Modern Family SAG reunion only occurred to honor one specific cast member

The cast of Modern Family recently reunited at the SAG Awards and it only occurred due to one specific cast member.

Modern Family was one of ABC’s most popular sitcom series during its 11 season run from 2009 to 2020.

The show, styled like a mockumentary, followed a blended family in California and all of the individual/group hijinks they got up to.

Since the series ended four years ago, the main cast has been reunited in public in a way, but they did come together for a quick reunion during the 2024 SAG Awards. And it turns out that reunion only occurred because of one specific cast member.

Modern Family reunion happened for Ty Burrell

While chatting with Jimmy Fallon during a segment on The Tonight Show, Jesse Tyler Ferguson (who played youngest son Mitchell Pritchett) revealed that the cast reunion happened so that the world wouldn’t think Ty Burrell (husband Phil Dunphy) was dead.

“Honestly, on [SAG] 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.”

“[Burrell] was supposed to do something else [that night]. [But] 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.”

Back in November 2023, Ferguson, Bowen, Vergara, and O’Neil along with their on-screen children Sarah Hyland, Ariel Winter, Nolan Gould, Rico Rodriguez, and Aubrey Anderson-Emmons had what they called their “first Modern Family reunion” since the show’s April 2020 series finale.

However, Burrell was not in attendance and, in all of the photos shared from that night, the cast can be seen holding a framed picture of the actor, which sparked rumors that he may have passed away secretly.

Vergara even went as so far as to post a video of the Burrell’s framed picture on a mantle with cast yelling, “We miss you, Ty!”

So, the reunion was a great way to get the gang back together while also proving that Burrell is still alive, kicking, and sporting a great new mustache.