Ed O'Neill thought this Modern Family star would have to be 'sedated' on last day filming
Ed O'Neill may have kept his cool while confronting the end of Modern Family, but the same can't be said for one of his costars.
The actor will appear on The Ellen Show Monday, and in a preview clip, Ellen DeGeneres asks him which cast member was the most emotional on the last day of filming.
"I'd have to say Julie. Julie Bowen," O'Neill replied. "I thought she was going to have to be sedated and carried out. But everybody was having their moments."
After playing Claire Pritchett on the ABC series for 11 seasons, it's understandable why Bowen would have a tough time letting go. On the other side of the spectrum was her TV dad O'Neill, who said his attitude on that day was more "Let's get it done."
"I'm more Youngstown, Ohio, steel mill, 'Let's get it done,'" he said, referring to his upbringing.
But O'Neill admitted reality will catch up to him eventually.
"They said, 'You don't cry. You're not emotional,'" he said. "I said, 'Four months from now I'll be getting a massage, I'll burst into tears. No one will know why.'"
To celebrate the final day of filming back in February, the cast shared touching photos and videos from set.
“What a day!! Saying goodbye to our Modern Family,” Sofia Vergara wrote on Instagram. “I will never forget this set, this people, there were only good times. Thank you Moden Family Thank you Gloria Pritchett.”
“’Never say goodbye because goodbye means going away and going away means forgetting.’ -J.M. Barrie,” Jesse Tyler Ferguson captioned. “Tomorrow is the last day of shooting @abcmodernfam. Thank you to all of our fans. It’s been a great 11 years & 250 episodes.”
ABC's longest-running comedy series, Modern Family focused on a blended family headed by patriarch Jay Pritchett (O'Neill). It's garnered a total of eight Emmys and 12 Golden Globe wins, and O'Neill has been nominated for three individual Emmys for his work on the program.
The Modern Family series finale is set to air April 8 on ABC.
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