Modern Family star Jesse Tyler Ferguson reveals little-known secret about the beloved show

Daily Mail​

26-05-2025

Modern Family won a staggering 22 Primetime Emmys and is beloved by fans - but five years after it ended, one of its lead actors has shared a little-known fact about the long-running series.
Jesse Tyler Ferguson, 49, recently revealed the tidbit on an episode of his podcast titled Dinner's on Me with guest Wendie Malick.
Ferguson, who played Mitchell Pritchard in the sitcom which ran from 2009 to 2020, explained the show's documentary-style format - which he admitted fell by-the-way side after the first few seasons.
'[The reason] it was a mockumentary, although we never explained this, was a very early version of Modern Family had a foreign exchange student that had stayed with Mitchell, my character, and (Julie Bowen 's) Claire when we were young,' he told the Shrinking actress.
'And he was coming back to do a documentary about this family he lived with when he was a kid, and the title of it was My American Family,' the actor continued.
He explained they ended up cutting the exchange student's character and renaming the show.
'But the construct of it still being a mockumentary was there, but we never explained why,' he added.
He further elaborated by saying in the very early seasons, 'we would really try and hold onto the reality that we were with a film crew.'
The father-of-two added the difference in style is evident in earlier seasons of the show.
'If you watch early episodes, it's like, "Oh, it actually is feasible that this is a reality show." And then season five, six is just, like, we're opening our doors coming home from getting groceries and there's a camera crew in our house, and no one questions that,' he joked.
When Modern Family premiered in 2009, mockumentary-style sitcoms were becoming increasingly popular, following the success of the U.S. and U.K. Office.
In the same year, Parks and Recreation also premiered, in a satire mockumentary style.
Ferguson remains close to his Modern Family co-stars, regularly sharing photos with them - even officiating the 2022 wedding between his on-screen niece Sarah Hyland and her husband, Bachelor Nation's Wells Adams, at the Californian Sunstone Winery in Santa Ynez.
In 2023, Ty Burell, who famously played goofy but lovable dad Phil Dunphy in the hit series, had to stave off death-rumors after he wasn't present at a cast reunion held by Sofia Vergara.
Fans panicked after Vergara shared a snap of the cast together, calling it: 'The first Modern Family reunion.'
Fears began to spiral due to the fact his castmates held a framed photo of him in one image, while several of them stated 'We miss you, Ty!' in an accompanying video.
In March, the actor proved he is alive and well as he made an appearance on Fergusons' podcast.
Ferguson was the first to bring up the death rumors following the reunion to which Burrell joked: 'Well, I died. Remember how I died? Do you remember how I died?'
'Everybody in the cast was telling me that, you know, apparently I passed.'
Ferguson noted: 'It was so funny. When we look back on that, we're like, because we brought a photo of you to include you in all the family pictures and we were like, "well yeah it does sort of look like we were having a memorial for you."'
Ferguson explained that including a photo of Burrell was meant to be a joke as it was his 'least favorite press photo.'
'You were basically punishing me for missing the reunion, which I deserved,' Burrell teased. 'It was the photo of me in the headphones doing the rock and roll heavy metal sign.'
Ferguson has been married to fellow actor Justin Mikita since 2013, after the pair married in a private ceremony in Manhattan.
Ferguson and Mikita welcomed both of their sons via surrogacy — Beckett Mercer was born in July 2020 and Sullivan Louis in November 2022.
Back in April, the actor told People: 'We had a wonderful surrogate who carried both Beckett and Sullivan. We are so grateful for her and her family. We became friends with her and her husband.'