Modern Family’s Jesse Tyler Ferguson says the show protected him from homophobia
"There was this like some weird superpower that I felt like I was being protected by this role that I was also playing"
Modern Family star Jesse Tyler Ferguson has shared how he feels being in the show protected him from homophobia.
The actor, 48, who is gay starred as Mitchell Pritchett in the long-running sitcom. His on-screen partner, Cameron Tucker, was played by Eric Stonestreet.
Joined on a recent episode of his Dinner’s On Me podcast by comedian Nicole Byer Ferguson the pair discussed working in different parts of the US where audiences have different views.
The actor opened up about an experience he had in Las Vegas pre-Modern Family. “I sort of got gay bashed a little bit,” he said. “It wasn’t anything violent. But it was definitely like, there was negative energy coming at me from a couple that felt uncomfortable around me and my then-boyfriend.”
Ferguson is now with Justin Mikita, an actor and producer. The two have been married since 2013.
The actor then shared his “really weird” experience going back to Vegas after he started Modern Family. “I remember feeling that same negativity initially, but then they would see who it was and they would recognise me from being, ‘Oh, I am gay, but I’m also that gay one from TV and, like, that show,’ and there would be a change.”
Describing the change as “really weird”, Ferguson said: “There was this like some weird superpower that I felt like I was being protected by this role that I was also playing, and it kind of gave me this, like, coat of armour, and like I had this protection of being this character that people also loved. I don’t know, it was really weird.”
Modern Family ran from 2009 to 2020 and also starred Ed O Neill, Sofía Vergara, Julie Bowen, and Ty Burrell.
Modern Family is streaming now