Jesse Tyler Ferguson says “Modern Family” role 'protected' him from homophobes once he was recognized
Ferguson portrayed openly gay lawyer Mitchell Pritchett on the sitcom for all of its 11 seasons.
Jesse Tyler Ferguson is opening up about the surprising "superpower" his role on Modern Family gave him.
During Ferguson's August 6 Dinner's on Me podcast episode, guest Nicole Byer was talking about how she learned the hard way that political stuff is divisive during her comedy tour, when her story reminded Ferguson of some homophobia he encountered years ago.
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"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, adding, "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."
Ferguson, who has been married to Justin Mikita since 2013, portrayed the openly gay lawyer Mitchell Pritchett on the sitcom Modern Family for all of its 11 seasons. Years later, he told Byer, he went back to Las Vegas and had a somewhat different experience.
"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.
"'I guess it's funny, so I guess he's not terrible,'" Byer offered sarcastically.
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."
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"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, 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," he continued.
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Ferguson told Byer that her stories about her tour made him think "about that, when you're going into areas of the country where you felt like, 'Oh, this is like... maybe I'm not so safe here. And like, how are they going to respond to someone who looks like me and has my political views?'"
Elsewhere on the podcast, Byer and Ferguson also talk about why the sitcom Grand Crew was so special to her, how Byer was initially unsure if she nailed her Netflix show Nailed It, and Byer shares a racist experience she had at a comedy club that made her vow never to return.
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