Ariel Winter Reveals Which ‘Modern Family’ Co-star She Looked to for Advice

When Ariel Winter joined the cast of Modern Family, she was just 10 years old. In the 11 years the hit ABC comedy has been on the air, she and her character Alex have grown and changed. When the 21-year-old actress chatted with PureWow about the show’s final season, she opened up about what it was like growing up on TV and revealed which cast member she looked to for advice. 

Candidly, Winter admitted going from a child to a young woman in front of millions of people was difficult.  

“Growing up on TV is weird. It’s not my favorite thing, but it is what it is. It’s hard because you’re going through your entire life in front of a million people,” Winter explained. “There are millions of people commenting on your life and they get to involve themselves in things. Life is hard in general, but especially when you’re very young and you’re trying to grow up and mature and learn as a young adult and then as an adult.”

Even so, there was one co-star who helped ease Winter’s transition into womanhood: Sofïa Vergara, who plays Gloria.

“Sofía is awesome and she’s so hilarious and obviously she’s fabulous. But what was nice about working with Sofía is that when I was younger, I had a lot of questions because I went through puberty a lot earlier and faster [than most],” Winter recalled.

She went on to say, “It was nice to have Sofía around because a lot of times I’d be like, ‘Hey, what kind of bra do you think is best for this?’ or ‘I’m having an issue with this,’ or, ‘It’s hard to find bathing suits. Do you have any ideas for me?’ She also developed early and it was helpful for her to be able to tell me, ‘Oh, yeah, this is a good option,’ or ‘Look into this.’”

Winter added that working with Julie Bowen, who plays Claire, her on-screen mom, was also helpful: “Julie playing my TV mom was great. She’s super loving and super caring. I’ve been really lucky with the people I’ve worked with and the people I’ve been working with for 11 years.”

We just can’t believe it’s almost over. The final season of Modern Family airs on ABC Wednesdays at 9 p.m. PT/ET.