Will Modern Family Recast Baby Lily? Plus, What Are Cam and Mitchell's Plans for Kiddo No. 2?

Jesse Tyler Ferguson reveals that they'll be "jumping through hoops" to add a second child to their family

By Lisa Abdolian Jun 09, 2011 7:15 PMTags
Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Eric Stonestreet, Modern FamilyEric McCandless/ABC

Modern Family's Cameron and Mitchell are going to undergo a tremendous amount of change in season three. Not only will they be adding to their family (as was suggested by the season-two finale), but there's some possibility that producers may recast the role of Lily (now played by twins Jayden and Ella Hiller) to bring in a chattier set of young actresses to actively play up the comedy of the preschool years!

Plus, Family star Jesse Tyler Ferguson revealed that Cam and Mitchell might not do an international adoption again (as they did with Lily). So what are they planning instead?

Will Cameron and Mitchell adopt a child in season three?
Jesse Tyler Ferguson:
I don't think we will open season three with Cameron and Mitchell on a plane bringing home another baby from Vietnam. We never saw Cameron and Mitchell with the struggle of choosing to adopt Lily. I mean, there are a lot of loopholes to jump through to adopt a baby, especially if you are a gay man, even in California. So I think that it wasn't an easy process for them and I think that in season three, if we choose to adopt another child, there will be a lot of well, how are we going to do it? Are we going to take one of Claire's eggs and Cam's sperm and mix them together? Are we going to foster a child? I think there are a lot of different ways to expand your family, and I think it will be storyline that not only gay people will relate to, but straight families who need to look for alternative means to expand their family. I think that's a struggle that a lot of people have to go through.

What can you tell us about season three?
We start shooting Aug. 1, and the only thing I know is there is a possibility that we might end up at a dude ranch. We might have the season premiere at the dude ranch where the end-of-the-year family vacation is going on, which could provide a lot of comedy. Lily will definitely be more prominent in season three. It's interesting with children because we can't force this 2½-year-old child to start speaking, and we don't know if the twins who play Lily are inclined toward acting, so maybe we'll cast another older child who can talk and who wants to be an actress to play Lily. But definitely we'll explore more with Lily next season. She'll be almost 3, so you have to have her as an integral part of the storyline. You know, she'll be going to preschool and socializing more and all that stuff, so it will be fun.

ABC/MARIO PEREZ

Will there be any guest stars in season three?
There is the opportunity for lots of guest stars. What we tried to do in season two is to cut back on having guest stars, but there is still a lot of family to meet. We haven't met any of Gloria's extended family. We can have Sophia Loren play Gloria's (Sofia Vergara) mother and have her father be this evil drug lord Colombia type who we're all afraid of but turns out to be very sweet. I've always thought a trip to Colombia to meet Gloria's extended family would be a really funny episode.

Have the writers asked you to do anything wouldn't do?
I'm a whore, I'll do anything. No, honestly, they put me in a Spider-Man costume climbing down a building, they've had me in a sailor outfit, they've had me stuck in a tree. I have yet to hear something that I won't do, but I also love our writers, and if something is funny then I'm willing to do it. But I come from a theater background and have been naked on stage in front of strangers. If it serves the piece, I'm open to it.

Were you surprised that Americans have embraced Mitchell and Cameron as a couple?
I was very surprised and encouraged. I was prepared for these characters to have some backlash but the opposite has happened. We've had conservatives come up to us and say, "You've changed my mind about gay marriages." And we've had some [gay] people with children say, "Thank you, now my daughter can see a family like ours." So it's been very positive so far.

Do you worry about stereotyping them?
In any half-hour comedy you have to at least embrace the stereotype a bit because you have to create very specific characters. But that being said I think Gloria is a little bit the stereotype of the Colombian woman, and Jay (Ed O'Neill) is the stereotype of the grumpy dad. I do know a lot of gay men who are very much like Cameron and Mitchell, and I know some who are very different. But we can't embrace everyone's idea of what a gay couple is, so we're embracing this idea and sticking with it, and that's what comedy is. You have to embrace them and all their flaws—they're not perfect and that's what makes them funny.

What do you want to see happen for the Tucker-Pritchetts in season three?

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