Modern Family has become one of the best known shows on TV and has also become home to a group of stars that have enjoyed previous success on other shows. While a few of the actors might be very well known to viewers there are a couple that have accomplished other feats of cinema and TV wonder that people might not recall simply because the actors were either younger, looked a little different, or were cast in a part that was nothing like their current role on the show. You might be surprised where some of them have shown up, or maybe you wouldn’t if you’re a TV and/or film buff.
Here are just a few clips to show that Modern Family might have been their big break, but it wasn’t their first.
Sarah Hyland/Hayley Dunphy-Law and Order: SVU
Sarah actually played a very smart young girl on Law and Order: SVU. In fact she was one of the smartest in her class but was so obsessed with being the best that she killed her roommate at prep school because the other girl was so effortlessly smart but did little to earn it. Eventually it was found that she was psychotic but at the same time was not seen as fully responsible for her actions.
Ariel Winter/ Alex Dunphy-Sofia the First
If you listen to their voices it’s not hard to really understand the similarity and how easy it had to be for Ariel to make her mark on Disney and in cartoons with this role. As she grows older the part might have to go to someone else but even now her voice is still on par with what a lot of little girls expect to hear when they watch new episodes of Sofia the First.
Ty Burrell/Phil Dunphy-Dawn of the Dead
Ty Burrell has been in a couple of different movies but he’s almost always been kind of a weak-kneed wimp or a straight up jerk that no one wants to associate with. In the Dawn of the Dead remake, kind of a remake anyway, he was the jerk that looked out for himself and didn’t take anything too seriously, until the day came when the survivors had to abandon their place of safety.
Ed O’Neill/Jay Pritchett-Dutch
Ed O’Neill is a classic actor. He hasn’t gotten a lot of play in the past in terms of films but he has had small roles in many movies. Dutch was his big shot to be the lead and despite what people think about I happen to believe he did great. Of course no role could ever top that of the great Al Bundy, but Dutch was the kind of working man that you’d want to associate with since he’s so down to earth.
Julie Bowen/Claire Dunphy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSsOOhxb0Jk
As Claire she’s kind of an emotional wreck and a severe control freak. But in other roles, like opposite Tim Allen in Joe Somebody, she’s been shown as a compassionate and caring woman that thinks about others first and her own needs last.
They were a lot different before coming to Modern Family.
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