Modern Family Cast Reveals First Impressions, Secrets and Life Lessons to Jimmy Kimmel

Jimmy Kimmel welcomed Ty Burrell, Julie Bowen, Sofia Vergara, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Ed O'Neill and Eric Stonestreet after the Modern Family series finale

By Chris Harnick Apr 09, 2020 1:27 PMTags

The cast of Modern Family assembled, virtually, to reminisce about the end of their long-running comedy with Jimmy Kimmel.

While Ed O'Neill, Julie Bowen, Sofia Vergara, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Eric Stonestreet and Ty Burrell were together from their own homes on Jimmy Kimmel Live, the talk show host posed the hot question to the cast: "Ed, will you ever speak to any of these people again?" Kimmel asked.

"Probably not," O'Neill deadpanned. "But we have a group text that we use. I struggle through it."

According O'Neill, he doesn't have some of the numbers on the chain saved as names, so he has to guess who is speaking in each message. "I try desperately to get a personality cue," he said.

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Modern Family Cast Then and Now

Kimmel asked for first impressions and Burrell was quick with his about Ferguson.

"I went on to audition many times…Jesse got cast that day. I can tell you why he got cast that day because I was standing in the corner, going over my lines, facing the corner, like I was wont to do because I was so tightly wound, like wiping the sweat off of my upper lip…He was reading the newspaper, he was so unconcerned with the screen test," Burrell said.

Ferguson then put down the paper and approached Burrell and said he thinks they have a mutual friend, Josh Gad. "I basically jumped, and Jesse went in and got the part, and it took me about another month," Burrell said.

When asked whether anybody had any doubts regarding the success of the show, Stonestreet revealed he wasn't sure how it would be received…until he got a phone call from O'Neill. According to Stonestreet, O'Neill called him out of the blue and raved about the performances and predicted a long run for Modern Family.

And what about protecting secrets? Bowen said there were times when they had to hide hangovers from other cast members, including Nolan Gould when he turned 21. As for what they've learned from each other, Burrell said they all learned tricks to mastering TV acting from O'Neill. "We started writing, basically, a book on acting based on Ed O'Neill's instructs over the years. It was just tricks, essentially, about how to work less, like do less. Ed would say…is there any reason this scene can't be in a car? Why? The reality was if it's just two people talking it would mean there's no blocking, he wouldn't have to move…no microphone and he wouldn't have to wear pants," Burrell said.

Click play on the video above to hear more from the cast on Jimmy Kimmel Live.