“Hey, looks like you’re gonna be my new boyfriend…wanna get coffee?” Yes, please!
Last Wednesday, January 25, Penn’s community flocked to Annenberg’s Zellerbach Theatre to listen to a discussion between Penn theatre professor Marcia Ferguson and Modern Family’s Jesse Tyler Ferguson. The audience laughed for a full hour while Ferguson talked about things from the politics of playing the part of a gay couple on television to Nolan Gould’s (the actor who plays Luke Dunphy on the show) Mensa status.
Regarding Modern Family’s position as a controversial sitcom that has something to say about societal norms, Ferguson was quick to say that in order to forge change, you don’t want to “bash people over the head with it” but that rather the “path to acceptance is through humor.” Who better to promote that humor than Ferguson and his beloved co-star Eric Stonestreet?
“Okay, be honest: who do you like better?” he asked, in response to a prompt about Stonestreet. The audience was too busy laughing to even attempt to answer that one. His retelling of meeting his on-screen partner was expectedly comical, involving Z-snaps (yes, he demonstrated!) and endless screen tests. After they were both cast, they shared an awkward conversation about being each other’s new boyfriends (pick me!) and decided to go out for coffee on Valentine’s Day in a way only Cam and Mitchell could.
What was particularly exciting, said one attendee, was how similar Ferguson was to his character Mitchell. The one difference, Ferguson noted, is that “Mitchell takes himself too seriously.” Ferguson then went on to joke about himself, claiming, “I didn’t take college” multiple times throughout the discussion in response to questions about his academic career or young adult life. He did, however, attend the American Musical and Dramatic Academy (AMDA) in New York City, which is no small feat – but it’s his modesty that makes him so fun to listen to!
Finally, he touched upon everyone’s favorite Modern Family question: what’s with the Lilies?! Without delving too much into personal lives, he explained that the young twins who portrayed Lily in the first season on the show weren’t taking well to show business, which is completely understandable – they were so young! New Lily, or Aubrey, is apparently all over show business: memorizing her lines and knowing where her trailer is. She also sounds like she’s just as naturally funny as her older costars.
We’re so glad Jesse Tyler Ferguson decided to “take” Penn, and can’t wait to see what SPEC has in store for us next.