Judy Greer
Paul Archuleta/Getty ImagesIt’s hard to imagine Modern familyClaire Dunphy as anyone but Julie Bowen — but an actress Judy Greer revealed that she was once in the running for the huge role.
In conversation with Jesse Tyler Fergusonwho played Mitchell Pritchett, for his “Dinner’s For Me” podcast.Greer said she could have ended up playing his sister on the much-loved family sitcom for 11 seasons, but she ultimately decided not to audition because she didn’t want to be cast as the mother.
In her thirties at the time, Greer, now 49, said she had come to terms with occasionally playing a mother in films, but taking on the role of a mother of three seemed like too much of a risk.
“In a movie, people see it and then they forget,” she said. “On a TV show, it’s just like, you’re a mom. That’s it. I was like, “I don’t think I’m going to audition for this.” I was really bummed about it, but in the end, obviously I’m not. Who knows if I would even get it? I just said to myself, “I still don’t know if I want to be America’s mother.”
From the beginning, fans fell in love with the cast of Modern Family, but they’ve certainly changed over the past 13 years. When the series debuted, many of the cast members were so young that they ended up growing up on screen. “There’s definitely a season for me where I hit puberty right when (…)
Greer said she “didn’t even want kids” at the time, but has since become stepmother to her producer husband’s two grown children Dean E. Johnsonhas from a previous relationship.
There was another factor: Greer enjoyed all the travel that came with being a movie actress, so being tied to one set didn’t really appeal to her either. “It felt so limiting compared to what I was already doing,” she said. “And in addition to the very perception of who you are as an actor, it’s also a way of life. I was like, “Well, I like to travel a lot, and I like to do all these movies, and I like to go to all these places, and I like to meet all these people.”
A Modern Family reunion is looking more possible by the day, with Sofia Vergara and Julie Bowen already on board. “I said like every time I get asked questions about Modern Family reunions, movies, promotions. I say to myself: “Yeah, where can I sign up?” Bowen, 54, exclusively told Us Weekly while promoting their partnership (…)
While Bowen won two Primetime Emmy Awards for her role as matriarch Claire on the ABC sitcom, Greer’s career was fortunately also going from strength to strength. It might be a long-standing joke that she’s always playing a supporting best friend (or nemesis!) role in movies like 13 Continues 30 and 27 Dressesbut she has a huge resume of TV and film credits — including a starring role in the new holiday flick The best Christmas pageant ever.
It’s funny how things turned out – Greer actually ended up getting the part Modern family too. In the show’s first season, she guest-starred as Denise, Phil Dunphy’s ex-girlfriend (You Burrell).
