greg the Bunny, The X-Files, That ’70s Show, Will & Grace, MADtv, Reno 911!, Entourage, Grey’s Anatomy, The Wonder Years, Heroes, The Drew Carey Show, and My Name Is Earl.

Green is best known as a core voice actor on the animated sitcom Family Guy, where he voices Chris Griffin, the awkward teenage son, as well as Neil Goldman, the Griffins’ neighbor. During auditions, Green impressed the creators with his impersonation of Buffalo Bill from The Silence of the Lambs and later explained that Chris’s voice was inspired by imagining how Buffalo Bill might sound making announcements at a McDonald’s.

In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Green voices Howard the Duck, appearing in Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), its sequel (2017), and the Disney+ series What If…?. He also voiced the character in Marvel’s animated shows Guardians of the Galaxy and Ultimate Spider-Man. Working with director James Gunn, Green developed Howard’s gruff, sarcastic personality, basing his performance partly on Danny DeVito’s style.

Green co-created, co-produced, directed, and frequently voiced characters on the Emmy-winning stop-motion series Robot Chicken, known for its fast-paced parodies of pop culture. He’s also collaborated with musicians and comedians, appearing in Fall Out Boy’s “This Ain’t a Scene, It’s an Arms Race” video, “Weird Al” Yankovic’s “White & Nerdy,” and The Soup.

As a video game performer, Green is known for voicing pilot Jeff “Joker” Moreau in the Mass Effect trilogy. He also co-created the comic series Freshmen with Hugh Sterbakov and worked as a producer on The 1 Second Film project.

He continued to make guest appearances across television, including on Heroes (alongside Robot Chicken collaborator Breckin Meyer) and Star-ving with David Faustino, who is often mistaken for him. In 2009, he co-starred with Robin Williams and John Travolta in Old Dogs and served as guest host for an episode of WWE Raw, even participating in a tag-team match. Green also appeared at WrestleMania XXVI in 2010 and later guest-starred in the web sitcom Husbands.

He replaced Jason Biggs as the voice of Leonardo in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and went on to write and direct his first feature film, Changeland (2019), starring Brenda Song and Macaulay Culkin. In 2021, he returned to voice Todo 360 in Star Wars: The Bad Batch and, a year later, voiced Thunderbolt in Stargirl’s third season.

On a personal note, Green became engaged to actress Clare Grant on New Year’s Eve 2009, and they married on May 1, 2010, in Northern California. The couple have collaborated on several projects, including Robot Chicken, Warren the Ape, Changeland, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H., and viral videos like Saber and Geek and Gamer Girls Song. In an interview with Bill Maher in October 2025, Green revealed that they share a two-year-old child.

In October 2022, Green publicly accused actor Bill Murray of physically mishandling him when he was nine years old during a backstage incident on Saturday Night Live, alleging Murray threw him into a trash bin after an argument over seating.