Being a public figure has its pros and cons. It can be very frightening sometimes since one’s personal life is always on show. However, for ‘Modern Family’ star Jesse Tyler Ferguson fame was a boon. It especially helped him cope when he decided to come out.
Ferguson recently appeared on the Dinner’s on Me podcast with guest Nicole Bryer. There he shared his story of how he encountered homophobia. And how his role in ‘Modern Family’ helped him overcome it.
Jesse Tyler Ferguson Recalls A Homophobic Incident
One of the most loved characters on ‘Modern Family’ has to be Mitchell Pritchett. And that is all thanks to Jesse Tyler Ferguson who played the character for all of the 11 seasons of the show. And this portrayal brought him a lot of fame. Ferguson recalled how this helped him fight homophobia as well.
“I had been in Las Vegas a few years earlier [pre-Modern Family], and I sort of got gay bashed a little bit,” he told Byer on the podcast. He added, “This was before… 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.” This was not very uncommon for Ferguson before his role on the show.
“I went [back] after Modern Family, and I remember feeling that same negativity initially, but then they would see who it was and they would recognize me from being, ‘Oh, I am gay, but I’m also that gay one from TV and I like that show,’ and there would be a change,” he said.
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Jesse Tyler Ferguson On How ‘Modern Family’ Fame Changed His Life
During the process of coming out, the 48-year-old actor faced homophobia often. But playing Mitchell Pritchett sort of changed his life. He recalled the homophobic incident and the change that happened when people recognized him from the show.
Ferguson replied, “Yeah. And it was really weird.” Speaking of these people, he said, “Your initial [feeling] — I saw it happen — was disgust. Like, let’s process this.” Ferguson continued, “But also there was this like some weird superpower that I felt like I was being protected by this role that I was also playing.”
Ferguson added, “And it kind of gave me this coat of armor, and I had this protection of being this character that people also loved. I don’t know, it was really weird.” Ferguson also received five consecutive nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for his role as Mitchell in the sitcom.
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