He kind of wears his heart on his sleeve. Especially given the social climate were in.ĪE: Instead of asking the obvious question where Jesse tells me about his character and Eric tells me about his, I want each of you to tell me about the other’s characters. I think anytime you can portray any gay couple on television, especially in such a positive light, I think it’s a wonderful thing. I’m sort of seeing that now and it’s incredibly exciting. It was after shooting the pilot and then hearing the media respond in such a positive way that I stepped back and said this actually is very groundbreaking.
The characters were really well developed and the whole story was so well told and so well executed. It’s interesting because when I read the script, the first thing I was drawn to was how brilliant the pilot was. I was obviously drawn to it for very personal reasons. Jesse Tyler Ferguson: It’s definitely not just another role. recently chatted with the show’s two gay dads, Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Eric Stonestreet, about their roles, whether straight actors should play gay parts and much more.Ī: Jesse, as a gay man yourself, does playing this part have any special significance for you or is it just another role?
#MODERN FAMILY GAY MEN NAMES SERIES#
While Modern Family is unlikely to address any of these issues too directly or too pointedly, simply including a gay family as series regulars is groundbreaking. schools unless you’re prepared for all out war in some quarters. And don’t even bring up the idea of discussing gay families in U.S. Some states currently ban adoptions by gay people while groups such as Focus on the Family and numerous Republican politicians decry the idea of any children being gay raised by gays and lesbians. While the culture wars aren’t what they used to be, the issue of gay parents is still a fairly controversial one in America. In the third season of Will & Grace, Jack MacFarland learned he was the father of a teenager while the 2003 sitcom It’s All Relative had Christopher Sieber and John Benjamin Hickey playing the adoptive parents of a grown daughter, just to name two examples.īut when ABC debuts Modern Family on Wednesday night, it will mark the first time a network show has featured two gay men raising an infant.
Network television has given us gay parents before. ***Warning*** This article contains mild spoilers about the first episode of Modern Family.