The Tragic, True Story Of The Cast Of Modern Family

The following article contains mentions of disordered eating, child abuse, domestic violence, and mental health issues.

For many, "Modern Family" still serves as a go-to comfort show with both lighthearted comedic moments and touching sentimental scenes. The 22-time Emmy-winning sitcom ran for 11 seasons between 2009 and 2020, with a large ensemble cast who appeared in 250 episodes. While some of the actors were successful before they landed roles on the series, several have taken a step back from the spotlight since its finale.

This could have to do with how much the "Modern Family" cast made per episode (hint: a lot), giving many of them the chance to enjoy a lavish lifestyle. But sadly, life wasn't always easy for many of the actors. In fact, the majority of the cast have endured tragic circumstances at some point in their lives, including health concerns, difficult childhoods, mental health struggles, and loss.

Julie Bowen has made a stunning transformation over the years, from her role in "Happy Gilmore" to the lovable yet perfectionistic mother Claire Dunphy on "Modern Family." But long before she'd made a splash in Hollywood, she was an insecure teenager growing up in Baltimore. On an April 2022 episode of her podcast "Quitters," Bowen revealed in speaking with her co-host Chad Sanders that she had struggled with an eating disorder in high school.

"I just knew that I didn't want to be fat," she remarked. "And it felt like something that was out of control and that I was going to get ridiculed for it." Bowen started starving herself and running to lose weight, and she realized that feeling hungry mellowed out her depression and anxiety. "It became such an efficient coping mechanism for the anxiety that ... I couldn't stop," the actor added.

Bowen feared that quitting her unhealthy behavior would bring all her insecurities and mental health struggles back. "If I ate properly, the engine would come back on again, and that engine was anxiety, that engine was fear, and that engine was depression," she said. Eventually, Bowen's parents intervened and admitted her to a mental health facility where she spent five months in treatment for her anorexia.

It's hard to imagine "Modern Family" without Ed O'Neill as Jay Pritchett. But decades before he was cast as the grumpy and pragmatic character, he played Al Bundy on "Married... With Children" for 11 seasons. He's since gone on to work on dozens of projects, but not without a bit of luck, as it turns out that O'Neill nearly blew his chances of getting his big Hollywood break.

The "Modern Family" star was initially signed by the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1969 and thought he would go on to have a successful football career. After getting cut, O'Neill considered a future in organized crime before ultimately deciding to pursue acting in New York. But even then, it wasn't all smooth sailing. During a June 2024 appearance on "The Rich Eisen Show," O'Neill explained that after he'd been cast in "Married... With Children," Fox CEO Barry Diller had wanted the showrunners to replace him. "Diller wanted Katey [Sagal] but he didn't want me," O'Neill said. "He just thought that they could do better, you know, because they never heard of me." Thankfully, O'Neill wasn't replaced, and the show went on to be a massive success.

Today, Jesse Tyler Ferguson is a household name as a result of having starred as Mitchell Pritchett, the gay son of Jay on "Modern Family." In the series, his character grapples with his father's homophobia a number of times — something Ferguson could likely relate to on a personal level, as his own dad struggled to accept him as gay in real life.

The actor had known he was gay since he was a child, but he hadn't discussed it with his parents until he was a teenager. While appearing on "Oprah's Next Chapter" in October 2013, Ferguson was asked how old he was when he came out. He replied, "Which time? 17, 19, and 21, I think." The "Modern Family" star went on to say that he had to come out three times to his dad. "It was a process for him as well, it was sort of a coming out process," Ferguson said. "And he had to figure out how to deal with having a son that wasn't the ideal son. ... He had to reconfigure his thinking."

Most people probably know Sofia Vergara as Gloria Delgado-Pritchett, the beautiful Colombian mother of Manny and trophy wife of Jay on "Modern Family." What fans of the series might not know, though, is how much the actor's real life mirrors her characters. Vergara is obviously stunning, hails from Barranquilla, Colombia, and, like Gloria, had two brothers. Tragically, one day in 1998, about a year after she relocated to Miami with her son from her home country, her older brother Rafael was murdered by a cartel in a kidnapping attempt gone wrong.

"It destroyed my family," Vergara told Variety in August 2024. "It destroyed my mom. It changed our lives completely." In response, she moved the rest of her family, including her mother and two younger siblings, to the United States for a safer life. "It was hard, because I had to take responsibility for my whole family," Vergara explained.

As if she hadn't had it hard enough already, the tragedy surrounding Sofia Vergara didn't let up after the murder of her brother and her other brother's struggles with addiction. In the year 2000, before she'd even made a name for herself as an actor, she was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. "At 28, 'Cancer' was not a word I expected to hear," Vergara wrote in a February 2022 Instagram post. "It was just a routine checkup. But the doctors found a lump in my throat, and that word became part of my story.

The "Modern Family" star went through radiation treatments and surgery before she could proudly call herself a cancer survivor. "I'm lucky and grateful to be in a position to share my story," Vergara added in her post before emphasizing the importance of early detection and encouraging her followers to schedule their annual checkups.

There's no question that "Modern Family" wouldn't be the success it was without the comedic talents of Ty Burrell. His role as Phil Dunphy, the goofy and fun-loving patriarch of one of the sitcom's three families, seemed to come to him so naturally that it's nearly impossible to imagine anyone else playing the part. However, Burrell actually came close to quitting the entertainment industry altogether shortly before securing the role — and that's an alternate timeline we wouldn't want to be a part of.

During an interview with Glamour in August 2012, Burrell explained that it was literally right before he landed "Modern Family" that he had been thinking of throwing in the towel. What kept him going just a little longer? "I'm not burdened with another skill set," he lauded. "Auditioning was just getting the better of me," Burrell said, adding, "I had used up all my toughness getting to 40 and auditioning." Thankfully, everything worked out for the actor in the nick of time, and he's since gone on to star in several more projects.

Having played Cameron Tucker, Mitchell's bubbly and sensitive husband, so believably for 250 episodes of "Modern Family," it's difficult to see Eric Stonestreet as any other character. Like his character, he's maintained a kind and optimistic persona off-screen — which is even more impressive when you know the tragic details of Stonestreet's life.

While 2009 brought the exciting premiere of "Modern Family," it was also the year Stonestreet learned he had type 2 diabetes. "It was like this crazy happy moment cut with this diagnosis that I truthfully didn't take very seriously," he told People in May 2025. Whereas others might reach out to their friends and family for support, Stonestreet kept his health issues private. "I was embarrassed. I didn't want to tell anybody," he explained. This included his friends, his fiancée Lindsay Schweitzer, and his parents, both of whom had the same condition.

Eventually, Stonestreet realized he had to make a lifestyle change for his children and himself. His endocrinologist prescribed Mounjaro, a medication for those dealing with type 2 diabetes, and the star noticed an incredible improvement in his lifestyle, eating habits, and weight loss goals. "There's a pep in my step," Stonestreet added.

Thanks to her long run on "Modern Family" and her involvement in dozens of other projects, Sarah Hyland lives a lavish life. However, it hasn't been without difficulty. Hyland was born with kidney dysplasia, a chronic disease that has required her to undergo two kidney transplants. For her first, her father was the donor. Around the same time, she found she was struggling to play Haley Dunphy on-screen. During a February 2022 episode of "Quitters," Hyland spoke with her former on-screen mom Julie Bowen about how her health issues affected her experience while filming "Modern Family."

"There are some episodes of 'Modern Family' where I do not remember filming because I was asleep," Hyland remarked. In explaining how her disease impacted her, the actor said, "You have to be a certain level of sick in order to receive a transplant, so I was reaching that certain level of sick." Hyland was so unwell she couldn't stay awake for even eight hours at a time and would often take brief naps between her scenes. "As soon as they yelled, 'Cut,' I'd put my head back down," Hyland added.

Famously, child stardom can often go awry. Ariel Winter had been acting since she was 4 years old and was cast as the brainy Alex Dunphy on "Modern Family" when she was 11. However, it wasn't the life Winter envisioned for herself, but the one her mother Crystal Workman — who was allegedly living vicariously through her — had envisioned for her.

Over the years, the actor experienced physical and emotional abuse, restricted access to food, and immense pressure at her mother's hands. In speaking with The Hollywood Reporter in September 2017, Winter revealed that she was also sexualized by Workman from the time she was 7 and forced to wear revealing clothing. "People thought I was 24 when I was 12," she remarked. "If there was going to be a nude scene when I was that age, my mother would have 1,000% said yes." This soon became clear to Winter's on-set teacher Sharon Sacks, who reported the situation to Child Protective Services in 2012 with the child star's blessing. Thankfully, her adult sister was able to take her in.

Winter has totally transformed since "Modern Family," having left Los Angeles behind with her boyfriend, fellow former child actor Luke Benward, and their six dogs. However, the star hasn't left the entertainment industry behind for good — just the city, as she told People in May 2025, "If I get a network show, I can easily go back."

Today, Sarah Hyland seems head over heels for her husband, former "The Bachelor" contestant Wells Adams, and they seem like the perfect match. And if you know about her love life, you know her marriage is clearly far from the relationship she had with Matt Prokop. Amid Hyland's health battle and other tragic details going on in her life, she began dating her co-star from Disney's 2011 movie "Geek Charming." Sadly, there was much more going on behind the scenes than many realized, and allegations of abuse and Hyland's restraining order against Prokop hit headlines amid their 2014 split.

In October 2024, the "Modern Family" star spoke with Variety about the importance of speaking out about domestic abuse. "For thousands of years now, we didn't talk about it," Hyland said. "The community hasn't shared enough, I believe." She acknowledged that, after experiencing domestic abuse, it's tempting to want to pretend it never happened. "It's almost like you don't wanna talk about it anymore. You want it to be done," Hyland remarked. But in speaking out about it, her hope is that those experiencing abuse will feel encouraged to reach out for support.

It's no secret that a camera-facing role in Hollywood comes with enormous pressure to look perfect. Some stars sadly struggle to stop at a subtle nip and tuck to maintain society's beauty standards, so it's no wonder so many celebrities look unrecognizable after cosmetic surgery. Sadly, Reid Ewing experienced this firsthand while playing Dylan, Haley's sweet and somewhat dim on-and-off boyfriend on "Modern Family."

In a November 2015 article for HuffPost, the actor disclosed that he deals with body dysmorphic disorder, a mental health disorder that causes people to obsess over their own appearance. "[O]ne day I decided I had to get cosmetic surgery," he wrote. "'No one is allowed to be this ugly,' I thought. 'It's unacceptable.'" At just 19 years old, Ewing went under the knife for cheek implants, but after a long healing process, he wasn't happy with the results. After several more surgeries, Ewing was still unsatisfied with his looks. "None of the doctors suggested I consult a psychologist for what was clearly a psychological issue rather than a cosmetic one," Ewing explained, "or warn me about the potential for addiction."

Although his "Modern Family" character Manny Delgado had a complicated relationship with his biological father throughout the series, Rico Rodriguez had a close relationship with his dad in real life. Tragically, a few years before the ABC sitcom ended, the actor announced in a March 2017 Instagram post that his father Roy Rodriguez had died.

"This has been the toughest week of my life," Rodriguez wrote of the heartbreaking loss. "My Dad was the most kind hearted, loving, hard working, determined, and funny man I have ever known." The actor went on to describe him as "like a super hero," adding, "I'm gonna miss your hugs. I'm gonna miss your advice. I'm gonna miss your smile, and I'm gonna miss your laugh." Without disclosing his father's cause of death, Rodriguez signed off the touching tribute as his dad's youngest child. "I'll love you forever," he concluded.

At just 4 years old, Aubrey Anderson-Emmons secured the role of Lily Tucker-Pritchett, Mitchell and Cameron's adopted daughter on "Modern Family." It was her first on-screen role, and a learning curve, as the former child star acknowledged in a May 2025 TikTok video. "You don't know what you're getting yourself into as a 4-year-old when you sign a contract to be on a show," Anderson-Emmons shared.

Tragically, her lack of experience didn't stop internet users from sharing harsh feedback about her acting ability during her eight-year run on the show. "People really took a dig on my acting choices or thought I was a bad actor," Anderson-Emmons added. The criticism had a devastating impact on the star, who struggled with rejection during the auditioning process after "Modern Family," and she in turn left acting behind for a while. Anderson-Emmons has grown up a lot since then, and after rediscovering her passion for performing in high school, she stated that she plans on returning to the industry soon.

Although growing up in the limelight sounds like the dream to some, it isn't always all it's cracked up to be. Nolan Gould had already been acting for five years when he landed the part of Luke Dunphy on "Modern Family" at 10 years old. He got to spend his days portraying the mischievous and goofy character alongside his on-screen siblings. Gould also got his education out of the way quickly, telling The New York Post in March 2020, "I never went to high school ... I took the California GED [high school equivalency certificate] and I graduated when I was 13, but I never set foot in a classroom."

However, his fame-filled childhood also proved something of a handicap for Gould. In September 2024, the "Modern Family" star made an appearance on Jesse Tyler Ferguson's podcast, "Dinner's on Me," telling his former on-screen uncle about the difficulty he's had connecting with people. "I find it hard to bond with people about the things that everyone went through," Gould explained. "Like, what was high school like? ... What was dating like?" That said, Gould has also recognized that his unique upbringing opened many doors for him.

If you need help with an eating disorder, or know someone who does, help is available. Visit the National Eating Disorders Association website or contact NEDA's Live Helpline at 1-800-931-2237. You can also receive 24/7 Crisis Support via text (send NEDA to 741-741).

If you or someone you know may be the victim of child abuse, please contact the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child (1-800-422-4453) or contact their live chat services.

If you or someone you know needs help with mental health, please contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741, call the National Alliance on Mental Illness helpline at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264), or visit the National Institute of Mental Health website.

If you or someone you know is dealing with domestic abuse, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233. You can also find more information, resources, and support at their website.