For "Modern Family" fans, bidding farewell to the Pritchett-Dunphy-Tucker clan after 11
seasons was like saying goodbye to their own family. But they haven't gone far,
and for one star, that meant landing a huge role in a co-star's real life nuptials.
Ty Burrell is best known for playing Phil Dunphy, the lovable, yet often hapless husband of Claire
and father of Haley, Alex, and Luke. Phil happily describes himself as a cool dad,
but his actions often prove otherwise — although he always means well.
Burrell is endlessly grateful he didn't lose out
on the Emmy-winning role to the likes of Brendan Fraser or Matt LeBlanc,
because he took home over a decade of treasured memories with his TV family. He told Parade —
"I love the scenes where every single person in the cast is in a scene. Those days are some of my
best days as an actor, because we all got closer on those days in the down times between scenes."
The finale of "Modern Family" was clearly a bittersweet ending for Burrell,
but he's managed the transition to other projects quite easily. Burrell did some
voice acting work alongside his time on "Modern Family," working on films like "Mr. Peabody and
Sherman" and "Finding Dory." When the show ended, Burrell dove deeper into the world of animation
and found a regular home on the animated series "Duncanville" until its cancellation in 2022.
Burrell has noted that he enjoys having to act using only his voice. That's a big
change from his time as Phil Dunphy, which involved a good amount of physical comedy.
“Oh no!"
"Oh my… what was that, was that a person that—”
"I'm good!"
"Dad!?"
“I’m good.”
Julie Bowen's career came full circle after her eleven years playing Claire Dunphy on
"Modern Family" ended. In 2020, she reunited with her "Happy Gilmore" co-star Adam Sandler
for Netflix's feel-good comedy "Hubie Halloween." Although 24 years had passed since the '90s flick,
in many ways it felt like nothing had changed for Bowen. She explained to CinemaBlend —
"He still has a lot of the same crew, the same writers, same producers. So it's not like,
'Remember so-and-so?' He's right there. He's still there. So it felt like stepping into a
little train that's been going the whole time, and I just got to jump on for a little while."
Since then, the Emmy winner has continued to focus her
efforts more on movies than TV. In 2021, she appeared in "The Fallout"
and "Mixtape" — and executive produced the 2023 Disney+ rom com "Prom Pact."
In 2022, Bowen opened up about her sexuality on her "Quitters" podcast, revealing that while
she identifies as straight, she's not all that interested in labels. She elaborated —
"[I was] in love with a woman for a while, but she didn't love me back.
It never really took off, so I never really had to challenge my concept of my sexuality."
Bowen's comments came after her 2018 divorce from Scott Phillips. Going forward,
her focus seems to be on work and taking care of her kids.
Having spent much of her life playing Alex Dunphy on "Modern Family," Ariel
Winter understandably found it hard to transition to life off set. She
struggled with leaving the stability and safety of the long-lasting show,
something that other former child actors have also had to deal with. She admitted to Teen Vogue —
"This is new territory for me. I was doing something very specific for so
long. Now I have to reset my mind and retrain myself to be in that place of, 'All right,
I am ready to look for the next thing.' I am ready to work."
The actor took time away for herself after the series ended, moving away from the
prying paparazzi lenses of Los Angeles to an undisclosed location with her boyfriend Luke
Benward. She didn't just sit around the house, though — she took on some voiceover work,
including a role as young Kairi in the video game "Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory."
Once Winter felt that she had stabilized her personal life and her mental health, she was
ready to return to television. While her pilot "Hungry" failed to get picked up by NBC, the star
made a reappearance on the small screen in June 2023 when she entered the world of reality TV.
The Fox reality series "Stars on Mars" simulates an expedition to the red planet,
with 12 celebrity contestants — including Winter — battling it out to colonize and conquer the new
world. With William Shatner hosting the series, only the last astronaut standing can win.
"When I have to just be myself, it's an incredible challenge."
Sarah Hyland began portraying Phil and Claire's first-born, Haley Dunphy,
on "Modern Family" when she was 19. Having spent the entirety of her 20s playing Haley,
Hyland went through a lot on screen, including pregnancy, motherhood,
and marriage. When the show's 11th season came to an end, Hyland was ready to get married for real.
Despite being postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Hyland's elaborate
wedding to Wells Adams finally took place on a 52-acre vineyard in California in August 2022.
Every detail of the wedding weekend was planned to perfection, and Hyland
donned two Vera Wang dresses for the occasion. Alongside most of her "Modern Family" co-stars,
the guest list included several celebrities like Kayla Ewell, Nina Dobrev, and Shaun White.
2022 was a busy year for Hyland, as she also reunited with her former "Modern Family" beau,
Adam Devine, in Peacock's "Pitch Perfect: Bumper in Berlin." Hyland relished the opportunity to
star in the spinoff series as the secret songwriter Heidi, telling Screen Rant —
"‌It was just such a joy to be singing again, not just in my shower or car. [...] I am very much
like Heidi, so I put a lot of pressure on myself and want everything to be perfect."
For "Modern Family" fans, seeing Hyland and Devine embark on a new
on-screen relationship was a delightful surprise.
Nolan Gould was just a kid when he started portraying Haley and Alex's annoying
little brother, Luke Dunphy, on "Modern Family." But by the time the series ended,
he was in his early 20s. Ready to tackle new acting projects,
he moved on to a three-episode arc as Travis Tordjman in the comedy show "What's Up North."
However, Gould soon found himself at a difficult place during quarantine,
which he treated like a six-month holiday. He admitted that his extended break,
coupled with a diet that exclusively consisted of pizza, was not helping him feel his best.
"I made fun of his accent."
"What accent?"
"I made fun of him for having the same thing for lunch every day."
That's why Gould decided to invest in his health. He told People in 2021 —
"I feel like now it's time to kind of make a decision on where I want to go with my career,
and one of the ways you can do that is by changing my look and my mindset."
Gould transformed himself physically and mentally with the help of a close friend,
who became his personal trainer. They did a socially distanced workout every day,
allowing him to get back into shape.
When it was finally time for Gould to get back to acting,
he played ailing college student Chase Sams on "Grey's Anatomy." He also signed
on to the 2023 crime drama "Miranda's Victim," in which Gould shares the big
screen with the likes of Abigail Breslin, Ryan Phillippe, Luke Wilson, and Donald Sutherland.
Despite his years playing the brash, yet beloved Al Bundy on "Married...
with Children," Ed O'Neill is best known nowadays as Jay Pritchett,
the patriarch of the titular "Modern Family." While many of his co-stars
were understandably devastated when the show ended its eleven season run,
O'Neill tried to take a matter-of-fact approach to the big life change that was happening,
and focused on making the final season the best it could be. He told The Business Journal in 2020 —
"I'm not afraid of emotion but I was trying to maintain the same mindset we
had for 11 years. [...] It was a dream job. I am so thankful to have had it."
When production of "Modern Family'' ended for good,
the industry veteran went on to take a well-deserved vacation to Hawaii,
followed by an extended career break during the pandemic. Although it may
have looked like O'Neill was quietly slipping into retirement, that wasn't actually the case.
Variety announced that the actor had taken on a new role alongside Laurence Fishburne and
Jacki Weaver in FX's sports drama "The Sterling Affairs." While he told The Business Journal he
wasn't exactly holding out hope for a "Modern Family" spinoff, O'Neill is attached to reprise
his first famous patriarch role in a possible animated revival of "Married... with Children."
Much like her on-screen husband, Sofía Vergara — who played Gloria Delgado-Pritchett in "Modern
Family" — would star in the title role of a TV miniseries in 2023. For Netflix's "Griselda,"
the Colombian-American actor took on the role of the titular character Griselda Blanco,
a real-life drug lord who once controlled one of the most profitable cartels in history.
While shooting the crime drama, it took Vergara two hours each day to transform
into the character, according to an Instagram Story she posted in 2022.
Though Griselda is quite a departure from Vergara's "Modern Family" character,
the actor is no stranger to running a successful business empire — but legally,
of course. She's successfully launched several companies, including a talent
management firm and a lingerie brand. Vergara has also taken on a judge role on "America's
Got Talent" — a position that she thinks very highly of. She told Access Hollywood in 2020 —
"It's an important position to be a judge. You want to be a fair judge,
and there are so many different talents that you can't be an expert on everything."
All of Vergara's success means that she's been living a very comfortable
life following "Modern Family." Vergara also owns a freshly renovated Italian-style villa,
which went on the market for $18 million in 2023.
Rico Rodriguez is another of "Modern Family's" young stars who literally grew up in front of
the camera. After nabbing a few smaller roles in popular kids' shows like "iCarly" and "Cory
in the House," Rodriguez took on the role of Sofía Vergara's on-screen son, Manny Delgado,
who's quite mature for his age. Manny retains his kind but eccentric demeanor throughout the
show's 11 seasons and into adulthood — and it's something that Rodriguez has taken with him, too.
He may be a far cry from the boy he once portrayed these days,
but Rodriguez has said that he and Manny are one and the same. Back in 2016, he told CBS News —
"As I've grown into the character I feel like now I have kind of followed his way
of life. Meaning how I present myself in public and trying to dress right and
write poetry — it's just all coming together. Manny is kind of becoming a little like me,
and I've become a little like him, which is awesome. So we're kind of like the same person."
Being part of "Modern Family" has obviously had a lasting impact on Rodriguez,
and he's taken a step back from screen acting in the years since. He took his
career in a fresh direction in 2023 when he joined the dark thriller comedy podcast "How
to Win Friends and Disappear People," and he may have a future behind the camera too.
"My sister and I, we started our own production company, so we're hoping to,
like, you know, have— you know, write our own stuff, and produce and direct…"
"Yeah!" "That's what we need!"
For the first few seasons of "Modern Family," Manny was the only child in the Delgado-Pritchett
household. That changed in Season 4, when Jay and Gloria welcomed another child — a
boy who they named Joe. Joe was initially portrayed by baby twins for his debut season,
before being replaced by Pierce Wallace for Seasons 5 and 6. When it came time for Joe to
have a bigger screen presence, though, young Jeremy Maguire stepped up to the plate. He
joined the cast of "Modern Family" in Season 7, sticking around for a grand total of 91 episodes.
The job came with a new level of pressure for the
child actor. He recalled to Teens Wanna Know in 2020 —
"We would start work sometimes as early as 6:30 in the morning,
which means I had to be up even earlier than that to eat and get ready."
It was a lot for the eight-year-old Maguire to
deal with, but the actor has no regrets. He continued —
"I know it was a big opportunity for me to learn from such great
people and I am so happy that I was a part of such a big popular show!"
Despite struggling with some of the demands of the long-running program,
Maguire did a great job and has been in pretty high demand since "Modern Family"
ended. He's since recurred on Josh Peck's comedy-drama "Turner & Hooch,"
appeared in "The Virgin of Hyland Park," and guest-starred in an episode of "S.W.A.T."
It's safe to say that the "Modern Family" cast are extremely close — Jesse Tyler Ferguson
even officiated Sarah Hyland's wedding. The Emmy-nominated actor stepped up at the last
minute to replace Hyland's on-screen dad, Ty Burrell. Ferguson admitted to People —
"I adore Sarah, so I was like,
'This means a lot that she's asking me to do this,' but it's a lot of pressure."
Ferguson played Haley's uncle Mitch Pritchett on the show,
and it's clear the pair still think of each other as family.
"You are actually watching these kids you work with grow up."
"Yeah, those formative years, we get to see it all take place — probably not so exciting for them."
Ferguson's on-screen prospects have also kept him busy. He appeared in an episode of "High
School Musical: The Musical — The Series" as Marvin, and he later showed up in Elizabeth
Banks' 2023 horror comedy "Cocaine Bear." However, Ferguson's career has also branched
out in some different directions: the "Dinner's on Me" podcaster wrote a cookbook titled "Food
Between Friends," which stemmed out of a blog that he writes with his friend Julie Tanous.
Additionally, Ferguson made his return to theater in the acclaimed
2022 Broadway revival of "Take Me Out." His performance as Mason Marzac earned
him the Tony for best featured actor in a play. As far as his personal life goes,
Ferguson and his husband Justin Mikita have welcomed two sons since "Modern Family" ended.
Eric Stonestreet brought the flamboyant and hilarious Cam Tucker to life throughout
the eleven seasons of "Modern Family." His performance was critically acclaimed — but
as a straight actor, there have since been critical discussions about whether
Stonestreet was right to have taken on the role. Jesse Tyler Ferguson revealed
on his "Dinner's on Me" podcast that the two agreed that Stonestreet probably
wouldn't have played Cam today — but that doesn't diminish his spot in pop culture.
Stonestreet was keen to help carve out a place for same-sex relationships on TV,
and he credited his early acting experience for steering him in that direction.
"I showed up — I was a fraternity guy, showed up to do a play, and I was blown away by how much
I loved all the people involved. And those people, you know, a lot of them were gay."
After hanging up Cam's coat and clown shoes for good, Stonestreet took some time away
from the screen. He returned briefly in 2021 for an episode of "Madagascar:
A Little Wild" and in 2022 for a two-episode-arc in "American Auto."
Like Sofía Vergara, he's spent more time in the reality TV circuit in recent years,
guest judging on shows like "The Masked Singer" and "America's Got Talent."
Stonestreet also announced his engagement to longtime girlfriend
Lindsay Schweitzer in a comical 2021 Instagram post. Sharing a
series of photos showing off Schweitzer's sparkly rock, he quipped in the caption —
"She said, 'She'd have her people call my people.'"
For the early seasons of "Modern Family," Lily Tucker-Pritchett was the baby of the
show. She was portrayed by twins Ella and Jaden Hiller before she was replaced by
Aubrey Anderson-Emmons in Season 3. Lily was the only child of Mitch and Cam for
the majority of the series' run until they adopted her brother, Rexford, in Season 11.
Anderson-Emmons was just three years old when she started on the sitcom, and she admitted that
she didn't really understand what was going on at first. She joked to KTLA 5 in 2018 —
"I didn't think the people were real. I was like, 'Do these people live in these houses?'"
Thankfully, Anderson-Emmons quickly got to grips with acting after her mom explained that
the houses weren't real, and nobody actually lived there. The young actor also revealed
that she's still pals with her TV parents, Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Eric Stonestreet.
Like her co-star Jeremy Maguire, Anderson-Emmons spent most of her childhood working on the show.
That's why, after nine years, she happily took a break from acting to enjoy life as a teenager.
While it's likely that Anderson-Emmons will be back in front of the camera again soon,
the young star has been making money in recent years with things like social media
brand partnerships. She's used her social media platform to promote many charities and social
justice causes, and she sometimes spends her free time making food-related videos
with her mom for her YouTube channel, which has over 40,000 subscribers.
Although they weren't together for the entirety of "Modern Family's" run,
Haley and Dylan were clearly always meant to end up together. By the time the series concluded,
the couple were married and happily parenting their twins.
"This is Poppy, because that's my favorite flower."
"And this is George, because he came out looking curious. You know, like Boy George."
However, things weren't always happy for Ewing off-screen,
as he's spent years speaking about body positivity and detailing his personal
experience struggling with body dysmorphic disorder. This condition resulted in Ewing
undergoing several cosmetic surgeries beginning when he was 19, including implants in his cheeks,
jaw, and chin — some of which were later removed. Ewing told Instinct in 2020 —
"My particular case was very kind of invasive. It was an act of violence against myself. I wish I
was a little bit more secure with myself that I didn't have to do that and go through with it."
Ewing has since recognized that the surgeries were unnecessary,
and following the end of "Modern Family," the actor has continued to actively maintain his
mental health. This includes being much pickier about the work he does moving forward, only taking
roles that keep him in a positive headspace. As a mission statement for the future, he declared —
"I want to do anything I can to feel good about myself and meet my own expectations.
I don't want to keep making the same mistakes and live a shallow, petty life."
Ewing has since acted in a couple of short films
like "Nest" and "Always Come in Second," both of which tell meaningful stories.
After recurring as Haley Dunphy's love-interest Andy Bailey on "Modern Family" from 2013 to 2018,
Adam Devine jumped ship and never looked back. Already well known for playing Bumper Allen in
"Pitch Perfect" and Adam DeMamp in "Workaholics," Devine continued to garner new levels of fame
following his departure from the sitcom. He played the male love interest opposite Rebel
Wilson in "Isn't It Romantic" the following year, along with Kelvin Gemstone in HBO's "The Righteous
Gemstones." He also starred in the sci-fi comedy "Jexi," and has taken on a handful of voice acting
gigs including the animated time-travel comedy "Extinct" and Netflix's Dr. Seuss-inspired series
"Green Eggs and Ham." By 2022, he landed his own "Pitch Perfect" spin-off series "Bumper in Berlin"
— which saw him reunite with Sarah Hyland, whom he affectionately refers to as his "tv work wife."
Devine shared an important update about his real-life relationship with his wife,
fellow actor Chloe Bridges, in September 2022. After news of the Adam Levine cheating scandal
broke, the actor took to Instagram to clarify that he was not the lead singer of Maroon 5,
despite the pair having similar names. Alongside a snap of himself and his wife, Devine wrote —
"Just want to post this and say that my wife @chloebridges and I are doing great
and going strong. I am not Adam Levine. He's a different guy and a worse singer."