#Jesse Tyler Ferguson Explains How SAG Awards ‘Modern Family’ Reunion Came Together

Last week, the 2024 SAG Awards reunited casts from beloved TV shows and movies including Modern Family, Breaking Bad and The Devil Wears Prada.

While the Modern Family reunion was missing the children from the hit ABC sitcom, the grown-up gathering did include Ty Burrell, who famously missed a previous time the cast gathered since the show wrapped.

Speaking on Friday’s Tonight Show, Jesse Tyler Ferguson said he insisted that Burrell show up after his absence at the last reunion sparked concerns from fans that something had happened to the actor who played Phil Dunphy.

“When the SAG Awards happened, he was supposed to do something else,” Ferguson said. “I was like, ‘Ty! You can’t miss it again! People will really think you’re dead!’ It’s like, ‘We need to present you to show you that you’re not dead!’ So he made it.”

Indeed, Burrell wasn’t the only one with other plans last Saturday, Ferguson recalled, revealing that multiple castmembers had other things to do but canceled those plans for the SAG Awards appearance.

“Honestly, on that night, we were all busy,” Ferguson said. “Sofia [Vergara] was supposed to be doing press, I was supposed to be here in New York, Julie [Bowen] was shooting a show, Ed [O’Neill] had a glass of wine to drink. And so we all canceled those very important things, and we figured out a way to come together because the last time we had a reunion, Ty Burrell wasn’t able to come, and so we posed with photos of Ty… and then the internet thought he was dead.”

In November, most of the Modern Family cast, including the children played by Sarah Hyland (Haley), Ariel Winter (Alex), Nolan Gould (Luke), Rico Rodriguez (Manny) and Aubrey Anderson-Emmons (Lily), got together for what Vergara called the “first Modern Family reunion” after the show aired its series finale in April 2020.

But Burrell was notably missing in the photos shared by castmembers on social media, with the gang, including show creators Steven Levitan and Christopher Lloyd, including a framed photo of Burrell in their images.

They also posted a video raising their glasses to Burrell’s photo on the mantel and saying “We miss you, Ty!”

At the SAG Awards, the cast reminisced about their time on the hit show, which won five SAG Awards over the course of its run, and joked about life after the series ended.

“I didn’t want to get emotional up here,” O’Neill said, “but you know what I miss about it most of all? … The money.”

At one point Ferguson asked, “Is it too early to talk about a reboot?”

He added, joking, “They made me park a mile away from here.”

The cast presented the SAG Award for best comedy ensemble to The Bear.