“Modern Family” celebrates its 15th anniversary.
The series premiered in September 2009 and ran on ABC for 11 seasons with 250 episodes before ending in April 2020. The hit series followed Jay Pritchett (Ed O’Neil) and his two children as they dealt with their separate marriages and parenthood.
Over the years, the series has won 20 Emmy Awards, including five for Outstanding Comedy Series. Many of the show’s main actors have received multiple Emmy nominations for their work on the series, with Julie Bowen winning two years in a row.
Here’s what the cast has been up to since the show premiered.
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Ed O’Neil
Ed O’Neill already had a successful sitcom under his belt: he appeared in 260 episodes of Married with Children before taking on the role of Jay Pritchett in Modern Family, a role that earned him three Emmy nominations.
During his time on the show, O’Neil continued to act in other projects, eventually lending his voice to the character Mr. Litwak in Wreck-It Ralph and its sequel, and the character Hank in Finding Dory. Since the end of Modern Family, O’Neill has appeared in the FX miniseries Clipped.
“The last two weeks of shooting, the emotions were building up and you could feel them all around you,” he told the Business Journal Daily in March 2020 about filming the final episode of “Modern Family.” “It was overwhelming. People were really moved and it built up until the last day. The last two days were long because the (entire cast) was filming together for 12 hours a day and it got very emotional.”
O’Neill married Catherine Rusoff in 1986 and together they have two daughters: Sophia and Claire.
Sofia Vergara
Sofía Vergara began her career appearing in telenovelas and small roles on television and in films before landing the role of Gloria Delgado-Pritchett in Modern Family, a role for which she received four Emmy and Golden Globe nominations.
The show made her a megastar and led to starring roles in “Happy Feet Two,” “Machete Kills,” “Chef,” and “Hot Pursuit” alongside Reese Witherspoon. While on the show, she starred in “The Emoji Movie” and “Bottom of the 9th.”
After the series ended, she voiced characters in “Koati,” “Strays,” and “Despicable Me 4,” starred in “Griselda,” for which she was nominated for an Emmy, and appeared in Jennifer Lopez’s “This Is Me… Now.” And today, Vergara is more than ready to step into Gloria Delgado-Pritchett’s shoes again.
“I would die to be on that set. It would be so much fun. A TV movie, maybe?”
“I would die to be on that set,” she told Variety in August 2024. “It would be so much fun. A TV movie, maybe?”
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Vergara was married to Joe Gonzalez from 1991 to 1993 and they have a son, Manolo. She was then married to Joe Manganiello from 2015 to 2024.
Julie Bowen
Julie Bowen starred in “Happy Gilmore,” “Ed,” and “Boston Legal” before landing the role of Claire Dunphy in “Modern Family,” for which she was nominated for six consecutive Emmy Awards, winning two.
While starring in the series, she continued to appear in other projects, including Kill the Boss, Life of the Party, and Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventure. She also made guest appearances on various television shows.
After the series ended, she went on to star in Hubie Halloween, The Fallout, and Mixtape. Most recently, she appeared in Totally Killer and episodes of Hailey’s On It. She also created JB SKRUB, a line of personal care products for boys.
Bowen married Scott Phillips in 2004 and they have three sons: Oliver and twins John and Gus.
Ty Burrell
Ty Burrell played mostly supporting roles on television and in films before his big break came with the role of Phil Dunphy on Modern Family, a role for which he received seven consecutive Emmy nominations.
During his time on the show, Burrell played leading roles in “The Skeleton Twins,” “Mr. Peabody & Sherman,” “Muppets Most Wanted” and “Finding Dory.” He later appeared in three episodes of “Boondoggle,” which earned him an Emmy nomination, before starring in “Storks” and “Rough Night.”
After the end of “Modern Family,” he only worked as an actor and lent a character to “Duncanville,” which ended in 2022.
Burrell married Holly Burrell in 2000 and they have two daughters, Frances and Greta.
Jesse Tyler Ferguson
Jesse Tyler Ferguson’s big break in Hollywood came when he took on the role of Mitchell Pritchett in “Modern Family,” a role for which he received five Emmy nominations and, along with the rest of the cast, four SAG Awards.
During his time on the show, he also appeared in episodes of “Web Therapy” and “Hot In Cleveland” and voiced a character in the film “Ice Age: Collision Course!” He later starred in “Cocaine Bear” and “All That We Love.”
Before being cast in the show, Ferguson had a career on Broadway. He made his debut in a 1998 production of “On the Town,” later created a character in “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” and starred in “On the Twentieth Century” and “Fully Committed.” He won a Tony Award in 2022 for his portrayal of Mason Marzac in “Take Me Out,” a role he originally originated.
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Ferguson married Justin Mikita in 2013 and they have two children together, Beckett and Sullivan.
Eric Stonestreet
Eric Stonestreet had mostly minor roles on television and in films, including a 13-episode run on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, before landing the role of Cameron Tucker on Modern Family, for which he won two Emmy Awards and three Golden Globe nominations.
During the show’s run, Stonestreet continued to appear in episodes of popular shows, including “Monk” and “The Mentalist,” and also appeared in “Bad Teacher” and “Identity Thief.” He later voiced a character in “Pets” and its sequel, as well as the animated series “Sofia the First” and “Madagascar: A Little Wild.”
Most recently, he appeared in “American Auto” and “Santa Clauses.”
Stonestreet is engaged to Lindsay Schweitzer.
Rico Rodriguez
Rico Rodriguez was still new to Hollywood when he got the role of Manny Delgado in “Modern Family”.
During his time on the show, he appeared in the films “Opposite Day” and “Babysitters Beware” and later appeared in an episode of Disney’s “Austin & Ally” alongside his sister Raini Rodriguez.
Sarah Hyland
Sarah Hyland began her career as Howard Stern’s daughter in “Private Parts”, later playing leading roles on Broadway and in “Lipstick Jungle” before taking on the role of Hailey Dunphy in “Modern Family”.
In addition to her role in the series, Hyland has also appeared in “Geek Charming,” “Scary Movie V,” “Dirty Dancing” and “The Wedding Year.” She has also voiced characters in animated series and films, including “Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja” and “The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar.”
After the show ended, she hosted the fifth season of “Love Island: USA” and is currently starring in an off-Broadway production of “Little Shop of Horrors.”
Modern Family star Sarah Hyland claims the show “insisted” she wear high heels while suffering from gout
Hyland was diagnosed with renal dysplasia as a child and received two kidney transplants.
In August 2022, she married Wells Adams after they first met in 2017.
Nolan Gould
Nolan Gould’s professional breakthrough came in 2011 when he was cast in the role of Luke Dunphy in “Modern Family.”
During his time on the show, he appeared in “Friends with Benefits,” an episode of “Sophia the First,” and “Field of Lost Shoes.” Since the show ended, he has appeared in “Miranda’s Victim,” “The Nana Project,” and an episode of “Grey’s Anatomy.”
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Ariel Winter
Before her role as Alex Dunphy in “Modern Family,” Ariel Winter had mostly small roles in film and television. While starring in the series, she also lent her voice to the title character in “Sofia the First,” which ran from 2012 to 2018.
During this time, she also appeared in Killers, ParaNorman, Captain Jake and the Never Land Pirates, Minnie’s Bow-Toons, and The Smurfs: The Lost Village. She also voiced a character in Phineas and Ferb, American Dad, and Star Trek: Lower Decks from 2007 to 2024.
In 2014, Winter’s sister Shanelle Workman became her legal guardian after accusing her parents of abuse. A year later, at the age of 15, she was fully emancipated from her parents.
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Aubrey Anderson-Emmons
Aubrey Anderson-Emmons joined the cast of Modern Family in 2011 at the age of four, replacing the baby who played Mitchell and Cameron’s baby, Lily Tucker-Prichett. She became the youngest person to win a SAG Award in 2011 when the cast won the award for Best Ensemble that year.
When the show ended, Anderson-Emmons returned to school and remains active in her high school’s theater program. She runs a YouTube account with her mother called FoodMania Review, which has over 40,000 subscribers.
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