Even though Jeremy Maguire was only 4 when he joined the cast of Modern Family, he just wanted to be one of the guys.
"I've been told I'm a 30-year-old in a kid's body," the now 12-year-old actor told E! News' Francesca Amiker in an exclusive interview. "I've been told I'm an old soul. Which, I do think that of myself, too."
Incidentally, Jeremy has also been compared to a young Leonardo DiCaprio. Though while he obviously takes that as a big compliment ("Maybe I'll play his son one day!"), he wouldn't go so far as to agree: "I can't believe people compare me to that legend. It's crazy."
But all legends have an origin story and, like a certain Oscar winner, Jeremy's big break came stealing scenes on a hit ABC sitcom. In his case, he took over the role of Joe Pritchett, the son of Ed O'Neill and Sofía Vergara's Jay and Gloria Pritchett, in 2015 from even younger predecessors.
A year later, Jeremy was walking the red carpet at the Emmys—some heroes wear capes with their tuxedos—and then in 2017 he shared in his first SAG Award nomination as a member of Modern Family's estimable ensemble.
So, let's say Jeremy—not to be confused with Jerry Maguire—had an auspicious introduction to Hollywood.
Still, despite perks like meeting with Ryan Reynolds—"He was so nice," Jeremy marveled of the Deadpool star—spending so many formative years on camera wasn't easy.
"When you're growing up and there's a camera in front of your face, sometimes you don't wrap your head around the fact that these aren't your actual family," he explained. "And that's just really hard, especially for me because, you know, I love everybody. After Modern ended, I was so sad 'cause only life I've ever known."
Luckily he had his real family by his side throughout, crediting his mom (who's also his manager) for getting up at 5 a.m. every day and spending hours on set. Her "hard work and dedication is a model for me," he said, "and how I want to be in the future."
And his parents have been extremely supportive of his career, which, when he stopped to think about it, was pretty great of them. While he was filming Disney+'s Turner & Hooch reboot starting in September 2020, "They moved to Canada, for me, for nine months," Jeremy said. "They lived in the snowy mountains just so I could work! That's just wonderful, and I take it for granted a lot."
Self-awareness, check.
As for his TV family, Jeremy had a lot of fun working with the next-youngest actor on set, now-16-year-old Aubrey Anderson-Emmons, who played Lily, the adopted daughter of Cameron (Eric Stonestreet) and Mitchell (Jesse Tyler Ferguson).
"She wasn't an adult, but she wasn't a 'kid,'" Jeremy said appreciatively. He also liked having "a fake older brother" in now-25-year-old Rico Rodriguez, who played Joe's half-brother Manny. (Though Jeremy's the big brother in real life and sister Serena makes frequent cameos on his Instagram.)
And he couldn't help but idolize his onscreen parents, calling Ed "the wisest being" he's ever met.
Jeremy particularly appreciated how the veteran actor treated him "like an equal." He recalled a day when he kept fumbling a line, and Ed "was like, 'Come on, you can do this, they're paying you to be here.' I was like, [wow] I was being talked to like an adult."
That gave Jeremy "a sense of urgency" he carries with him to this day, the idea that he better show up prepared and ready to work hard in order to earn his keep.
He also had his "own little bond" with Sofía, and, suffice it to say he'd love to work with her again.
"Of course, I would love to do that," he stressed. "I miss everybody. I miss waking up at 5 a.m. and driving down to L.A. and being there for hours on end. Just sparks pure joy in me to do that."
In the meantime, he's steadily building his resume, having already appeared in the 2017 film I'm Not Here and episodes of General Hospital and the horror drama The Last Ship before Modern Family ended in 2020 after 11 seasons.
Since his time as a member of the Pritchett family—he's binged Modern Family "like 40 times," minus the final season, which he knows will make him cry—Jeremy has played the dog-loving nephew in Turner & Hooch (he and Rico remotely played video games while he was isolated on set in Canada, mid-pandemic) and last year he appeared on an episode of S.W.A.T.
Jeremy's also a budding writer, breaking out his laptop to capture whatever's on his mind. "It's very therapeutic," he said. "It's just nice to feel your emotions. I've done poems or stories, or little treatments for scripts I thought would be fun to maybe work on in the future." (Paging the Duffer brothers, he's got a Stranger Things treatment he's thinking of pitching. "I've been told I'm good at writing horror," he said.)
But the middle schooler admitted that it can be "very hard and annoying juggling" school and acting, though he's been lucky to have teachers who've supported his career ambitions.
"In the end," he said, "there is an extra sense of achievement when you do finish your homework and you also finish that audition you wanted to send in. There's that feeling that, you did it."
And you don't get that feeling if you're just a student or just an actor.
Jokingly shuddering at the idea of being "normal," Jeremy observed, "It's better to have an outstanding life than it is to just fit in. Because fitting in, after awhile, it just gets boring. You got to the point where you're fitting in, but where's the adventure? So I think it's best for you to just stand out, live your own life."
And one day, people will be telling another young actor that he reminds them of Jeremy Maguire.
Now that you're caught up with the wise-beyond-his-years actor who played Joe, check in with the rest of the Modern Family cast then and now:
Sarah Hyland as Haley Dunphy
As eldest Dunphy daughter Haley, Sarah Hyland rode off into sunset (or at least a new apartment) with longtime love Dylan (Reid Ewing) and their twins. IRL, the New York City native saw forever in Bachelor in Paradise bartender Wells Adams' eyes (costar Jesse Tyler Ferguson officiated their 2022 vows) and soaked up the Fiji sun as host of Love Island USA for two seasons.
Other gigs included six episodes of Pitch Perfect: Bumper in Berlin and Broadway gigs in Little Shop of Horrors and The Great Gatsby. As for what she'd tell younger Sarah, "Don't be too hard on yourself," she detailed to E! News in 2023. "Love the people around you, but love you more."
Ariel Winter as Alex Dunphy
While Ariel Winter's Alex jetted off to a new gig in Switzerland, the child actress stayed a bit closer to home when she decamped from her native California with longtime boyfriend Luke Benward.
In addition to giving life to the titular Disney princess on Sofia the First, she's done voice work for American Dad!, Firebuds and Star Trek: Lower Decks and worked on the docuseries SOSA Undercover. "I only felt recently like I found my purpose," the actress and activist told E! News in October 2024. "As a kid, I wanted to be a doctor, then a lawyer—and now here I am an entertainer. So I can use that platform to help people, but that's just kind of always been my vibe."
Nolan Gould as Luke Dunphy
When Luke Dunphy enrolled at the University of Oregon, Nolan Gould signed up for his own adventure. "Fell off the Earth again here’s some proof of life," he joked in a December 2024 Instagram featuring a series of solo shots in various locales.
He also filled Ferguson in on his travels, detailing on a September 2024 episode of his Dinner's On Me podcast how he sold off his belongings after Modern Family to travel the country in a van—in between filming 2023's Camp, the 2024 short JOE and an episode of Grey's Anatomy.
Aubrey Anderson-Emmons (a.k.a. Frances Anderson) as Lily Tucker-Pritchett
Following her nine seasons as daughter to Eric Stonestreet's Cameron Tucker and Ferguson's Mitchell Pritchett, Aubrey Anderson-Emmons "thought that I would never act again in my life," the L.A. native shared in a 2024 TikTok. But after getting bit by the bug again through high school theater productions, she got back on the audition circuit.
And while the actress still has plans to pursue her craft, she's also focusing on another passion: music. In fact, she's got a new name to go with her new career path, changing her moniker to Frances Anderson.
"Frances is actually part of my legal name," she explained to E! News in August 2025. "It’s my middle name, and it’s after my mom’s old family friend."
While Anderson said she changed her name to make it a bit shorter, she also noted she wanted "people to see a new side of me," and "create a space specifically just for music."
Rico Rodriguez as Manny Delgado
Since his stint as wise beyond his years Manny—the son of Sofía Vergara's Gloria Delgado—Rico Rodriguez has appeared in an episode of Disney's Bunk'd and voiced a part in the upcoming 2025 flick Sneaks. As for his onscreen fam, "TV show reunions are all the rage these days," he captioned a look at their 2023 get-together. "When we hanging next guys?!"
Jeremy Maguire as Joe Pritchett
"I've been told I'm a 30-year-old in a kid's body," Jeremy Maguire told E! News in an exclusive 2024 interview. "I've been told I'm an old soul. Which, I do think that of myself, too."
Born in 2011—two years before the series made its debut on ABC—he joined the fam in 2015 as Joe Pritchett, Gloria and husband Jay Pritchett's son. "When you're growing up and there's a camera in front of your face, sometimes you don't wrap your head around the fact that these aren't your actual family," he explained to E!. "And that's just really hard, especially for me because, you know, I love everybody. After Modern ended, I was so sad 'cause only life I've ever known."
He rebounded quickly, however, appearing in all 12 episodes of Disney's Turner & Hooch reboot in 2021. And should the right part not come his way, he's ready to write it himself. "It's very therapeutic," he said. "I've done poems or stories, or little treatments for scripts I thought would be fun to maybe work on in the future."
Ty Burrell as Phil Dunphy
Experiencing a bit of a drought before being cast as the loveable Dunphy patriarch, "My wife and I actually sat down at one point to kind of like come up with a list of other things that I could do because I was thinking about getting out of acting," Ty Burrell revealed on Good Morning America ahead of the series' 2020 finale. The list was admittedly brief, however. "I had nothing," he joked. "I have no other skillset."
Though a plan B proved unnecessary, with the Oregon native—who shares daughters Frances and Greta with wife Holly Burrell—lending his voice to Fox's Duncanville after Modern Family, he's opened a series of restaurants in Utah anyway.
Living in the Beehive State means he doesn't get a lot of face time with his former costars (and memorably missed out on their 2023 gathering at Vergara's place, leading some fans to think he'd died), but their text chain is still alive and well. "That group was obviously just very tight," he noted to People in 2025. "We went through a lot together, and everybody stays in touch."
Julie Bowen as Claire Dunphy
Five years after she bid farewell to straightlaced Claire, Julie Bowen still very much considers her TV crew as family. Whether it was helping Hyland escape from what Hyland called an abusive relationship or turning up to Anderson-Emmons' high school play, "I look at them all like my kids," Bowen explained on a June 2024 episode of The Skinny Confidential Him & Her Podcast. "I love them." And as for her onscreen stepmom Vergara, Bowen told E! News in 2024, “We get along like a house on fire."
The actress' career remains hot thanks to Peacock thriller Hysteria! and the Happy Gilmore sequel, however, "I'm pretty frugal," she shared on the All Good Things with Jason Nash podcast in 2022. "I'm so afraid that I'm never going to work again and, I'm not kidding, I have such fear."
And while she joked she's been in "retirement" from dating following her 2018 split from husband Scott Phillips (they share sons Oliver, John and Gustav), she wouldn't mind doing some late night talking with Harry Styles. "Oh, hell yeah," she quipped on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. "Him? Look at him!"
Sofia Vergara as Gloria Pritchett
Stepping into Gloria's stilettos turned Colombia-bred Vergara into a household name. But her post-Modern Family career has been no laughing matter. Along with shooting films like This Is Me... Now and Despicable Me 4—plus her six-seasons-and-counting stint on the America's Got Talent judges panel—the mom to adult son Manolo, booked her first dramatic gig.
Portraying the titular drug lord Griselda Blanco in Netflix's 2024 miniseries Griselda, she amassed another Golden Globe and Emmy nod. "It was a surprise for me to be nominated," Vergara exclusively told Laverne Cox on Live From E!: Emmys. "It was my first time acting in a drama, acting in Spanish believe it or not. It was like a surprise—and a good surprise."
So now she's manifesting a bit more good fortune. Two years after announcing her split from husband Joe Manganiello, Vergara told Access Hollywood in January 2025, she's hoping for, “Health, money, a boyfriend. Or a lover, maybe.”
Jesse Tyler Ferguson as Mitchell Pritchett
Producers may have thrown a wet blanket on our dreams when they squashed plans to follow Ferguson's Mitchell Pritchett and his husband Cam Tucker (Eric Stonestreet) as they decamped to Missouri. "I think they were just wondering if this was the right family to still tell that story," the actor explained on Watch What Happens Live. "We had been on for 11 years, I think they were ready to move in a different direction."
But fans hoping to take a trip down memory lane need only listen in to his Dinner's On Me podcast, where he hosts both his former costars and other celebrities like Gavin Rossdale and Chelsea Handler. Otherwise, Ferguson has stayed quite busy with movies like Cocaine Bear and theater productions such as Here We Are.
As for his own modern family, the TV star is married to actor-producer Justin Mikita and they share sons Beckett and Sullivan.
Eric Stonestreet as Cam Tucker
Since his time as football coach Cam, Kansas native Stonestreet has been tackling new roles on American Auto and The Santa Clauses and he's set to kill in the upcoming Dexter: Resurrection revival. "I too have some free agency news," the Kansas City Chiefs fan joked in a March 2025 Instagram post. "Very excited to work with this outstanding group of people."
IRL, he's teamed up with nurse Lindsay Schweitzer, Stonestreet announcing their marriage on the same day he turned 54.
"It’s my birthday and guess what I got," he wrote on Instagram in September 2025. "I got married!"
Ed O'Neill as Jay Pritchett
Already a famous TV dad thanks to his 11-season gig on the Married...with Children couch, Ed O'Neill easily slipped into his role as Pritchett family patriarch Jay. Initially reluctant to sign on for another sitcom, "They sent me the script," he shared on The Jenny McCarthy Show in 2016, "and I thought, 'Damn. I gotta do this.'"
He's since suited up as Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling in 2024's Clipped and will appear in Ryan Murphy's legal drama series All's Fair.
In his personal life, the former Youngstown State defensive lineman has called actress Catherine Rusoff his teammate for decades. They share daughters Claire and Sophia.
Reid Ewing as Dylan Marshall
Though he spent years as Haley's on-again, off-again boyfriend, the Good Luck Charlie alum officially joined the fam with the onscreen arrival of their twins. "The best job of my life," he declared in a 2020 Instagram.
In the years since, he's appeared in short films Always Come in Second and Nest, but revealed in a September 2024 Instagram Live that he's officially retired from acting. "It's been, like, a really long journey for me as an actor," he shared, "but I definitely feel like it's time to pull the plug, so to speak, because it's just like, the whole process of it is, it's really an unhealthy process."