ABC's hit sitcom Modern Family has become a staple of the modern sitcom realm, enjoying
the rare distinction of both critical acclaim and impressive viewership.
While the cast list has grown over the years, all of the originals have remained firmly
in place and have enjoyed significant career upticks as a result of their roles.
Despite the fact that the show presents a happy home for all the members of the Pritchett-Dunphy
tribes, though, there have been a number of behind-the-scenes moments of real-life drama
surrounding the stars of Modern Family.
"You have got to be kidding me."
Here's what you might not know about the stars of long-lived series.
Family dysfunction
When Ariel Winter first assumed the role of brainiac middle child Alex Dunphy on the show,
she was barely into double digits in age, so she's grown up right before the public's
eyes just like a lot of her co-stars.
However, Winter has suffered a particularly grim off-screen life that's been buried beneath
her character's quips, as she had to be emancipated from her mother at the age of 17 after an
intense court custody battle over her guardianship.
"It wasn't a supportive, loving home.
I had a really tough time."
The young actress claimed that she was physically and emotionally abused by her mother and was
placed in her sister's care during proceedings.
Winter, whose familial secrets were the subject of many an expose during the course of the
dramatic hearings, was ultimately granted independence from her mother as a result of
the allegations.
"It has been very sad for me, but at the same time it's been much better for me emotionally
and physically to be on my own and have a better, safer household."
Unwanted offspring
Actress Sofia Vergara became an overnight sensation thanks to her work in Modern Family,
and while her current marriage to fellow TV star Joe Manganiello has remained relatively
scandal-free, her former relationship with ex Nick Loeb has been a bit of a thorn in
her side … and other parts of her body for that matter.
Loeb, to whom she was engaged until the two ended their relationship in 2014, reportedly
sued Vergara to prevent her from destroying the embryos the two had created during the
course of their relationship.
Loeb wanted to create children of the frozen embryos and even went so far as to pen an
op-ed in The New York Times supporting his purported right to do so.
"I always assumed with our agreement that we were going to take these to term."
"It has nothing to do with her baby or our baby, lives were already created"
However, Vergara's camp asserted she had no intentions of destroying the embryos, but
to keep them frozen in perpetuity, and countersued to ensure he'd be unable to produce the resulting
children without her permission in turn.
The situation was sticky, icky, and exceedingly personal for the actress to watch play out
on the public forum as it did.
"This shouldn't be out there for people to give their opinion.
There's nothing to talk about."
The kid switch
Although Aubrey Anderson-Emmons has portrayed the pint-sized sassmonster Lily Pritchett-Tucker
since Modern Family's third season, Baby Lily was originally portrayed by twins Ella and
Jaden Hiller.
But the Hiller twins' parents took them out of the spotlight almost as quickly as they
were thrust into it because the two hated the gig.
Their mother Michelle told Woman's Day, "Halfway through Season 2 their personalities had started
to develop, and it was really clear to us that they weren't enjoying their time on set.
So we told the producers the girls wouldn't be coming back.
They tried to get us to change our mind and they offered us better and better terms."
Those better terms, they revealed, included a massive $34,000 an episode raise, but the
Hiller parents would not be deterred from putting their little ones into retirement
early.
"That was only a matter of time."
Surviving an assault
In 2014, actress Sarah Hyland, who portrays the oft-ditzy eldest child Haley Dunphy, had
to file for a restraining order against her real-life ex-boyfriend Matthew Prokop after
allegedly suffering verbal and physical abuse that made her fearful for her life—and the
life of her dog, whom he threatened.
Hyland reportedly sought help from her on-screen mother, actress Julie Bowen, although Bowen
would later downplay her role in ending the toxic relationship by telling The Huffington
Post, "I didn't do anything special at all.
Nothing that you wouldn't do for anybody who's going through a breakup … it wasn't anything
you wouldn't do if somebody called you up and said, 'Hey man, I'm going through a tough
time.'
You'd jump in."
Hyland was ultimately granted a permanent restraining order against her ex-boyfriend.
Unfortunately, it wasn't the first time Hyland would be left shaken up by an assault; earlier
in 2014, she was indecently grabbed by a man who said he wanted to take a picture with
her during production of the show in Sydney, Australia—an incident which led to her attacker's
arrest and the left the star visibly shaken, according to reports.
"People have to go through things in order to become the person that they are today,
and that's that."
Serious health scares
In addition to the familial and relationship issues that have plagued some members of the
cast, they've also had to grapple with some legitimate health scares that can and may
affect them for the rest of their lives.
Bowen, for example, has worn a pacemaker for decades as a result of a lifelong heart condition.
She revealed to More magazine that she was diagnosed with a condition that causes her
heart to beat a bit too slowly, so her doctors installed a pacemaker to keep her ticker functioning
properly.
The actress admitted to having "a big crying fit" over being fitted with a device that's
"for old people," but she's since come to terms with her reality, which includes going
back under the knife every seven years to have the device replaced.
Additionally, Sarah Hyland has grappled with a serious kidney condition called kidney dysplasia
for most of her youth and experienced severe pain on the set during the early seasons.
She told ABC News, "I would be in a lot of pain a lot of the time.
If I didn't get, like, 12 hours of sleep, It felt, like – It felt, like, none at all
… You know, if you're sick, you still go to work.
And in between takes, you sit down, or you lay your head down or something."
"When Haley walks up the stairs that's like my workout for the week."
To avoid being stuck on dialysis for the rest of her life, Hyland sought out a donor for
a kidney transplant in 2012, and the donor of her life-saving organ was none other than
her own father.
She has since revealed that public comments about her thin frame are especially difficult
for the actress to remain silent about, given the gravity of her health concerns and how
it continues to impact her body.
Last but not least, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, whose on-screen alter ego Mitchell Pritchett
has arrived as a voice of both reason and snark, overcame a skin cancer scare in 2015
that required facial surgery.
He told ABC News, "I had to have a piece of skin taken out of my cheek.
It was nothing serious.
There was no life-threatening thing that happened, but it was a little scary.
[...] Having to do something on my face was very scary.
My face is my livelihood in this business.
It was overwhelming."
Ferguson shared a post-surgical image of his treatment and teased that the makeup team
for Modern Family would have their hands full with his visible incision, so clearly his
spirit never wavered and he has since made a full recovery.
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