Latest news with #JesseTylerFerguson
Daily Mail
6 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Modern Family child star Aubrey Anderson-Emmons makes surprising career move... see her now
A child star from Modern Family announced a surprising career move five years after the final episode of the beloved sitcom ended. Aubrey Anderson-Emmons - who played Lily, the adoptive daughter of Cameron (Eric Stonestreet) and Mitchell (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) - recently announced that she will be releasing an EP as she pivots to music. The now 18-year-old star portrayed the iconic character through all 11 seasons of the show and is taking her new role seriously as her music career will be under the stage name of Frances Anderson. In a recent interview with TooFab she explained the reasoning behind her new moniker as she said: 'Frances is my middle name, and it was named after a family friend. I feel like my music gives off nostalgic vibes or I'm a very nostalgic person overall, so having a name after an old family friend of my parents, I really liked that. 'It's also a little bit shorter than Aubrey Anderson-Emmons, so there's that one, too.' Despite taking on a different name on this career path, the star doesn't believe that her new name signifies and alter ego. Anderson-Emmons said: 'I wouldn't say that Francis Anderson is like a really an alter ego. I mean, she feels a little bit different. 'She feels a little bit younger than me, considering all this music that I've written about was stuff from my childhood, things from high school. And I graduated high school early this year, so it feels like she's a little bit younger than me. She'll grow beside me.' She is set to release her debut EP - titled Drown - this Friday, August 8 as the album art shows a low-fi image of the young star pensively looking out of the window. Her music sounds like indie rock in the vein of Clairo, beabadoobee, and Phoebe Bridgers. Aubrey released her debut single Telephones And Traffic in May as she has not acted much professionally since the end of the ABC sitcom. A month later in June she came out as bisexual in a TikTok post. She made the revelation in a rather humorous fashion, using the audio from a Season 4 episode of Modern Family called The Future Dunphys, where a young Lily claims she's gay. The actress shared a video of her lip-syncing to the scene where she declares, 'No I'm not, I'm gay! I'm gay!' after Gloria (Sofia Vergara) insists she's Vietnamese. She is set to release her debut EP - titled Drown - this Friday, August 8 as the album art shows a low-fi image of the young star pensively looking out of the window Anderson-Emmons captioned the video, 'People keep joking so much abt me being being gay when I literally am (I'm bi).' She captioned the post, 'hehe happy pride month and to all a good night,' with the hashtags #modernfamily #lily #pridemonth #pride #fyp #bi. Anderson-Emmons was just four years old when she joined Modern Family as Lily during the show's third season in 2011. The actress made history also at four years of age, when she became the youngest actor ever to win a Screen Actors Guild Award, as part of the show's ensemble cast. She also appeared as herself on Bill Nye Saves the World in 2017 and on a 2018 episode of Paradise Run. In May, she shared a video to her 2.7 million TikTok followers that shed some light on growing up in the spotlight. 'People ask things like, "How did you know you wanted to do that when you were four? How do you know you love something when you're so young?" And the truth is, you don't,' she admitted. Aubrey insisted that she was 'not forced into anything,' adding, 'My mom wasn't like, "You're going to do this," it was not like that.' Anderson-Emmons was just four years old when she joined Modern Family as Lily (bottom right) during the show's third season in 2011; the entire cast are seen in 2013 'I was not abused on set or anything like that, but you don't know what you're getting yourself into at four years old when you sign a contract to be on a show,' she said. She also admitted that the show was basically 'all she knew' while opening up on facing harsh criticism at such a young age. 'Also, being on a TV show from a young age, people really took digs at my acting choices or they would say I'm a bad actor,' she recalled. 'I don't feel like I need to prove myself to other people... but it was really hard for me to grow up with so many people's opinions around me.' She has only appeared in a 2024 short film called Tallwinds since Modern Family went off the air.
Yahoo
09-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Modern Family star Jesse Tyler Ferguson says gay viewers criticised him for ‘stereotypical' role
Modern Family star Jesse Tyler Ferguson has said some gay viewers of the show criticised him for his 'stereotypical' depiction of a gay man. The 49-year-old played the uptight environmental lawyer Mitchell Pritchett in the much-loved sit-com, which ran from 2009 to 2020. His character was in a relationship with Cameron Tucker (Eric Stonestreet), a stay-at-home dad turned music teacher from Missouri. Speaking on his Dinner's On Me podcast, Ferguson acknowledged that not all viewers were pleased with the way his character represented queer life and marriage. 'The criticism that I think I heard the loudest was always from the gay community, feeling as if, maybe, I didn't represent their idea of what a gay relationship was, or a gay man was,' he said. Ferguson said he always took remarks 'with such a grain of salt, because I'm representing one person. I'm in charge of this one character'. Many Modern Family fans were unhappy over the lack of physical connection seen between Ferguson and Stonestreet's characters. In 2010, amid the release of the show's second season, a Facebook campaign was launched demanding that the couple kiss on screen. In 2014, gay actor Tuc Watkins (One Life to Live; Desperate Housewives) spoke out against the show, stating he found the gay characters 'cringe'. 'It feels a little bit like the gay equivalent of Blackface,' he said at the time. 'It doesn't feel modern at all.' In response, Ferguson, who has been married to actor Justin Mikita since 2013, said: 'We can't be expected to represent every gay person. We can only represent these two people. Also, Mitch is basically a version of me... so I never know how to take it when people say that he is stereotypical.' The actor has stood by his portrayal of Mitchell, telling Dinner's On Me guest Russell Tovey that his Modern Family character 'was a shade of who I was'. He explained: 'So, you're kind of like, if it's stereotypical, I'm basically playing myself, so I guess, guilty as charged.'' Last month Aubrey Anderson-Emmons, who played Cam and Mitchell's adopted daughter Lily, came out as bisexual. She delighted fans with the announcement, which she made by quoting a memorable line from Modern Family.
Perth Now
09-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Jesse Tyler Ferguson criticised by gay community over Modern Family role
Jesse Tyler Ferguson received criticism from the gay community for his role on Modern Family. The 49-year-old actor played Mitchell Pritchett on the hit TV sitcom between 2009 and 2020 - but some viewers were unhappy with his depiction of queer life, parenthood and marriage. During an appearance on the Dinner's On Me podcast, Jesse explained: "One of the pressures I've always felt, specifically after being on a show like Modern Family, where I'm portraying a gay man on a television show, on a network that is as popular as it is, you receive criticism, as you do, with anything you do, but the criticism that I think I heard the loudest was always from the gay community, feeling as if, maybe, I didn't represent their idea of what a gay relationship was, or a gay man was." Despite this, Jesse always "took [the criticism] with such a grain of salt, because I'm representing one person. I'm in charge of this one character." Meanwhile, Jesse previously claimed that his Modern Family stint helped to shield him from homophobia. The actor admitted that the TV show had a transformative impact on his life. He said on the Dinner's On Me podcast in 2024: "I went to Las Vegas, and I had been in Las Vegas a few years earlier, and I sort of got gay bashed a little bit. "It wasn't anything violent, but it was definitely like, there was negative energy coming at me from a couple that felt uncomfortable around me and my then-boyfriend. "And then years later I went, after Modern Family, and I remember feeling that same negativity initially, but then they would see who it was, and they would recognise me from being, I am gay, but I'm also that gay one from TV." Jesse felt like his on-screen role offered him some form of protection. He said: "There was some weird superpower that I felt like I was being protected by this role that I was also playing. "It kind of gave me this coat of armour, and I had this protection of being this character that people also loved. I don't know. It was really weird."
Yahoo
09-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Jesse Tyler Ferguson recalls facing the ‘loudest' criticism from gay viewers while he was on ‘Modern Family'
Jesse Tyler Ferguson is opening up about some criticism he received while playing a gay character on 'Modern Family' that hit particularly close to home. Ferguson shared that some of his 'loudest' critics came from the gay community itself, which is a pressure that he said he tends to feel frequently during Monday's episode of his podcast 'Dinner's on Me' with his guest, British actor Russell Tovey. 'One of the pressures I've always felt, specifically after being on a show like 'Modern Family,' where I'm portraying a gay man on a television show on (a) network that is as popular as it is, is that you receive criticism, as you do with anything you do,' he said, adding that 'the criticism that I think I heard at the loudest was always from the gay community.' Ferguson said he'd get criticism from some 'feeling as if maybe I didn't represent their idea of what a gay relationship was or a gay man was, which I always took with such a grain of salt because I'm representing one person, I'm in charge of this one character.' 'How can you be everything for everyone?' he asked. His played Mitchell Pritchett on the popular ABC sitcom, a gay lawyer married to Eric Stonestreet's Cameron Tucker. While he was portraying this one specific character, Ferguson said that Pritchett was, at the same time, 'a shade of who I was, so… if it's stereotypical, I'm basically playing myself, so I guess, guilty, guilty as charged.' Ferguson was nominated for five Emmys for his performance in the series, which aired from 2000 to 2009. Off screen, Ferguson is married to real-life lawyer Justin Mikita. The couple share two sons, Beckett and Sullivan, who were born in 2020 and 2022 respectively.
CTV News
09-07-2025
- Entertainment
- CTV News
Jesse Tyler Ferguson recalls facing the ‘loudest' criticism from gay viewers while he was on ‘Modern Family'
Jesse Tyler Ferguson is pictured at the 2024 Tony Awards in New York CNN Newsource Jesse Tyler Ferguson is opening up about some criticism he received while playing a gay character on 'Modern Family' that hit particularly close to home. Ferguson shared that some of his 'loudest' critics came from the gay community itself, which is a pressure that he said he tends to feel frequently during Monday's episode of his podcast 'Dinner's on Me' with his guest, British actor Russell Tovey. 'One of the pressures I've always felt, specifically after being on a show like 'Modern Family,' where I'm portraying a gay man on a television show on (a) network that is as popular as it is, is that you receive criticism, as you do with anything you do,' he said, adding that 'the criticism that I think I heard at the loudest was always from the gay community.' Ferguson said he'd get criticism from some 'feeling as if maybe I didn't represent their idea of what a gay relationship was or a gay man was, which I always took with such a grain of salt because I'm representing one person, I'm in charge of this one character.' 'How can you be everything for everyone?' he asked. His played Mitchell Pritchett on the popular ABC sitcom, a gay lawyer married to Eric Stonestreet's Cameron Tucker. While he was portraying this one specific character, Ferguson said that Pritchett was, at the same time, 'a shade of who I was, so… if it's stereotypical, I'm basically playing myself, so I guess, guilty, guilty as charged.' Ferguson was nominated for five Emmys for his performance in the series, which aired from 2000 to 2009. Off screen, Ferguson is married to real-life lawyer Justin Mikita. The couple share two sons, Beckett and Sullivan, who were born in 2020 and 2022 respectively.
