Why Sarah Hyland can’t remember filming some episodes of ‘Modern Family’ (2024)
“Modern Family” star Sarah Hyland says she was so tired before her first kidney transplant that she can’t remember shooting episodes of the Emmy-winning comedy.
“There are some episodes of 'Modern Family'where I do not remember filming because I was asleep. Dead-asleep,” Hyland said on the "Quitters Podcast," hosted by her "Modern Family" co-star Julie Bowen and Chad Sanders.
Hyland, 31, singled out the 2011 season three episode in which her character, Haley, asks Luke for money.
“That entire episode I was asleep for,” she said. “I don’t remember filming it at all.”
Hyland, who was born with a condition known as kidney dysplasia, explained her condition was deteriorating to the point she was eligible to get a new kidney.
“It was right before my first transplant. ‘Cause here’s the thing how transplants work. You have to a certain level of sick in order to receive a transplant,” she said. “So I was reaching that certain level of sick. I was not able to be awake for, like, eight hours at a time. I was so exhausted all the time.”
Hyland has undergone a pair of kidney transplants. She received one from her father when she was 21 and then one from her younger brother when she was 26. She endured excessive fatigue while shooting the show.
“So I’d be on the set, we’d be filming and I would be dead asleep, my head on the table,” she said. “I would hear, ‘And ...’ and my head would go up on ‘and’ and then they yelled ‘action’ and we just went into it and as soon as they yelled ‘cut,’ I’d put my head back down.”
Hyland, whose mother learned she had breast cancer during her own medical troubles, wound up on dialysis between her transplants. Eventually, the pain and experience of having kidney failure led her to think about suicide.
“That’s where I felt suicidal. I would avoid going into rejection and being on dialysis at all costs.”
Hyland, who says she is in good health now, has talked about the mental aspect of her kidney transplants.
“After 26, 27 years of just always being sick and being in chronic pain every single day, and you don’t know when you’re going to have the next good day,” Hyland said on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” in 2018.
“It’s really, really hard. I would write letters in my head to loved ones of why I did it, my reasoning behind it, how it was nobody’s fault because I didn’t want to write it down on paper because I didn’t want anybody to find it because that’s how serious I was.”
This story discusses suicide. If you or someone you know is at risk of suicide please call the U.S. National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255 or text TALK to 741741 anytime.
Drew Weisholtz is a reporter for TODAY Digital, focusing on pop culture, nostalgia and trending stories. He has seen every episode of “Saved by the Bell” at least 50 times, longs to perfect the crane kick from “The Karate Kid” and performs stand-up comedy, while also cheering on the New York Yankees and New York Giants. A graduate of Rutgers University, he is the married father of two kids who believe he is ridiculous.
"There are some episodes of Modern Family where I do not remember filming because I was asleep. Dead-a– asleep," Hyland said to podcast host and her former TV mom Julie Bowen, plus Chad Sanders. Hyland, who has a chronic kidney condition called kidney dysplasia, has had two kidney transplants.
Sarah Hyland Recalled The Time Jesse Tyler Ferguson Found Her “Curled Up” In A Ball In “Extreme” Pain On Set After Revealing She'd Collapse As Soon As They Finished Shooting Scenes. “I was on dialysis, I had gout... They had not established my outfit yet, and they insisted that I was wearing heels.
Opening up on the 'Brad Behavior' podcast, Sarah Hyland revealed that she was born with kidney dysplasia and was initially treated with medications to manage the condition.
Hyland was born with kidney dysplasia, a condition in which the kidneys don't fully develop in the womb. She had two transplants: First when she was 21 with her father's kidney. After her body rejected it, she quietly had a second transplant, at age 26, with her younger brother's kidney.
Health. Hyland was diagnosed with kidney dysplasia as a child and received a kidney transplant from her father in April 2012. That kidney failed after a few years, leading to a second kidney transplant in September 2017, donated by her younger brother, Ian.
Hyland, who oldest Dunphy kid Haley, has been open about her health struggles after her body rejected a donor kidney from her father, requiring numerous hospitalizations, taking medication that left her face swollen, and undergoing dialysis three times a week.
Sarah Hyland: I feel like I had such a loud mouth when we were filming Modern Family. What else can I say? What people don't know is when Haley was pregnant, they made a fake prosthetic belly for when we did an ultrasound scene. I had to go into a place and they took pictures of my stomach.
Because I know that my face is swollen from medication that is saving my life,” she said, in reference to being on prednisone, a corticosteroid used to suppress the immune system and reduce inflammation and swelling, according to the National Institutes of Health.
“This is just my natural hair,” the 28-year-old actress recently told Refinery29. Hyland went on to explain that over the years, she's chosen to wear “extensions” on Modern Family, because her hair had started to fall out as a result of her battle with kidney dysplasia and endometriosis.
Sarah Hyland hasn't been in every episode of Modern Family's final season. The 29-year-old actress, who has played Haley Dunphy in all 11 seasons of the ABC comedy, responded to a fan on Twitter asking about her absence. “Apparently I've been busy with the twins,” she wrote back Friday with a shrugging emoji.
Alex (Ariel Winter) gets mononucleosis during the summer vacation. Claire (Julie Bowen), Phil (Ty Burrell) and Luke (Nolan Gould) all try to use her condition to their advantage.
Phil is shown to be childlike and clumsy at times, and is implied by Claire to possibly have ADHD, characteristics he seems to share with his son Luke.
Haley has not taken her usual prescribed dose of Ritalin since before her pregnancy. As a new mom with ADHD, she faces additional challenges that make it difficult for her to complete routine tasks. Haley's family worries that her ADHD interferes with her ability to focus on caring for her twins.
Initially receiving a kidney donation from her father in 2012, Sarah's brother Ian donated his kidney for her second surgery in 2018. After that second surgery, her mental health was impacted. She told Self, “I was very depressed.
"There are some episodes of Modern Family where I do not remember filming because I was asleep. Dead-a– asleep," Hyland said to podcast host and her former TV mom Julie Bowen, plus Chad Sanders. Hyland, who has a chronic kidney condition called kidney dysplasia, has had two kidney transplants.
What Is Kidney Dysplasia? In 2012, Hyland's father donated a kidney to his daughter. After four years, her body rejected the transplanted organ, and she needed dialysis treatment for kidney failure.
Julie Bowen was pregnant with twins while filming Modern Family's pilot. During the first season of Modern Family, Julie Bowen, known for her portrayal of Claire Dunphy, went to great lengths to conceal her growing belly.
Hyland, who has a chronic kidney condition called kidney dysplasia, has had two kidney transplants. Before her first transplant, Hyland said she has no recollection of filming the Modern Family episode in which "Haley asked [Luke for] money," explaining, "The entire episode I was asleep."
They soon became some of TV's favorite characters, with the long-running ABC sitcom earning 22 Emmys, including five for Outstanding Comedy Series. The entire cast has remained close since the show ended in 2020, with Ferguson and Vergara often posting updates via mini-family reunions.
Introduction: My name is Horacio Brakus JD, I am a lively, splendid, jolly, vivacious, vast, cheerful, agreeable person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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