Modern Family, which began streaming for the first time last year on Hulu and Peaco*ck, utilizes the mockumentary sitcom style popularized in the 2000s by shows like The Office and Parks and Recreation. After running 11 seasons from 2009 to 2020, it recently ended its reign as one of the longest airing sitcoms.
Related: 7 Comedies That Should Be TV SitcomsFans have watched the extended Pritchett-Delgado-Dunphy-Tucker clan grow, both as the fictional family gains members and as the show's cast ages. Before all those changes, you might wonder: how old were the actors when they stepped into their roles? The show's producers took care in casting the family members, and on the whole, most of the actors' ages match their characters closely, but there are a few that may surprise you.
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Ed O'Neill as Jay Pritchett
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The family's patriarch is the often cranky and secretly sentimental Jay Pritchett. The show follows him and his new wife, Gloria, who brings with her a son from her previous marriage and Jay's two grown children, Claire and Mitchell, and their families.
In the fourth season opener, "Bringing Up Baby," Jay finds that Gloria is pregnant on his 65th birthday. When you run the numbers, Jay was 61 at the start of the series. Pritchett is played by Ed O'Neill, who rose to fame during his tenure on Married with Children. O'Neill was 63 when Modern Family began, making him only a tad older than his character.
Sofia Vergara as Gloria Delgado-Pritchett
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Playing opposite O'Neill is Sofia Vergara, who received several nominations for her performance as Gloria Delgado-Pritchett. Gloria begins the series as an outsider, having recently married Jay, but soon grows to be an integral part of the family.
During the Season 4 episode, "New Year's Eve," Jay drags the family to a hotel he says he last visited in 1974, prompting Gloria's response that she was only two. Gloria was likely born sometime in 1972; in that case, Vergara was born the same year.
Rico Rodriguez as Manny Delgado
Manny Delgado, Gloria's child from her first marriage, serves as the family's consummate sophisticate. As his mother Gloria's partner in crime before her marriage to Jay, Manny is exceptionally mature for his age, and his sensibilities skew far older than his peers.
Manny is played by Rico Rodriguez, who was 11 when he began the role, the exact age of his character.
Jeremy Maguire as Joe Pritchett
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Joe Pritchett is born part-way through the Season 4 of Modern Family, set in 2012. Baby Joe was played by a few different actors until Jeremy Maguire took over the role permanently in Season 7.
By then, Joe would have been 3. Maguire was born in August 2011, making him only a year or so older than his character.
Julie Bowen as Claire Dunphy
Julie Bowen plays Claire Dunphy, Jay's oldest child. Claire is the apple of her father's eye and takes firmly after him. While she is driven and expects a lot from those in her life, she gives her all to the people she loves.
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Bowenwas39 when the first season of Modern Family aired. In the show, her character was around the same age, likely born in 1970, the same year Bowen was born. It is mentioned that Claire is 14 months older than her stepmother, Gloria, which is only a few months less than the actual age difference between the actresses.
Ty Burrell as Phil Dunphy
At 42, Ty Burrell joined the cast for the sitcom's first season as Phil Dunphy, who is the epitome of dorky, dedicated dads. Phil acts as the good cop to Claire's bad cop, always laid back to balance her intensity. After accidentally getting pregnant with Haley, the two married, but their love remains strong throughout the series.
When Phil and Claire eloped, Phil was in his mid-twenties. He was born on April 3rd, though his exact birth year is not given. He is a few years older than Claire, so Burrell's real-life age is likely quite close to his character's.
Sarah Hyland as Haley Dunphy
Sarah Hyland had been acting for many years when she began her role as Haley on Modern Family at 19. Her character, however, was only 16 in the first season and later celebrated her 21st birthday in Season 6, making the age gap between her and her character one of the most significant in the series.
Hyland's acting chops and petite stature serve her well, though—most fans would never expect that in reality, she is more than three years older than Haley.
Ariel Winter as Alex Dunphy
Ariel Winter plays high-achieving brainiac Alex Dunphy, who is three years younger than her older sister, Haley, and therefore thirteen at the show's start. In real life, Winter was only 11 when the first season aired and is eight years Hyland's junior, but the actresses excel at the type of squabbling that anyone who grew up with a sister close to their age remembers well.
It was announced in March 2022 that Winter is set to join another sitcom: NBC's Hungry, which is currently in development.
Nolan Gould as Luke Dunphy
Luke Dunphy, played by Nolan Gould, undergoes an extreme transformation over the show's tenure, both in appearance and personality. A handsome young adult replaces the short, messy-haired boy you see in the first episode with no shortage of romantic prospects.
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Gould was 11 during the show's first season, the same age as his character. Luke and his step-uncle Manny are the same age throughout Modern Family, even graduating in the same high school class in Season 8. Gould is also only a few months younger than Rodriguez in real life.
Jesse Tyler Ferguson as Mitchell Pritchett
Mitchell Pritchett is played by Jesse Tyler Ferguson, who offers a perfect performance of the slightly neurotic personality that might originate from an overbearing older sister and a strained relationship with your parents.
The show states that Mitchell is around two years younger than his sister, which would make him 36 in the first episode. Ferguson was only 34, making him five years younger than Bowen, the actor who played his fictional sister.
Eric Stonestreet as Cameron Tucker
Just as Phil balances out Claire, Mitchell's anxiety is complemented by his husband Cameron (Eric Stonestreet), who is never afraid to be himself (including the times he dons his clown costume to perform as his alter-ego, Fizbo).
In the third season, Cam celebrates his 10th birthday because he was born on a leap day, which would mean he was born in 1972 and was 37 in the first season. Stonestreet was close in age to his character—he was 38 when he stepped into the role.
Aubrey Anderson-Emmons as Lily Tucker-Pritchett
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Lily Tucker-Pritchett (Aubrey Anderson-Emmons) is the brutally honest, dry-humored daughter of Cam and Mitchell, appearing in the first episode when she is adopted as a one-year-old by the couple.
Anderson-Emmons did not step into the permanent role of Lily until 2011, when she was 4, while her character would only have been 3.
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